Silence. Stillness. Serenity.
This is what you will find when kayaking in the mangroves with Big Blue Collective. Our specially trained local guides are here to help you escape the ordinary.
On each of our daily Kayak and Paddleboarding Eco-Tours, you are invited to escape the daily hustle and immerse yourself in a slower, quieter world. The exquisite world of tangled roots and burgeoning marine life flourishing in this incredible ecosystem is brought to life through detailed knowledge and information from our guides before and during the tours.
Paddling through the crystal-clear channels that wind through the mangroves offers an unparalleled opportunity to see, hear and experience a unique and vital side of Turks and Caicos Island’s natural world.
Hovering just above the water’s surface in your kayak or stand up paddleboard provides you an up-close view of the juvenile lemon sharks, barracuda and other young fish swimming about the red mangrove root systems that offer critical protection from predators. Upside-down jellyfish rest lazily below, occasionally moving with a gentle pulse, tentacles facing upward. You will likely even see or hear young green sea turtles residing in these waterways as they peek their heads through the surface to take a breath.
But don’t forget to lift your head up now and then to peer deeper into the mangrove forest, (especially if you’re a keen birdwatcher). These trees provide ideal shelter, nesting and hunting habitat for green herons, great white egrets, pelicans and many more. Be sure to listen out for the cries of the laughing gulls or screech of the osprey piercing the coveted silence of this place.
These mangroves truly are a Turks and Caicos Islands treasure. They not only protect our wildlife, but by extension also our homes. Like a sponge, they absorb extreme tides and currents, storm surges and waves during extreme weather, including hurricanes. They act as a buffer between land and sea, capturing sediment and filtering polluted runoff from land. Their natural filtration system is what makes these waters so clear. They also help mitigate climate change by trapping carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases in the leaf littered sediment below their roots.
Come with us to see, to learn and appreciate these endangered gems of our coastal margins and all the marine life they support.
Conditions for kayaking and paddleboarding are ideal nearly every day. We offer several tours a day, coordinating them with the incoming and outgoing tides. If you are an early bird and want to beat some of the peak sun and summer heat, you might want to join one of our morning tours. Perhaps even a sunrise tour. Paddling is always a great way to start the day. The gentle exercise, the peace, the tranquility, and fresh air are hard to beat.
No matter what time you paddle out though, we highly recommend protecting yourself with a hat, either a long sleeve top or reef-safe sunscreen.
One thing is for sure the mangroves are addictive.