WildlifeSeptember 12, 20264 min read
Quiet Hours: Why the Mangrove Tunnels Are Worth the Detour
They're not the fastest route across the bay. They're the reason you came.
MC
Marina Cole
The Mangrove Dispatch
The mangrove tunnels of Tampa Bay are the single best argument for slowing down. They don't get you anywhere faster. They change the way the whole day feels.
Step one: go at slack or incoming tide, mid-morning, when the light falls straight through the canopy. Step two: stop paddling for thirty seconds inside a tunnel and listen. The bay, a mile away, simply disappears.
"A tunnel paddle is the only time in St. Pete where the city is right there and genuinely not there at all."
Bring a dry bag, trim your paddle, and keep your hands quiet. The tunnels are narrow and the water is glass. That's the whole point.
Filed under Wildlife & Mangroves · Conditions reported locally.
