For my girlfriends birthday, we booked a kayak tour through the Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge with Outer Banks Kayak Adventures. We quickly learned this should be added to every great Outer Banks vacation. Though she’s born and raised OBX and I’ve lived here for several summers, neither of us had any idea this beauty was just twenty minutes from the beach. A wonderful experience absolutely worth the trip, see what it’s like to spend a Day in the Life with Outer Banks Kayak Adventures.
At a Glance – Outer Banks Kayak Adventures
A Tour Guides Take: Calm, beautiful, quaint, relaxing yet fun, this tour takes you through an ecosystem a world away from the beach, even if it’s only a twenty minutes drive
Strengths: Tranquil, beautiful, all the gear is provided, paddling can be calm and relaxing, opportunities for wildlife include black bears, gators, eagles, and osprey, other wildlife and outdoors experiences close by, can be easily added to an Outer Banks beach vacation
Weaknesses: Short duration, low adrenaline, can get hot and buggy, if you don’t like spiders, mosquitos, or other bugs – use caution
(Explore the refuge with the baddest expert of them all – Wildlife with Aspen)
Who: Outer Banks Kayak Adventures
Where: Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge – Manns Harbor, North Carolina
What: 2 Hour Kayak Tour
Booking
You can find Outer Banks Kayak Adventures at their website here. You can easily book one of their many tours from their site, as well as finding equipment rentals as well.
We picked the 2 hour Alligator River National Wildlife tour, and at the time of booking it’s $60 per adult for single kayaks, $50 for children. They also have double kayak (tandem) options.
(Want more warm water kayaking? Read what it’s like kayaking the Virgin Islands)
Check-In
The launch site is easy to find, just off highway 64 down Buffalo City road. They give you directions in the booking confirmation email. However, it’s a gravel road and can lead to some unfortunate issues.
Equipment
Equipment provided: paddles, kayaks, PFD’s
The paddles were lightweight NRS brand paddles. They had stickers with the companies name so guests would know which direction to have the paddle. Can you read the words? Your paddle is oriented correctly. Genius. I’ve had to correct paddle orientation on nearly every kayak tour I’ve ever led.
Our kayaks were Perception Tribe 11.5 kayaks and they were in great shape. Excellent boats, stable and efficient. PFD’s were in good shape too. Incredibly impressed with the gear provided.
The Trip
We arrived fifteen minutes early to a couple of other cars already on the scene. Several blue and green kayaks were arranged nicely at the launch site, a small open patch among the grasses on a creek. Near the kayaks was a pile of paddles and PFD’s and a young woman who was clearly our guide.
Our guide was Erika, and rather impressively she learned everyone’s name and would use it while making casual conversation. There were around 12 of us in total so this was no small task and added a personal level of service I appreciated.
We donned our PFD’s and listened to the brief instructions before loading into our boats. Immediately after getting in the water you paddle under a low wooden pedestrian bridge. Once through, the trees on either side of the creek open up to a large open lake. We paddled along the shoreline looking for alligators, large birds of prey, and other wildlife. I was on a personal mission to see a black bear.
We listened to the sounds of nature, our guide periodically explaining some of our surroundings. Eventually we paddled across the lake where we meandered down the shoreline again, darting back across the lake once more. Upon crossing the lake again, we saw it – our first gator!
Keeping a respectful distance we paddled closer, the gator staying at the surface, swimming by lazily, indifferent to our presence. It moved slowly but surely forward, and per our guides instructions, we stayed off to its sides. We didn’t want to spook it. After a few minutes the gator sunk quietly away, disappearing into the murky water stained brown from the tannins of the bald cypress trees fringing the lake.
Eventually we made it to a creek cutting into the trees, disappearing around the corner, a trail of water and wonder. We saw one more gator in the grasses sunning itself before kayaks disappeared single file into the meandering creek.
Delaney and I were towards the back of the group and took our time enjoying the different flowers and rafts of water lilies in the water. Periodically the creek narrows and widens, breaking left before swirling back to the right and repeating over again. Cypress and other plants create fun obstacles to paddle around. At one point my kayak got temporarily stuck on a submerged obstacle, but let’s be honest – my kayak usually sits a little lower in the water than most!
A small harmless spider briefly joined me after a brush in with some low hanging leaves. I gently released him back onto a branch hanging out over the water. Later, we heard frogs jumping into the water and the definitive splash of a small gator spooked by the train of kayaks through the creek, and after just under two quaint and fun hours, we were back to the launch site.
(Find more kayaking adventures with the Spotlight)
Post-Trip Thoughts: Outer Banks Kayak Adventures
The Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge is a gem just minutes from the beaches of the Outer Banks, and this tour provides the right amount of adventure and relaxation. For the price, the views, and the unique experience in an often overlooked ecosystem – this trip was absolutely worth it.
For two hours we were transported into a place removed from time where eagles and osprey fight for fish while gators swim by, bears and bobcats hiding around the corner, snakes in the grass hunting frogs on the lilies. Though the beach is a short drive away, for two hours it was as distant in my mind as is the distance to the moon.
Don’t wait; book this trip now. Great value, great experience, and should be part of your next Outer Banks vacation.
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