Shell Key
aka Shell Island.

A very good place to go kayaking is to Shell Key just south of Passagrille beach.
You can launch from the passagrille jetty, watch out for fisherman. Aim for the western side
of the island, somewhere in the middle on the elongated waestern side (that faces the gulf) is a good place to park your kayak. Tthe western side is very shallow and an excellent place to find great shells.
Better than the shells you will find great snorkling here 100's of yards out. maybe only about 5 ft.deep.

In the chanel you will find some good chop.
Even on the flatest days it can be choppy. If its a strong day it is easy to get thrown out.
But it can make good for some excellent kayak surfing. Some days you maybe able to catch a ride from
the channel to shore.

Kayaks

Selecting the right kayak can be a hard thing to do. Especially if your just starting. If you like being out in the open ocean here is my advice. Get a sit on top kayak also known as a sea kayak You really don't need to spend much on a Sea Kayak I spent about $500 on a 12' renegade kayak I highly recommend to anyone. It's design makes it very easy to carve through the ocean waves and keep a straight path to your destination. Good for both playing in the waves, kayak surfing and paddling to the local islands this is the kayak I recommend shown below.

Tandem kayaks can be fun for couples. Although I would recommend buying two kayaks instead of 1 tadem.. Tandem kayaks are harder to control, much larger, heavier and usually more expensive. There is a new peddling design out, so instead to paddling you can peddle with your feet. I do not recommend this design unless you want to pay top dollar, paddling can be faster and better exercise for the upper body. Be a man!

A smaller design and the cheapest kayak on the dollar, these smaller kayaks like this Renegade Beat
Shown below is a good kayak if you would like to do some small kayak surfing close to shore.
However if you plan on paddling to the local islands you may have a a little more trouble slicing through the hard current, although I have still seen it done many times.

Of coarse you can show up at your local kayaking dealer and have them tell you what you need,
But if you like being in the open Ocean and would like something that works just as good as anything
go with something similar to the 1st Renegade kayak shown on the top of this page. It ran me a little less than $500 for this kayak which came with a paddle, a seat, and straps. If you are about 6' and taller
you will be able to carry this like a back pack if you have the carrying straps.

Info on some local popular Destinations:

Kayaking Egmont Key

I found kayaking to be one of my favorite hobbies aside from surfing itself, it provides
people like me living in our area waiting for the surf to be up again with something to do until then.
Living around the Tampa Bay area is great for the kayaker we are so close to a chain of barrier islands
extending from Egmont key and ft. Desoto to Anclote key in the tarpon springs area. If you like going to islands like this living in our area is such an ideal place. My personal favorite would be a tie between Egmont key and Anclote key depending on how much of your day you would like to spend in
kayaking anywhere from 1-8 hours there is a lot to see. First and the Southern most Key of our area Egmont lies in the middle of the mouth of Tampa bay in between ft. Desoto and Anna Maria, this exotic island is home to many gopher turtles and seagulls,almost like a bus station in the middle of Tampa bay for the seagull's. While kayaking to Egmont key I find the most efficient route is from the South western tip of ft. Desoto right by the ruins and the pier, there will be a radio tower to the right of the pier, I suggest aiming for Egmont from this marker. Egmont is roughly a mile, but the water gets very deep and sours to a 90 ft. drop in the channel so depending on currents and chop I would expect your travel time to be 45 minutes for an experienced and fast beach kayak to 1 hour and 10 minutes for the more moderate or beginner. (If you are a beginner I would stick to a closer island like shell island from)
I suggest bringing 1 gallon of water per person for this trip, the current and switch very quickly and make your journey to or from much longer than expected due to stronger currents, I myself have had the journey there take 45 minutes but the rough current back take me an hour and a half.
Once you begin to get closer to the island you may see Logger head sea turtles which love Egmont and the deep channel for feeding and breeding. Still to this day I have yet to see any dolphins near Egmont, this is probably because its more of a shark territory, the old myths of "Old Hitler"
(a 20 ft. hammer head) is said to be spotted in this area. But even if you spot a shark in this area do not be surprised or panic, you should feel privileged to see these animals up so close.The Island Of Egmont has a pretty long history ranging from belonging to the Indian's, the Spanish, The French, The Spanish again and then Americans. There once was an old town on this island if you venture inland
you will find a brick road that goes for about a mile through the island, Only few houses or buildings remain some of which are ruins. Most of which now are used by the wild life rangers on the island. You will find signs that say take nothing but pictures, leave nothing but foot prints. I do not recommend
bringing an open container of alcohol on this island, I have seen the rangers write fines the Southwest point of the island you will see ruins which once the rapidly changing coast line of Egmont key once stood, this is excellent for snorkeling, fishing. However the beach itself in this area is closed off for the birds, so you need either a kayak or a boat for this part. But once again this is shark territory. Egmont key is ironically Hillsborough county, which once sued Pinellas county tourism agency
for putting Egmont in one of its brochures, shame shame!
Egmont is one of the most exotic places I have ever been to, and what the real Florida is about, I recommend this island to the moderate to experienced kayaker anytime, and if your feeling like your really advanced, Anna Maria lies about 2 miles south of the southern tip of Egmont. Bring lotsa water!

Anclote Key

Anclote key is tied with Egmont (In my opinion) for my favorite island to kayak to in the Pinellas area.
The best way to get there is to launch form Fred Howard park, you can see the island quite well from
Fred Howard, it stretches for 4 miles, If you wish to camp on this island (unlike Egmont where you cannot camp) that is on the northern end of the island.

You will reach the southern tip of the island where it is very shallow, and in my opinion I think this is part
of the island where it is Expanding. It has expanded 30% since the 1950s. When you get to the Southern tip there is a very shallow stream, at which on low tide you may get aggravated because its only a few inches deep in some places, and 5 foot deep in others. But this little stream is a reason why you kayak, you cannot possibly access this part of the island on a boat since it is so shallow.The island it self seems like a very exotic uninhabited island, the only development I know of on the 4 mile stretch of Anclote is the light house. Which pretty much only the frame remains these days.

I myself have only made it to the Southern tip of the island several times, but this is a great island to go to. The waters around this island have a few ship wrecks around the island, and the ocean floor mainly grassy has great fishing. The northern end is the deeper end and from what I hear has the better fishing.

Just like Egmont, I would give this trip 45 Minutes to an hour to make it to this island.
The water however is much more shallow than the channel you cross to get to Egmont, and offers great snorkeling or scuba diving. I would also recommend bringing 1-2 Gallons of water per person for this trip as well.

Honeymoon Island
General History And Info

(Located about 10 miles south of Anclote Key)
You can get there by car, from the Dunedin Causeway,
Admission to the park the last time i went was $4, but well worth it.
Caladesi Island State park is located just south of honeymoon island and is also a great island to kayak to, you cannot however get to Caladesi by car.

Honeymoon Island is a link in the chain of barrier islands that extends from Anclote Key south to Cape Romano and cushions the Florida coast from tropical storms. Geologically speaking, the island is a relative youngster - only 7,000 years old.

The men and women of the Tocobaga tribe were its first recorded visitors. By 1530, Spanish explorers had scanned the island's coast. For the next two centuries pirates, traders and fisherman came and went. The Tocobagans, wiped out by foreign diseases, stayed. Their bones reside in the low-lying mounds on the adjacent islands.

By 1830 it was on the map as Sand Island. The Hurricane of '48 drove 5' of water over it and a faltering hog farm was at least successful enough for a name to change to Hog Island by 1880. In 1921, another hurricane split the island, forming Hurricane Pass and Caladesi Island to the south.

By 1970 environmental studies presented enough evidence to halt any further dredging and filling. Four years later, the Division of Recreation and Parks acquired the remaining undeveloped 416 upland and 4,400 submerged acres of Honeymoon Island. Dunedin donated its 22-acre
beach in 1982, and the island changed again - this time to one of Florida’s showcase coastal recreation areas.

Visitors can observe one of the few remaining south Florida virgin slash pine stands along the island’s Osprey Trail. These large trees serve as important nesting sites for the Osprey.

Other important coastal plant communities found on and around the island include mangrove swamps, seagrass beds, salt marshes, tidal flats, and sand dunes, Honeymoon Island has more than 208 species of plants and a variety of shore birds including several threatened and endangered species.

• Fishing can yield catches of flounder, snook, trout, redfish, snapper, whiting, sheepshead and tarpon
• An operated ferry service provides transportation to and from Caladesi Island State Park.

You can contact Honeymoon Island State Park,
#1 Causeway Blvd., Dunedin, FL 34698
(727) 469-5942