Kayaking with our Puppy, Fred Howard Park

Not every adventure needs a mountain or a multi-day permit. Sometimes it's just a Saturday morning, a couple of kayaks, and a puppy who has been staring out the window all week waiting for exactly this. This trip was Phoebe's first real kayaking outing, and we headed to one of our favorite local spots to see how she'd do.

Launching from the Causeway

Fred Howard Park sits in Tarpon Springs, Florida, and the beach itself is really its own little island formation at the end of a causeway. We put in from the causeway around 9:30 in the morning and paddled out toward the beach, planning to loop around it before heading back. Phoebe was a bundle of nerves getting settled into the kayak at first, but it didn't take long before she relaxed into the rhythm of the paddling and started genuinely enjoying herself.

Why Fred Howard Beach is Worth the Trip

What makes this beach special is the seagrass just offshore. It baffles the incoming waves before they ever reach the sand, so even with the open water and the intracoastal close by, the water along the beach stays calm - a nice, low-key spot for families wading in or, in our case, a nervous first-time kayaking dog. Out past the beach, a mile or two offshore, you can spot the barrier islands, including Anclote Island with its old lighthouse still standing watch over a stretch of coastline that runs at least a couple of miles long.

A Puppy in the Sun

With a dog along for the ride, sun exposure was something we kept a close eye on. We kept the outing relatively short and made sure to cover Phoebe up partway through once the morning sun started to get more intense. Along the way we paddled past a cormorant perched nearby, and Phoebe watched the world go by with her face soaked and her tail wagging the whole time.

By the time we pulled the kayaks back up onto the causeway, Phoebe had gone from nervous first-timer to an honest-to-goodness kayak puppy, tracking mud everywhere in her excitement to get back to the car. It was a short, easy morning on the water, but exactly the kind of low-stakes adventure that makes for a great weekend with your dog.