My girlfriend and I and my 14 yr old son rented 3 kayaks to do our own adventure for the day. Seabiscuit, Joe, Jesse and Dave, met us at arrival, provided excellent information about where to go then met at the completion of our journey for a flawless day out on the water. Check in was quick, they got us situated in the boat, provided a map and gave us direction. The kayaks are super sturdy (we even stood in ours like a paddle board. We chose not to do a guide tour so we could stay out a little longer and hit a pace that was comfortable for us as we have kayaked several times and have a lot of water experience. The Mangroves were amazing. The map that was provided helped navigate all the tunnels with ease as they are numbered and well-marked. Even if you not seasoned boat captain, the map is quite easy to use. If you have reasonable map reading skills, you can go it alone and see it all. We passed several tours that did have a leader and listened in - certainly using a professional guide gave considerably more clarity to what you were seeing. To that end, both with and without a guide has it pros and cons and we were still glad we chose to do it ourselves. The wildlife is bountiful both in and out of the mangroves and the water is well-protected even if you have winds. This is a must adventure for those who love the water and are comfortable paddling around. We went in the middle of the week and while we did encounter a few tight spots in the tunnels, it was pretty open most of the time. I have heard that weekends can be quite crowded. Overall, Kayaking SRQ knocked it out of the park for us and we will be back.