The Waters
The rivers, lagoons and nearshore reefs in the Jupiter/Stuart area are generally warm, clear, calm. They also teem with marine life. That’s largely because the Gulf Stream current, often described as an “Ocean River,” flows close to the southeast Florida coastline, and begins to bend seaward just south of Jupiter. The Stream carries larval fish and invertebrates from as far away as the western Caribbean basin, which settle and mature in Florida’s estuaries and shallow reefs. The Stream also assists with the migration of many large animals including whales, tunas, and billfishes, while its warmth keeps the northern Atlantic and the continents that bound it warm. In fact, because the Gulf Stream begins to bend offshore just south of Jupiter, this latitude is where the tropics and temperate zones converge. Most plants and animals found toward the equator are comfortable here, and so are the critters and vegetation that like a little cooler air and water temperatures, which amounts to incredible biodiversity.
Favorite waters for paddleboarding include the Loxahatchee River, which empties into the Atlantic Ocean in Jupiter. It’s upper7.6 miles—which flow through towering canopies of cypress trees, live oaks, and sable palms—is federally designated as a “Wild & Scenic River.” It flows through Jonathan Dickenson State Park, winding through a brackish estuary lined with towering mangrove trees, until it meets the blue Atlantic.
Just west of the Jupiter Inlet, the Loxahatchee intersects with the southern end of the 152-mile Indian River Lagoon (IRL), the estuary between Florida’s mainland and its East Coast barrier islands. The southern IRL is also perfect for paddling. Much of it flows through the Nathaniel P. Reed Hobe Sound National Wildlife Refuge. Its shorelines are shallow, clear, and teeing with life. There are even places, such as the Blowing Rocks Preserve, where a short portage over the barrier island lets you launch into the ocean.
On the windward side of the barrier islands, paddlers discover a type of reef that scientists call “nearshore hardbottom,” which in this area is colonized by a reef-building worm that builds a honeycomb-like structure out of sand grains and mucus. Juvenile sea turtles depend up the algae that grows on the reef, and on the reef itself cover. The reefs provide vital nursery habitats for numerous fish species, and are utilized by many predators, including a favorite target of recreational anglers called a “snook.” From the elevated vantage of a SUP, you are bound to encounter all sorts of wildlife paddling over these reefs.
The Indian River Lagoon is also the Intracoastal Waterway. Follow it north to Stuart, and you’ll find another vital river, the St. Lucie. The upper South Fork and upper North Fork are tranquil, narrow affairs that flow through upland hammocks and mangrove forests. The mouth of the St. Lucie, where it converges with the Indian River Lagoon, also offers a unique system of sand bars, flats, lagoons, and mangrove islands. There’s almost no end to fascinating and beautiful places to paddle. Come check them out.
