Picnic Island Park
Central bay launch
Picnic Island Park is a central-bay kayak and paddleboard launch, free to park.
Picnic Island sits at the far south tip of the interbay peninsula, past the industrial road and right up against MacDill, where the bay opens toward the mouth of Old Tampa Bay. The free put-in you want is the canoe and kayak launch across from the parking, which drops you into a mangrove tunnel and out onto the flats, separate from both the paddleboard rental and the 24-hour boat ramp. There is a white-sand swimming beach, a gated dog beach south of the pier, a disc golf course, and sand volleyball, so the park runs busy and social on a good day. The water is open once you clear the mangroves, so it pays to watch the wind, and the spit catches a breeze from almost any direction. Restrooms are near the ramp. Come for the easy mangrove launch and the sunset off the point, and plan your paddle around the tide because the flats run shallow.
Where do I park, and is it free?
- Cost
- Free
- Parking
- Ample
- Restrooms
- yes
Free city park with a public canoe/kayak launch and beach. The paddleboard rental is separate.
How clear is the water?
Open bay water at the interbay tip.
What will I see?
- Dolphins along the channel and the interbay flats, often close to the point
- Ospreys overhead and herons, egrets, and pelicans along the mangrove edge
- Manatees graze the grass flats in the warmer months
- Trout and redfish on the flats, snook along the mangrove shoreline
What's the fishing like?
Interbay flats: trout and redfish on the grass, snook along the shoreline, sheepshead on structure.
How do I share the water here?
The kayak launch here was built with Tampa Bay Estuary Program funds, and the mangrove tunnel and the flats it opens onto are seagrass nursery. Stay off the grass at low tide instead of dragging across it, keep dogs leashed and well clear of any roosting or feeding birds over at the dog beach, and carry your trash out: this is a windy point and anything loose blows straight into the bay.