Sinking spots for DEEP QUICKSAND - NE Florida
Posted: Sat Sep 02, 2023 9:28 pm
I’ve tried to add these spots to the quicksand map without much success. As these areas are quite large, I’m going to go ahead and share them for others who care to venture out on their own. The mud here is simply amazing. This is one of the best areas I’ve ever gone sinking. Just remember, sink in these areas at YOUR OWN RISK. The threats are obvious. They’re no more or less than most other tidal areas. Here’s the threats…
1. Tides. So please plan accordingly. There’s plenty of tide tables online. I recommend hiking in about an hour before low tide to get the most time available, especially if you like to explore. Watch your time. Tides don’t wait for you to extract yourself.
2. Snakes. This is a wild estuary after all. The worst snake is the Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnake. There’s also the Pigmy Rattlesnake. And there might even be an occasional water moccasin. But in all the years I’ve been going here, I’ve yet to see a single snake. That doesn’t mean they’re not there. It just means that I haven’t seen any. Nothing more.
3. Alligators. Yes…they do exists. I’ve seen one. Or should I say, the remnants of one. It was most definitely dead. Alligators don’t like salt water. This area is mostly brackish. It’s still mostly salt water from the ocean. Just not as salty. That doesn’t mean that on the day you show up that a family of alligators won’t be on vacation to the beaches. There’s also freshwater ponds throughout the estuaries. I wouldn’t be going in them if I were you. You can count on those being occupied by alligators.
4. Lightning. Chances are, if there’s a storm overhead, that you’re going to be the tallest item on the mudflats. So either sink down until your head is about even with the surface of the quicksand, or get the hell out of the area if you see a storm brewing.
5. Heat/sun. While it may not feel hotter than wherever you’re from, the rays of the sun are at a more direct angle to the surface of the earth here in Florida. So protect yourself from sunburn. And if it’s in the 90’s, you might want to wait for a slightly cooler day. Heat stroke is very real. BRING PLENTY OF DRINKING WATER.
6. Heavy, wide, oversized footwear creates considerably MORE suction. If your suction is greater than your buoyancy, you will sink until the suction no longer exceeds your buoyancy. Mud/quicksand doesn’t create suction on its own. Therefore, you’ll stop sinking when you stop shoving your feet further down into the mud.
7. OYSTER SHELLS. There’s areas that have a lot of oyster shells. They’re normally clumped together in banks. Generally the mud beneath them is a bit firmer. But not always. So watch your footing. You don’t want to have a foot suddenly sink down deep in an area covered with oysters unless you’re looking to be bled out. They’ll slice into you like razor blades. You really need to be wearing decent footwear in such areas. I recommend that as a minimum, you wear high top scuba wetsuit booties with hard soles. I’ve had a lot of experience with getting cut by oyster shells. At first you may not even realize it happened. Until you see all the red ooze going down your legs.
8. Make note of the time that the back parking lot closes. You don’t want to get your car locked in on the wrong side of the gate. It’s at sundown.
You want to go to Guana River Estuary and park all the way in the westernmost end. Then you’re going to follow the hiking trails to the beach at the Intercoastal Waterway. From there, you want to hike along the shore to the north. Hike to the largest of the tidal creeks that go to the east. To the NE you’ll see a tree line. About 75 yards in you will see a huge mudbank on the south side of the tidal creek. That’s an awesome place for sinking. It’s practically bottomless. The mud here is a bit thicker near the tidal creek. Cross over that to get to slightly thinner areas if that’s what you want. I prefer the thicker mud. Keep in mind though , privacy here isn’t 100%. You can be seen from boats on the Intercoastal waterway. However, I’ve had a fishing boat pull up close to the end of the mud bank while myself and a friend were both down to our chest. Either they didn’t notice or they chose not to say anything, because they didn’t pay the slightest bit of attention to us. We were both completely covered by the mud, so we probably just blended in with the mud bank itself.
If you follow the tidal creek way back, you’ll come across some amazing places that are wide open expanses of semi-thick mud. You need to go far enough in that there’s a tree line to your south as well. This area is completely off the grid and is completely out of sight of anyone. Again, it all appears to be bottomless. Most of these banks will require you to monkey crawl your way across the tops of the banks, because if you try to walk across the top, you won’t be getting very far. You’re going to sink down to the top of your calves within the first couple of steps. And when you try to pull your leg out to make another step, your other leg will be pushed completely below the surface. The thicker areas are such that there’s not going to be a buoyancy point, because the suction force is going to be greater than your body’s buoyancy point. However, if you seek out thinner areas (typically in the middle of the banks), you’ll reach your buoyancy point when you’re about neck deep. That’s just the nature of this mud. So please be mindful of your footwear.
Obviously, as it’s all tidal estuary mud, that there’s plenty of water around for your cleanup.
Have fun.
1. Tides. So please plan accordingly. There’s plenty of tide tables online. I recommend hiking in about an hour before low tide to get the most time available, especially if you like to explore. Watch your time. Tides don’t wait for you to extract yourself.
2. Snakes. This is a wild estuary after all. The worst snake is the Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnake. There’s also the Pigmy Rattlesnake. And there might even be an occasional water moccasin. But in all the years I’ve been going here, I’ve yet to see a single snake. That doesn’t mean they’re not there. It just means that I haven’t seen any. Nothing more.
3. Alligators. Yes…they do exists. I’ve seen one. Or should I say, the remnants of one. It was most definitely dead. Alligators don’t like salt water. This area is mostly brackish. It’s still mostly salt water from the ocean. Just not as salty. That doesn’t mean that on the day you show up that a family of alligators won’t be on vacation to the beaches. There’s also freshwater ponds throughout the estuaries. I wouldn’t be going in them if I were you. You can count on those being occupied by alligators.
4. Lightning. Chances are, if there’s a storm overhead, that you’re going to be the tallest item on the mudflats. So either sink down until your head is about even with the surface of the quicksand, or get the hell out of the area if you see a storm brewing.
5. Heat/sun. While it may not feel hotter than wherever you’re from, the rays of the sun are at a more direct angle to the surface of the earth here in Florida. So protect yourself from sunburn. And if it’s in the 90’s, you might want to wait for a slightly cooler day. Heat stroke is very real. BRING PLENTY OF DRINKING WATER.
6. Heavy, wide, oversized footwear creates considerably MORE suction. If your suction is greater than your buoyancy, you will sink until the suction no longer exceeds your buoyancy. Mud/quicksand doesn’t create suction on its own. Therefore, you’ll stop sinking when you stop shoving your feet further down into the mud.
7. OYSTER SHELLS. There’s areas that have a lot of oyster shells. They’re normally clumped together in banks. Generally the mud beneath them is a bit firmer. But not always. So watch your footing. You don’t want to have a foot suddenly sink down deep in an area covered with oysters unless you’re looking to be bled out. They’ll slice into you like razor blades. You really need to be wearing decent footwear in such areas. I recommend that as a minimum, you wear high top scuba wetsuit booties with hard soles. I’ve had a lot of experience with getting cut by oyster shells. At first you may not even realize it happened. Until you see all the red ooze going down your legs.
8. Make note of the time that the back parking lot closes. You don’t want to get your car locked in on the wrong side of the gate. It’s at sundown.
You want to go to Guana River Estuary and park all the way in the westernmost end. Then you’re going to follow the hiking trails to the beach at the Intercoastal Waterway. From there, you want to hike along the shore to the north. Hike to the largest of the tidal creeks that go to the east. To the NE you’ll see a tree line. About 75 yards in you will see a huge mudbank on the south side of the tidal creek. That’s an awesome place for sinking. It’s practically bottomless. The mud here is a bit thicker near the tidal creek. Cross over that to get to slightly thinner areas if that’s what you want. I prefer the thicker mud. Keep in mind though , privacy here isn’t 100%. You can be seen from boats on the Intercoastal waterway. However, I’ve had a fishing boat pull up close to the end of the mud bank while myself and a friend were both down to our chest. Either they didn’t notice or they chose not to say anything, because they didn’t pay the slightest bit of attention to us. We were both completely covered by the mud, so we probably just blended in with the mud bank itself.
If you follow the tidal creek way back, you’ll come across some amazing places that are wide open expanses of semi-thick mud. You need to go far enough in that there’s a tree line to your south as well. This area is completely off the grid and is completely out of sight of anyone. Again, it all appears to be bottomless. Most of these banks will require you to monkey crawl your way across the tops of the banks, because if you try to walk across the top, you won’t be getting very far. You’re going to sink down to the top of your calves within the first couple of steps. And when you try to pull your leg out to make another step, your other leg will be pushed completely below the surface. The thicker areas are such that there’s not going to be a buoyancy point, because the suction force is going to be greater than your body’s buoyancy point. However, if you seek out thinner areas (typically in the middle of the banks), you’ll reach your buoyancy point when you’re about neck deep. That’s just the nature of this mud. So please be mindful of your footwear.
Obviously, as it’s all tidal estuary mud, that there’s plenty of water around for your cleanup.
Have fun.