Toilet Seat Cut? Are You Joking?
Tamara Scharf kayaking Toilet Seat Cut In Islamorada
No joke! Toilet Seat Cut is situated bayside, west of Plantation Key. It is fairly easy to reach by kayak through Tavernier Creek. There is a dedicated canoe and kayak launch on a floating dock just next to Tavernier Creek Marina which may be used. Watch out for boat traffic through Tavernier Creek. Head south when you exit the creek. Toilet Seat Cut is a parallel channel to Cowpens Cut, which is the larger boating channel further out in the Gulf.
Alternatively, if you want to avoid dodging most of the motorboat traffic, launching from south of Toilet Seat Cut at Founders Park and heading north along the shoreline is a more leisurely and slightly shorter paddle.
Remarkably, the toilet seats (which actually used to mark a cut through the channel) are visible at quite a distance. We still had to pass a pretty open and windblown lake-like area fringed by mangroves, but the water was fairly shallow and there was practically no boat traffic.
A plethora of adorned toilet seats line both sides of this fairly narrow channel, which is not recommended for boats of a draft of more than 4 feet as it is not all that deep. The surrounding waters are also extremely shallow. In some places the water is less than knee-deep, which left us wondering how much paddling can be done in this shallow and seagrass-lined area all around Toilet Seat Cut at a very low tide?
I could have spent hours there admiring these works of art, and particularly the wit with which many of them were adorned!
I particularly liked the seat with the inscription ‘Caty’s retired ain’t takin no mo crap’!
There are so many funny and clever toilet seats, it is tough to pick out favorites. I never laughed so much on a kayak trip!
You won’t just see toilet seats, however. Be prepared for an abundance of wildlife in and out of the water. This is a mangrove habitat and you can expect to see wading birds, rays, puffer fish, nurse sharks, and other creatures.
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