ST. PETERSBURG, Fla.

"Some paddlers would be unnerved by having a creature bigger than their kayak suddenly rise underneath them."

Not Russell Farrow.

When he looked down and spotted a manatee swimming only a few feet under his kayak on a saltwater flat in west-central Florida, it was a welcome sight — another sign that his unobtrusive form of transportation had allowed him to slip into a world that few will see.

“These manatees are definitely a flight, not fight, animal,” Farrow said of the giant sea mammals. “They can weigh up to 2,000 pounds and grow up to 8 to 9 feet long. But they’re not aggressive at all.

“They’d rather swim away than challenge you. But when you’re in a kayak, they don’t feel as threatened.

“They will come right up beside you sometimes. Some people on our tours worry that they’re going to come up right under their kayaks and tip them over. But we haven’t had that happen.

“They will be close enough for us to get a good look, though.”

Because of federal guidelines protecting the endangered species, Farrow discourages interaction with the manatees. But he often guides paddlers close enough to get a rare look at the sea cows, whether it be near the Weedon Island Preserve near St. Petersburg, Fla., or in spring-fed rivers such as the Crystal or the Weeki Wachee.

That’s only part of the intrigue of the kayak tours he guides through the Sweetwater Kayaks business he co-owns.

Consider a recent weekday. When Farrow set out in a backwater area off the Gulf of Mexico, he immediately spotted large schools of stingrays scattering in front of his kayak. Fish darted through the water. And an osprey flew overhead.

Just another day in paradise.

“The great thing about kayaking here is that you can paddle year-round,” said Farrow, 47, who lives in Clearwater, Fla. “It doesn’t get white and hard here in the winter.

“We can go out in the winter, the temperature is in the mid-70s, and we’re out viewing all kinds of wildlife.”

Farrow has been living in that world for more than 20 years. He got his first recreational kayak when he was in his early 20s and quickly discovered a new world.

“When I first moved to Florida, I would drive or hike to different spots to view wildlife,” he said. “But when I got a kayak, it gave me a whole new perspective.

“There was something to see around every corner. I became part of the environment. The wildlife would let me just drift into their world.”

Today, Farrow retains that enthusiasm for kayaking and the Florida outdoors. He and others at Sweetwater Kayaks lead a variety of outings, everything from multiday expeditions into the Everglades to half-day outings in Tampa Bay.

Along the way, they spot everything from dolphins to sea turtles to alligators to bald eagles.

“You might be four miles from shore out in the Gulf and all of a sudden you see this head pop up,” Farrow said. “You paddle closer and see that it’s a giant sea turtle.

“You never know what to expect.”

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