Swimming In the St. John's River (Palatka, Orange Park: home, school, camp)

[tenbee]

I moved to Jax last week in a nice spot off of a St. Johns River inlet and am wondering how safe it is to swim in the river?

I plan to kayak it... but I'm a little curious about the alligator population density.

[EricBoyd]

I think the gators stay mostly in the creeks, so you're probably safe for a dip or two.

[madcapmagishion]

There's gators in the river no doubt, the chances of you getting attacked almost nil. (unless you tie dead chickens onto your body) Your chances up in some of the creeks goes up dramatically, as thats where the gators live and usually feed. (there your like home delivery)I have seen hundreds of gators in the rivers and creeks over the years, I have even seen them while fishing offshore. Heck I even have a couple in ponds on my property. In Florida if theres water there's probably a gator in it or nearby waiting to get in it.

Dr's Lake has some
Julington creek is loaded with em
Arlington river has some
Ribault river has a lot
Ortega river has more than it's fair share
Cedar Creek only has a few...not much can live in that water

[FlyiMetro]

Originally Posted by tenbee

I moved to Jax last week in a nice spot off of a St. Johns River inlet and am wondering how safe it is to swim in the river?

I plan to kayak it... but I'm a little curious about the alligator population density.

I dont think anyone has ever been attacked by a gator in the St. Johns. I think the river has more manatees than anything. Mostly gators are in ponds or small lakes.

[madcapmagishion]

Originally Posted by FlyiMetro

I dont think anyone has ever been attacked by a gator in the St. Johns. I think the river has more manatees than anything. Mostly gators are in ponds or small lakes.

There's quite a few manatees in the river also, some downtown but most down river in Dr's Lake, Green Cove and Palatka. It is also not uncommon to see Porpoise in the river feeding on the outgoing tides up around the Arlington and Mill Cove area's. When we were kids we used to catch baby hammerhead sharks(10''-14'') in the river from the ocean all the way to Orange Park during the summer months.

[BabyBoomers2]

Lived here since Jan '09 and started boating on the St John's in May '09 and have NEVER seen anyone swimming in that river! Have seen some tubing, waterskiing and wakeboarding done, but never seen anyone jump from a boat or dock into the river for swimming! Since the old St John's doesn't have any actual beaches along it, that I've ever heard of, that be a good sign that nobody swims in it.

[madcapmagishion]

Originally Posted by LoveBoating

Lived here since Jan '09 and started boating on the St John's in May '09 and have NEVER seen anyone swimming in that river! Have seen some tubing, water skiing and wakeboarding done, but never seen anyone jump from a boat or dock into the river for swimming! Since the old St John's doesn't have any actual beaches along it, that I've ever heard of, that be a good sign that nobody swims in it.

We used to swim in it all the time!(I've lived here since Jan "56'') When we were first learning to water ski we spent more time swimming than skiing. I had friends that lived on the river in Orange Park they even had a diving board and a slide mounted on their dock. We used to swim from Orange Park over to a friends house...he lived in Mandarin. The Bolles School used to have a summer camp where you had to prove you could swim in the river before you could take sailing or water skiing classes (river swimming is different than pool swimming)

No! No beaches but go look at some older docks when yBTW our out on your boat see the wood steps and ladders attached to the ends of a lot of them? Guess what they are for?

BTW ... I learned to swim as a baby while my parents were stationed in the Canal zone in Panama..my dad threw me in the canal for my first lesson and said sink or swim....(I think it was a lesson?)

[fsquid]

you also swam uphill both way back then too, right?

[BabyBoomers2]

There are the two key words......"used to"! Nowadays, with the reports of dead fish floating and the foam, don't think most people would swim in it. We step in it to launch/retrieve our boat, but that's it!

Originally Posted by madcapmagishion

We used to swim in it all the time!(I've lived here since Jan "56'') When we were first learning to water ski we spent more time swimming than skiing. I had friends that lived on the river in Orange Park they even had a diving board and a slide mounted on their dock. We used to swim from Orange Park over to a friends house...he lived in Mandarin. The Bolles School used to have a summer camp where you had to prove you could swim in the river before you could take sailing or water skiing classes (river swimming is different than pool swimming)

No! No beaches but go look at some older docks when yBTW our out on your boat see the wood steps and ladders attached to the ends of a lot of them? Guess what they are for?

BTW ... I learned to swim as a baby while my parents were stationed in the Canal zone in Panama..my dad threw me in the canal for my first lesson and said sink or swim....(I think it was a lesson?)

[Northside904]

I'm surprised anyone goes swimming in the St.Johns River due to the toxic waste.