Paddling Long Island and New York City. Kevin Stiegelmaier
are nothing short of amazing, Captree State Park may not be the best paddling location for everyone. Its waters can be quite busy with boat traffic, its tidal currents can be tricky to navigate, and its fishermen can be hard to avoid. Although such conditions may prove to be little more than nuisances to experienced paddlers, they can be quite dangerous to novices. But when conditions are right, Captree is the ideal place to spend a day on the beach or on the water. Come with your fishing pole, beach chair, binoculars, and of course your kayak and paddle, and enjoy all that it has to offer.
USGS Quadrangles BAY SHORE
WEST (NY), BAY SHORE EAST (NY)
Captree Island Circumnavigation
| Level | 2B | |
| Distanc | 5.8 miles around | |
| Time | 3 hours | |
| Navigable Navigablehs | Year-round | |
| Hazards | Tidal currents, boat traffic | |
| Portages | None | |
| Rescue Rescue | Limited | |
| Tidal Tidals | 2 hours before or after high tide | |
| Scenery | A |
2 DESCRIPTION Paddling around Captree Island is one of those trips that take a bit of extra work just to begin. The extra work in this case involves paddling a short distance to the north, past the state park’s popular fishing pier and across a busy boat channel before finally reaching the island’s southern side. But ask anyone who’s ever paddled here if this small amount of effort is worth it, and they’ll answer with an emphatic “Yes!”
Once you’re across the channel and just off Captree’s shore, your circumnavigation can begin. The question of whether to round it clockwise or counterclockwise can best be answered by the tide state. You could ride an incoming tide along the island’s south shore and paddle around the island clockwise, although you might find yourself fighting the current a bit as you round the eastern side of Captree. Alternately, you could paddle counterclockwise around the island and use an outgoing tide to carry you the last few miles as you head back to the park. Either option is fine, and just as enjoyable as its alternate.
Should you find yourself setting off clockwise, you’ll immediately notice that the shore you’re paddling along is completely undeveloped. Instead of docks and houses, the scenery comprises little more than a narrow strip of sand with a bit of beach grass beyond, overlooked by a few small trees wherever the land is high enough to remain consistently dry. Look south across the channel or west down its length, though, and you’ll see that things are a bit different. The docks that are home to Captree’s charter-boat fleet are due south, while a drawbridge spans the channel straight ahead. You’ll be paddling the next 1.5 miles between Captree State Park and Captree Island, passing the charter boats and under the bridge. The potential danger here lies in the heavy powerboat traffic that will be sharing the water with you. But rest assured: there’s enough room for a kayak outside of the channel markers to keep you safe, secure, and out of everyone else’s way.
After 0.5 mile you’ll come to the drawbridge, which is best navigated on the far right-hand (northern) side. Then, 0.2 mile later, an eclectic collection of waterfront homes begins on Captree’s southern shore. Ranging from small shacks to multilevel mini-mansions, almost all of these houses sport a dock of some sort containing any combination of personal watercraft, fishing boats, yachts, and speedboats. This is an excellent spot for doing a bit of people-watching while you paddle past the various setups. The last of these houses comes 0.6 mile later. You can then continue west for another 0.5 mile along Captree’s southern shore before you turn the bow of your kayak north. Alternatively, you can head up the channel just after the last house and bypass the island’s southwestern corner altogether. Amazingly, once you make this turn, you’ll feel as if you’re paddling in a completely different place.
When you examine the island’s topography using Google Earth, it’s easy to see that there is little difference between water and land within the vast marsh that makes up Captree’s interior. Whatever land exists is composed of clumps of peat and banks of mussels. On top of that grows spartina grass, with other marsh plants like phragmites, glasswort, and marsh elder growing a bit higher up. (Higher up is a relative term on Captree, though, as most of the island sits only a foot or two above sea level.)
While most of your attention will likely be focused on the sprawling marsh before you, keep an open eye for the many bird species that also appreciate the island’s environment. During spring and summer, the stark white feathers of great egrets will be quite easy to spot as they wade among the green and brown plants of the marsh. Likewise, the aerial antics and dive-bomb fishing techniques of the local terns will be obvious. Harder to spot as it sits almost completely still among the marsh grasses will be the reclusive, extremely well-camouflaged American bittern. Look for its yellow eye and outstretched neck with white and brown stripes. Should you be paddling here during the colder months, large groups of black ducks will appear around almost every corner of the marsh. You also may spy common mergansers, brants, and long-tailed ducks wintering along Captree’s shores.
DEEP INSIDE CAPTREE ISLAND’S MARSH
Continue paddling north through the island’s marsh, and you’ll come to its northern side and gain an excellent view of the Robert Moses Causeway with its iconic arches in 0.5 mile. This is also the time to turn your kayak to the east and continue your circumnavigation along the island’s northern shore on the Great South Bay. Alternately, a fairly wide channel cuts through the marsh at the top of the island and also leads to the causeway, albeit in a longer and more meandering manner. In fact, its path is so circuitous that it’s easier to carry an overhead image of this stretch of marsh than to try and find your own way through it.
Whichever path you take to the causeway, your next move is simple: pass under it and head around the island’s eastern half. From there you can head due south if you want to cut 0.5 mile off the trip. You’ll be able to follow the channel that bisects this section of Captree and be back on the island’s southern shore in 1.5 miles. Otherwise, head east toward the small, sandy beach 0.6 mile distant if you want to paddle around Captree’s entire eastern side.
I recommend taking the latter route, even though it’s 0.5 mile longer, as its scenery is quite different from that which you’ve experienced so far. Unlike the low-lying peat and mussel banks of Captree Island to the west, this side of the island sits on higher and drier ground. As a result, it actually has a fairly wide strip of sandy beach along its length. Because the beach is too dry for the likes of spartina and other saltwater-loving plants, phragmites and poison ivy grow here in abundance. There are even trees growing on this stretch of land, cottonwood and oak being quite prevalent. Unfortunately, the beautiful great egrets that are so frequently seen on the western side are rare here, but you can console yourself with views of willets, sandpipers, and other small shorebirds.
The island’s shore starts to curve back to the west about 0.5 mile down its length. Follow this curve as you paddle along the beach, and you’ll head toward a narrow gap of water between Captree and an unnamed island to its left. Keep looking as you close the half-mile distance to the break between the two islands, and Captree’s only other cluster of buildings should soon appear. Although these houses seem a bit smaller than those west of the drawbridge, they come complete with the same docks and collections of boats as the other cluster.
Once the last of these houses falls astern of your kayak,