Surrounded by shimmering, protected waterways, Sarasota is ideal for kayaking, and some of the area's most appealing restaurants reside at the water's edge, dinosaurs from an age that once welcomed clapboard fishing shacks with rustic docks and dining rooms.

Today, they're a closely held secret of local residents who consider their old-Florida charm a welcome change of pace from Sarasota's more fashionable dining establishments.

Even if you've visited these restaurants by land, you'll gain a new appreciation for them if you arrive by kayak. Sarasota is impossibly beautiful when you view it from the water, and unlike larger boats or canoes, kayaks put you at eye level with most marine life. This can be disconcerting when the marine life is a hammerhead shark menacing your stringer of mangrove snapper. But how else will you ever get close enough to spy two manatees in the tumult of making love?

Besides, nothing whets an appetite for seafood like watching a pod of dolphins feed on a school of caravel jack; and the most romantic cocktail you'll ever sip is the one you order after sliding up to shore under a full moon while hundreds of mullet roil the waters around you like popcorn.

Kayakers treasure moments like that, and their appetite for adventure equals their appetite for classic Florida cuisine. They also know the biggest advantage of kayaking to Sarasota's waterfront restaurants is that once you've stuffed yourself, you can paddle off the pounds on your way back to the car. So pack up the life preservers and head to some of our favorites.

Manager Joseph Angelo likes to call the 16-year-old Spanish Pointe Pub and Restaurant in Osprey "Sarasota's best-kept secret." With its blue wooden exterior and Spanish tile roof, it's an appealing mix of old Florida and the Mediterranean. Outside, a newly refurbished deck offers dining under beach umbrellas, and two boat docks extend into Sarasota Bay, while inside, cheerful bartenders keep the conversation humming and the small televisions tuned to the best games.

A hearty menu of crab cake sandwiches, juicy hamburgers and tangy quesadillas ranges in price from $3.50 to $14.95. The restaurant seats 25-30 people inside; but Angelo says that because of the spectacular sunset views (this is one of those places where the sun seems to melt in a sea of thick, gray molasses), most people eat outside.

To get there, put in at the Vamo Road ramp, just south of Sarasota Square Mall. You can back your car right up to the water-the shallow sloping pitch makes it a dream to offload. Once in the water, head left, past channel marker 38. Spanish Point Pub will be on your left between channel markers 38 and 39. Paddling full out will get you there within 20 minutes, but take your time and enjoy some leisurely fishing along the way.

Keep to your left on this trip and as far out of the channel as possible. When the larger boats go tearing through, the wake will send you flying. Hold on and imagine you're on a ride at Disney and you'll be fine. Also be careful of the oyster beds at low tide. A sure-fire way to avoid them is to watch the sea birds. If you see gulls standing up in the water, go wide.

135 Bay View Drive

Osprey, FL 34229

(941) 966-5746

Open Monday-Saturday 11:30 a.m.-10 p.m.

Open Sunday noon to 10 p.m.

Entertainment Sunday from 3-6 p.m.

One of the area's oldest waterfront restaurants, the Casey Key Fish House is located just west of the Blackburn Point swing bridge in Osprey. Its austere exterior and fresh seafood evoke what owner Jim Von Huberts calls "old Florida at its best."

The patio dining room is actually built over water that you can see (and hear) through the floorboards, and boaters have long flocked here for the hot, garlic shrimp, sautéed snapper and real lump crab cakes. (Even "Beggar the Dolphin" greets boaters going in and out of the channel, hoping for an occasional leftover.)

Most items range from $4.95 to $11.95; the one exception is the seafood bouillabaisse. Chock full of lobster tail, shrimp and scallops, it takes two days to make and is the most expensive item on the menu at $23.95.