Monte: Florida has some great lakes and rivers to Kayak in, and many mangrove forests right next to the ocean. As far as alligators go, they generally do not bother people. We are not their natural prey, and they tend to leave when they see us. Water mocassins are very aggressive however, and they are venomous. Those things are not to be fucked with. I have kayaked around manatees before, and my impression was they are fat dimwitted beasts, though generally harmless. Speaker said those things tried to flip his canoe over before, so maybe they are assholes idk.
Personally, I think alligators and crocodiles are pretty awesome. Its like seeing a living dinosaur. I used to love going to gatorland and seeing them jump for chicken. The St. John's river is pretty awesome, as is Lake Jessup, and they are full of alligators. I've never kayaked on Lake Okeechobee (which is the huge lake that is in the middle of the Southern part of Florida and the only lake you can see on a zoomed out map of the state), but I've heard it has bull sharks in it. If you ever end up visiting, send me a message. We can throw sticks at the alligators like I used to when I was a kid.
I remember at UF I threw pinecones at them and they tried to eat them. Not terribly bright. I also knocked one unconscious at the okeefenokee swamp during a canoe trip when I managed to drop a rock right on its soft spot. To be fair, it was swimming dangerously close to our boat and we tried to evade it and motioned it to leave. It came back up later, but its eyes went white and it went under. They are pretty cool and fun to interact with. You just have to treat them with respect.