FLORIDA KEYS — Beginners, avid paddlers and outdoor enthusiasts looking for personalized kayaking and camping expeditions in the Keys can now paddle with the people who quite literally wrote the book about it.

For years, husband-and-wife writing team Bill and Mary Burnham have chronicled their outdoor travel adventures. Their Keys-based guidebook was developed during their three years as kayak guides in Key Largo.

Inspired by efforts to create a 111-mile Florida Keys Paddling Trail, the Burnhams paddled throughout the island chain. Their award-winning chart book, “The Florida Keys Paddling Atlas,” sparked the development of a seasonal series of customized kayaking trips that communicate their passion and knowledge of the islands, landing spots, camping spots and "paddle-friendly" lodging and restaurants.

Their overnight Seven Mile Bridge expedition is to be offered every weekend through March. Considered an easy introduction to kayak camping, the trip is great for couples and families (two to six people maximum).

Its highlight is paddling beneath Marathon’s famed Seven Mile Bridge, one of the world's great engineering marvels. Participants explore the tiny island of Pigeon Key that once housed bridge construction workers, kayaking between Marathon and No Name Key, whose landing spot is located alongside an old steamboat ferry landing that dates to the days before the bridge was built. Evenings are spent watching egrets and ibis fish in the flats off an island campsite, and the final day's paddle is a circumnavigation of No Name Key.

Also offered are Lower Keys Backcountry trips, customized to groups of up to six people with a tailored schedule that fits the group’s needs, experience and appetite for adventure. The itinerary might include short days paddling the more than 200,000 acres of watery wilderness between Big Pine Key and Key West and spending long evenings on a beach, or pushing for more miles and more exposure to the wilderness.

The group camps each night, often 10 or more miles from “civilization,” so the trip is described as primitive — a suitable escape from traffic noise to play in the surf along the Gulf of Mexico, explore a maze of mangrove creeks and culminate at sunset in Key West.

The Burnhams’ signature expedition, a nine-day “Paddle to Paradise” from Key Largo to Key West, is to be offered Feb. 9-17 and March 12-20. The trip is limited to 10 people.

Paddlers explore their endurance and limits, camping each night and enjoying it in true Keys fashion — snorkeling coral heads or pulling up to an empty beach for lunch. Peppered with tales of Indian Key’s intriguing shipwreckers, a 1935 hurricane that toppled a train and the embodiment of the human spirit at Long Key Viaduct and the Seven Mile Bridge, this excursion to the United States’ southernmost point is quite an accomplishment.

The Burnhams’ philosophy is to make each trip special.

“By keeping our [maximum] numbers down, we keep our footprint small out there on the islands,” said Bill Burnham. “It also gives the trips a slightly more intimate feel, and our goal is to leave a place as if no one was there.”

Cost ranges from $295 per person for overnight trips to $1,350 for lengthier, eight-night trips. Fees include boats, camping gear, guide and shuttle services, a full menu of camp meals and orientation on the camping system, as well as instruction and a skills assessment with a preparatory kayaking session.

Trips are expected to fill quickly, and a minimum of three days’ to one week’s notice is required.

For more information and details of the excursions, visit BurnhamGuides.com or call Bill and Mary Burnham at 305-240-3298.