When I grew up in Florida, we used to be able to go swimming or water skiing in lakes without fear of alligators. Moccasins, yes, alligators, no. Ok, there were a handful of lakes that had alligators, but you didn’t go skiing in those lakes. You could even go rafting or tubing down the rivers. Can’t do that anymore.
I learned to ski in Winter Haven in the early 70’s. You DID NOT fall off the skis as the lake was full of alligators
Of course you can. Santa Fe, Suwanee for kayak. Ichetucknee is fine for tubing. Just pay attention.
I think a lot of that is because of the urban sprawl of Florida, I don’t know how old you are, but think about 40-50 years ago and what Florida was like then, Disney was barely open, the population of Florida was half or less than what it is today. move all those gators out of their areas and force them more in smaller areas.