When I Float in The Great Salt Lake, Utah with Brine Shrimps and Flies. Eeekk!
Disclaimer: This post may contain affiliate links, which means I may earn a commission from the discount codes used or when a link/ad is clicked. All purchases made will come at no extra cost to you, and I only include products and services that I have personally used and would recommend. Also, Two Worlds Treasures is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associate Programs. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
Do you know you can float in the Great Salt Lake? I didn’t know until I looked for things to do around Salt Lake City for our vacation three summers ago. A few pictures of people floating in the Great Salt Lake popped up in my screen and I thought, hmm… I’ve been floating in the Dead Sea before, so this is going to be my second experience of floating in the lake.
I was so excited! All this time I thought Great Salt Lake wasn’t ‘salty’ enough for people to be able to float. I told the plan to my husband and son, showed them the pictures, and they sold. Yippee!
But there’s a catch that I found out after we got there.
Where to float in the Great Salt Lake
After poking around, I found a place to do the float: Antelope Island State Park. It is about 41 miles north of Salt Lake City, to the west of the town of Layton.
Camping, hiking, horseback riding, cycling, and wildlife watching are some of the activities that you can do at this park, too. It opens year-round with hours of operation varied by season and you can click here for a complete information on Antelope Island State Park.
When I Float in The Great Salt Lake
There weren’t too many people when we got to the Antelope Island. In fact, there was only a group of tourists from China at the Visitors Center. After touring the facility and grab the park’s map, we made a quick loop around the park while waiting for the sun to go down. It’s two days before July 4th, so it’s hot.
Then we picked Bridger Bay where there’s a restroom with shower and a concession nearby. We didn’t see any cars at the parking, and I thought it’s good. So, there would be only us in the beach.
After we changed clothes, we walked straight to the beach. In a distance we saw like less than 10 people floating and paddle boarding in the water. They sounded like they had fun. I couldn’t wait to jump and float and showed my sister the pictures. (She went with me floating in the Dead Sea, too).
But, the closer we were to the water, we started smelling something bad. And it’s not gone when we moved further. It’s even getting stronger! Then we started to hear buzzing sounds and when we saw the water, it looked dark. When we got closer, my husband screamed, “It’s flies and brine shrimp.” Eeekk! I tell you what. It looked nasty.
“Let’s walk a bit further. Maybe we won’t see them in the deeper place,” I told my husband and son. Determined to float in the Great Salt Lake and we made it that far already, I didn’t plan to leave before I floated. But billions of brine shrimps and flies were still there.
Then my husband had enough. “I’m going back to the car. You can go float if you want to. This is too nasty,” he said.
“But who’s going to take my pictures?” I asked.
After a negotiation, my husband agreed to take pictures from where he stood while I went further inside to the lake. My then 8-year-old son didn’t want to come. “It’s stink, mommy. I just want to go back,” he said.
Finally, I stopped when the water reached my thigh and floated for about, I don’t know, a minute maybe? And the brine shrimps and flies were still around though not as many. If you see the black dots in the picture below, those were the brine shrimps and flies.
Then we walked back to the restroom and took a shower. We had brine shrimps stuck to our swimsuit and trunks. When we got back to the hotel, we took another shower. This time was a looong one.
Should I float in the Great Salt Lake?
Honestly, it’s your choice. The lake was smelly and nasty with all the flies and brine shrimps when we were there. I read it’s almost like that all year, so even locals just go and try it once. It’s a ‘been there done that’ kind of thing.
If you really want to do it, you know what to expect from my experience. Maybe it will be better if you go further until the water reach your chest. You will still have to deal with brine shrimps and flies in the beginning of your walk though. Or, call the park’s office to find information about the beach condition the day you want to visit.
But, no matter how nasty it was, I got to cross float in the Great Salt Lake from my bucket list. Now on to salt lake #3!
This would easily be an eeek experience for me! I remember swimming in the Dead Sea and absolutely loved it. However, I’m not sure I’d enjoy swimming with the shrimp, and more! Plus, how long did it take you to get rid of the smell in the shower?! Glad you still managed to try the Great Salk Lake.
I don’t remember how long I showered to get rid of the smell. I do remember I soaped and shampooed twice, then did it again once we got to the hotel. 🙂
I went to the Great Salt Lake about 25 years ago, and all I remember from it was the flies. Ick! We definitely did not float in it. You were brave to go in for a picture!
I was already there with my swim suits on, and in the water up to my ankle. So, just do it. Haha… I think it’s like people going to Thailand and eating all those scorpions, grasshopper, ants, etc. lol.
Wow, you’re brave to float in the Great Salt Lake! There are actually a few spots on the northern-most point of the lake that aren’t covered in flies and brine shrimp!
If only I heard about that points. 🙂
Oh I didn’t know you could float in the great salt lake either! The only place I heard you could float in was the Dead Sea. I’ll have to check this out.
Apparently you could!
That doesn’t sound very appealing. I’m surprised it’s such a popular thing to do if it’s so unpleasant. Maybe there’s another part of the lake that’s not as bad? lol..
I don’t know. Maybe on the other side of the lake. Because the lake is huge.
This is good to know! I’d never realized you could float in the great salt lakes, but I also haven’t been to Salt Lake City since I was a little kid. I’m totally that person who would make the trek and get in the water anyway, like you, lol.
Haha… You’ve there already, so why don’t you, right?
Oh wow, this sounds a little gross but like a lot of things, its probably better than it sounds. You are a brave brave person. Wow!!
It’s gross, but we’re there already. What should I do? Haha…
Oh wow, that water looks pretty gross! I can’t believe you got in it! I’ve done the Dead Sea before too, so I don’t think I’d need another floating experience 😛
Hahaha… I understand that. Now I know it’s ok not to put it in the bucket list.
Wow, I never heard about Great Salt Lake before and seemed to be really interesting. I love the fact that, eventhough, the lake was smelly and has a lot of flies and brine shrimp, but still you guys manage to take a dip and enjoy what a great salt lake has to offer. I find it weird when you found a brine shrimp on your swimsuit on your way home.
We found the brine shrimp stuck to our swimsuit on our way to the bathroom in the park.
I have experienced something similar in the Dead Sea. You can just stay there, float, and as they say, read a newspaper. The truth is a bit different, you have to move a bit in order not to sink, but if you breath and keep air inside you, everything is set. You just float! Such a great experience. I would love to try it again, but Great Salt Lake in Utah is so far from Europe. Maybe someday.
I did Dead Sea before. And, yeah, Utah is so far from Europe. Maybe someday, like you said.
I was actually curious to see this great salt lake in Utah but I read somewhere online that it was just okay and it actually kind of smelled bad so I never really went out of my way to see it.
I approved it for you. Haha!
Uff, sounds like quite an…. experience?? Haha, I’m not sure if I’d have gone for a dip myself with the bring shrimp and flies, but posts like this are so helpful so that people know what they’re getting into before arriving! Great post.
Thank you! I think it’s like eating all kind of ants in Thailand.
I go to Utah all the time! I’ve even been to the Salt Lake a few times but haven’t tried to get in — mostly because of the flies. Still, I’d like to experience floating in a salty body of water. Maybe I’ll go to the Dead Sea instead!
I highly recommend Dead Sea if you get a chance to go there. But Salt Lake can always be your spare. 😉
Oh my goodness! I’m not sure I would have done that myself! The things we do to tick things off the travel list huh? That is probably why it was so quite and not something people did. Did you think it was worth it? Maybe it would be better at a different time of the year?
I’ve been to the Dead Sea, and I can say Salt Lake is not worth it. Unless you really, really want to do it because floating in the lake is in your bucket list but you don’t see yourself visiting Dead Sea in the future. And again, maybe if you go farther to the middle of the lake, it would be different.