Winter is the perfect time to get away and if that includes a trip to warm, sunny Florida with a wildlife encounter? Sign me up!
Every winter, thousands of manatees migrate to the warm waters of southeast Florida. And Citrus County in Florida is the only place in the United States where it’s legal to swim with manatees! The clear waters off the Gulf Coast make it a perfect spot for people to safely view and interact with manatees.
The ideal time to swim with manatees is from November to March, with peak manatee numbers happening between December through February. I made the venture in early February, and there were a substantial amount of manatees floating about.
Within Citrus County, there are a lot of visiting options including Crystal River, Homossassa Springs, Tarpon Springs, Blue Springs, Weeki Wachee Springs, Silver Springs State Park, Chassahowitzka River, Round Island in Vero Beach, and Merritt Island National Refuge. But only one of these places holds the title of the “Manatee Capital of the World”—Crystal River. And with a name like that, I just had to visit for my first manatee swim.
To get there, you have two main airports you can fly into for this trip: Tampa or Orlando. If you fly into Tampa, it’s a quick 1 hour 15 minute drive north, and for Orlando, it’s about an hour and a half drive west. Since I didn’t have a preference on airports, I went with the cheapest option—and that turned out to be Orlando.
We flew in late night so when we landed we were hungry for some dinner. Prior to boarding we scoped out some restaurants and gave ourselves three options for dinner: Assaby Street Food for Arabic, BaBbi BaBbi Korean Kitchen for Korean fried chicken, and Seol Gard Restaurant for Korean. We ultimately went to BaBbi BaBbi Korean Kitchen and were not disappointed!
Once you get to the area, you realize that there are plenty of wonderful places to stay from hotels to bnb’s. We stayed at an airbnb about a half hour away from Crystal River. The airbnb grabbed my attention since it was located on a farm with hiking trails and we could explore the land in our down time. Plus they had a cow! And during my stay I saw a little opossum scurry up a tree one night so bonus cute critters!
Since this was my first time swimming with manatees, I did a ton of research beforehand. Manatees are most active in the early morning, so to get the best experience, be sure to book an early tour. My tour kicked off bright and early at 7 AM, which gave us time to meet up and get fitted in our wetsuits before heading out to the water. Wetsuits are designed to keep you warm in the cold waters but they certainly make you feel self conscious at any size. So keep that in mind and don’t fret, we all look awkward in them. If you’re worried about sizing, either drop your tour company an email or give them a call and they will happily go over measurements to ease your mind.
Speaking of tour companies, there are plenty in the area and many have good reviews on google. For my swim, I wanted to find one that not only had a plethora of good reviews, but also prioritized wildlife responsibility and the well-being of the manatees. For this, I decided to pull the trigger and choose Gulf Coast Expeditions (GC). The expedition is 3 hours in length, this includes time to get into your wetsuits, go over rules, and travel to the boat, and cost about $80 per person – which was well worth the money.
The tour company made it super easy for us by providing the masks, snorkel, and wet suits so all we had to pack were sunglasses, sunscreen and a warm cover up for after we finished the swim.
Once we wrangled ourselves into the wet suits, they had us watch the safety and rules video provided by Fish and Game.
The video included going over guidelines including reminders like manatees are a protected species and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife service have put these restrictions in place: Do NOT initiate contact with manatees and calmly observe manatees from a distance at the surface.
Prohibited:
- Chasing or Pursuing manatees
- Disturbing or touching a resting or feeding manatee
- Cornering or surrounding a manatee
- Riding, holding, grabbing, pinching, poking, prodding or stabbing a manatee with anything, including your hands and feet
- Standing on a manatee
- Separating a mother and calf or separating a group of manatees
- Giving a manatee anything to eat or drink
- Actively initiating contact with belted/tagged manatee(s)
- Interfering with rescue and research activities
Afterward, the guide took the time to go over any questions we had, making sure we understood all the guidelines and were prepared for a safe and enjoyable experience with the manatees. The crew seemed passionate about this work and keeping the manatees safe which, as an animal lover, is something I truly appreciate from this company.
Our tour was smaller, another reason for choosing this tour company, with only 6 of us total. We loaded onto the shuttle, drove for about 10 minutes, and then made our way onto the boat. The anticipation roared inside as we made our way over to our docking spot. We were only one of two boats out on the water this morning which gave us plenty of room. Our guide gave us a quick overview of our snorkeling gear and a pool noodle to help us remain still while watching the manatees. We plopped into the water and within seconds the magic started. Our first curious manatee came up to our boat and was checking us out and then from the corner of my eye, a second one joined us. After a few minutes of watching these two, we made our way closer to a pack of manatees chilling out. Within minutes we were surrounded by close to 30 manatees and seeing them so up close was magical.
I lost track of time while watching these majestic creatures but I believe we were visiting with them for a little under 2 hours. I underwater smiled the entire time. One curious baby came up to me and hung out for a while. I made sure to keep my distance and not reach out but it was a magical experience and I felt like I was chosen! When they come up to you and make eye contact it is like nothing you’ve ever experienced. But as a reminder, Manatees are naturally curious which is why we must keep them protected since getting too comfortable with humans is ultimately their downfall.
Unfortunately after some time, you have to make your way back to the boat to wrap up your tour, though I could have hung out with those manatees all day without getting bored. Once we climbed on board, the company provided coffee and hot chocolate to help you warm up which was a nice surprise! Everyone on our tour had a blast and it was great chatting with the caption and the fellow guests about their experience.
It was an amazing experience, and I highly recommend it! Can’t get enough of manatees? Check out these dazzling fun facts.
After you change out of your wetsuit and say goodbye to your tour guides, you’re gonna be hungry – which makes sense after all that swimming. I highly recommend the Biscuit Barn which was conveniently right down the road from the tour company. They make homemade biscuits daily and man are they tasty! It’s the perfect comfort meal to help fuel you up after an exciting adventure.
There are several other parks in the area if you want to see the manatee’s top side including Crystal River National Wildlife Refuge Visitor Center and Three Sisters Spring. The Crystal River National Wildlife Refuge has a free visitor center where you can go in and learn more about the manatees which is open 9-4 and a short boardwalk and viewing platform outside the center. I highly recommend stopping in and learning more about the manatees – plus it’s a perfect place to get some manatee merch! There is also Three Sisters Springs in the area which has a $20pp entrance fee, but honestly I would skip this one unless you are looking for an accessible trail to view manatees from above.
Swimming with manatees was a terrific experience and I would definitely do it time and time again!
