TightLines
Contributor
I've done some poking around here and elsewhere for information on taking your own boat (as opposed to one of the ops) to snorkel with the manatees but haven't had much luck.
We have four (very respectful) people interested in visiting Crystal River for a weekend but were pretty surprised by the prices. Bird's (recommended) is $60 per snorkeler for a couple of hours. That adds up to $480 to snorkel with the manatees twice. We have a boat that we were hoping to take and use instead.
The last thing we want to do is run afoul of any rules or courtesies.
What we're having trouble with is:
Where can the boat be left when we snorkel with the manatees?
Should it be tied up or anchored?
Is there any type of permit required?
We can always reach out to local FWC for permit and written rules information but fear we won't get honest answers on the logistics of doing a couple of snorkels from our own boat.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks
We have four (very respectful) people interested in visiting Crystal River for a weekend but were pretty surprised by the prices. Bird's (recommended) is $60 per snorkeler for a couple of hours. That adds up to $480 to snorkel with the manatees twice. We have a boat that we were hoping to take and use instead.
The last thing we want to do is run afoul of any rules or courtesies.
What we're having trouble with is:
Where can the boat be left when we snorkel with the manatees?
Should it be tied up or anchored?
Is there any type of permit required?
We can always reach out to local FWC for permit and written rules information but fear we won't get honest answers on the logistics of doing a couple of snorkels from our own boat.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks