Crystal River / Three Sisters DIY

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TightLines

Contributor
Messages
392
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Location
Florida
# of dives
500 - 999
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
 
By all means contact FWC. They will give you the rules that you need to know about boating and how to interact with the manatees, with a link to a video. Since you have to answer to them for your conduct, you should contact them, makes sense. Their rules are online to see but they can give you current updates on closures or any new rule changes that might not be on the web.

You mention three sisters specifically. there are special rules in place for there, and limited access. Again, contact FWC as the rules might change and there can be sudden closures in the event of extreme cold snaps or excessive numbers of people. Swimming access to three sisters is from a canal. You cannot tie up to the shore and must anchor. There are lots of dive operator boats in the area competing for the same anchoring areas, and the water is full of snorkelers. You can do it, but extreme caution is required. Also, your boat needs to be low as you must go under a low bridge. Pontoon boats are typical. Multi-level boats or ones with fixed T- tops are not good.

King spring is the other most productive site, and you have to anchor there as well. Obviously you need a dive flag on the boat everywhere you go.

If you are photographers, there are special rules. I was told, no flash until 1 hour after sunrise, and no flash closer than 8 feet to the animal. No video or focus lights, at all, ever.

Other than the above, there are really no special "logistics" to the dives. You just go where the springs are and hope for the best. If you go when its cold, you need shelter from the wind once you are on the boat, and hot drinks. 3 mil wetsuits are OK, I prefer my 5 mil. I use a hood and boots as well. I like being toasty and getting longer time in the water.

When I go, I use Birds. The dive ops know where the manatees are and also their boats communicate with each other in real time about different sites as to where the encounters are best. I sympathize on the cost of these dives, but the convenience is worth it to me.

If you have never done this, and get a good day, you will never forget it. That these animals voluntarily do, and enjoy, encounters with people is just amazing.
 
Thanks for your input.

We contacted FWC and got the scoop.

In addition to Crystal River we've also been given advice to consider Homosassa.

Any feedback on the two different locations, especially from a DIY perspective?
 
Homosassa has basically one location. You go to the head spring of the river. It is roped off at the beginning of the park and there is no boat or snorkel access beyond the rope. You can anchor there, it is a pretty big area, and snorkel with the manatees. There is a low bridge back into a neighborhood to the south of anchoring area and sometimes you can swim in there and see manatees as well, unless the rules have changed..It's been about 6 years since I did Homosassa. I am not sure how far the nearest boat ramp is to the snorkel area, but probably not too far. Again, there will be lots of boats anchoring in the space and lots of snorkelers, but it is do-able, I think even easier than Crystal River. Homosassa is a really neat "old florida" town with some good places to eat on the river and the whole river area is worth exploring, especially back into Hall's River, after you are done with your snorkel.

In general terms, I think Crystal River has more locations, more manatees and better and more reliable chances for encounters. But, Homasassa can be really good as well, and, when I did it, was somewhat less crowded (but also fewer animals, so the people were still pretty thick near the animals). If you have a trailered boat, and two days, you can do both.

Let us know what you did and how it went!
 
Guy - many thanks for your help.

We went to Homosassa over the weekend and had a good time. There were many manatees outside of the ropes on Saturday but Sunday was a completely different story. Only 3-4 outside.

The real let down was the extremely poor visibility.

Any idea how the visibility between Crystal River and Homosassa generally compare? This trip was just enough to have us hankering for a trip when the conditions are better. I figured that since we're so close to the headspring the visibility would be generally unaffected by rain, certainly didn't seem to be the case. Either that or something else was to blame for the conditions.

Thanks again for your help.
 
We did Crystal River/King's Bay two weekends ago for the manatees and of all the places we got wet that weekend King's Bay (where the manatees were) had the worst viz BUT, you could still see them when they came up to you for some lovin..
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I kayak'd up to Three Sisters from Port Hotel and Marina. It was a bit of a paddle, but just a stone's throw from Kings Springs (another place they hang out in Kings Bay). The hotel has a hugs parking lot and they had no problems with me inflating my own kayak from their docks - even though they rent their own boats. The hotel is not 1st class but the location is perfect. It also had balconies, which were great for hanging up the drysuit (it was cold and I snorkeled with the drysuit).

I will (and plan) to do it again soon. They kayaking was very cool because you can see the manatees go up and down to 3 Sisters. I just tied it to the shore next to the entrance to the spring. A few other kayaks were already tied up there.
 
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