Manatee tour advice

[Boer]

I am an experienced diver but my girlfriend has only a few years under her belt.

I was raised in the tropics and have traveled all over the world.

We are planning a trip between feb 15-25th and want to dive with manatees.

We are both zookeepers and want an ecologically respectful tour.

We LOVED rainbow river and Ginnie springs but this year we want to dive at least 3 sites.....

any advice would be awesome....Thanks, Gavin

 

[carlcz]

If you can get to the head springs at Homossassa Springs (rent a boat) early in the AM, you will probably have your pick of viewing manatees, BEFORE the various folks show up and "muddy the waters". Depth there is about 6-8 feet deep, with normally lots of manatees (20-50). Snorkelling works best here, so should be fie for your girlfriend. Spring temps about 70 degrees F. For deeper water try Kings Bay (Crystal River), Three sisters, etc are good spots. There are a number of tours in the area, Bird's Dive shop is good (Crystal River), the folks in Homossassa are American(?) Outfitters(?), they can rent you a boat or provide a tour. Most dive shops can provide the PADI Manatee Awareness Course to get you acclimated, if you need another certification card.

 

[Boer]

we stopped by kings bay but there was a water lice issue the locals were telling me....

that was last year....

homossassa sounds awesome....is there a website that is better than this for free divers or snorkelers interested in wildlife and Florida springs???

 

[surfsidedav]

I've been on alot of these trips and agree that Kings Spring and Three Sisters are hot spots for manatees. This also makes them hot spots for snorkelers, so if you want your best chance of an encounter, I'd suggest getting out as early as you can. And the colder the outside temps are, the better. While you're at Homosassa, you may as well visit the wildlife park there. They have manatee presentations daily. Here is some general info.
Main Page - Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park Florida State Parks
Homosassa Wildlife Park - ManateeCam Information

 

[Boer]

i was speaking with my local dive center and they tell me the guys at American pro have a 3 dive deal for 99 bucks per person, 2 dives at homossassa, and one at crystal......sounds awesome....

 

[redstrom]

We went with the dive shop at the Plantation Inn around thanksgiving last year. They ran a small boat/group (7 adults on our trip) to King's Spring and Three Sisters. I was generally impressed by our captain/guide (who also got in the water with us and shot a video) and his conservative approach to interacting with the Manatees (i.e. strict enforcement of posted rules).

We were originally scheduled to go with American Pro Diving but canceled with them after reading a number of disturbing posts on this board. Can't speak to the truth of these posts, but the youtube video clips speaks for themselves.

King's Spring was clearly my favorite stop. Water was murky but the manatees were very friendly and repeatedly kept coming up to our group.

The second stop, three Sisters was a complete mayhem with tons of boats, droves of kids, people chasing manatees left and right. We saw several people diving down harassing manatees resting on the bottom. Our guide had to stop one guy (not in our group) from messing with a sleeping(?) manatee, and ended up alerting the manatee watch guys (volunteers in canoes) who contacted the sheriff(?) who showed up shortly.

I'm glad we did the trip. But the scene at the second stop convinced me that they ought to stop or at least control the number of people in and around the springs.

 

[JBRES1]

Not sure when you plan to go, but today there is a video on CNN that shows about 100 Manatees staying warm neat the power plant in Riviera Beach Fl. They are sunning themselvs and staying warm in the discharge water coming from the power plant.
Here is a link to the video.
Video - Breaking News Videos from CNN.com

Jim Breslin

 

[isburgh]

I had a great experience with American Pro two weeks ago. Did the Crystal River Manatee Swim and Kings Spring Dive, Rainbow River Drift Dive and Homosassa Manatee Swim. I also did the Manatee Specialty to learn more about these wonderful creatures.

I found American Pro very professional and their guides very pleasant, capable, knowledgeable and respectful of the animals.

The best advice is probably to go on a weekday if possible and definitely go early.

Have Fun!

 

[Boer]

I would really like to avoid the tourist trap.

I have seen some bad stuff on youtube.

 

[Pearldiver07]

I believe the above poster was referring to American Pro Divers.

I led a trip there with them a few years ago and I can vouch for their approach to protecting the Manatees. They maintained just enough headway to maintain control of the boat. They also reported one boat going to fast, and personally corrected more than one snorkeller from both our boat and others who were pursuing the manatees.

I was impressed. If only more companies were that eco-friendly..