manatees

[DandyDon]

Like others have said, winter is the best time to find them. Your best bet to see and interact with them would be to use a guide service. The best one I have found is Birds Underwater at Crystal River. On our last trip with them, we had 15-20 manatees all around us for about 2 1/2 hrs, several of which insisted on us scratching them..I would suggest you email them and see what they have to offer this time of year. www.birdsunderwater.com

I took my extended family out with Bird's. Great outfit. We found "animals" in June, as some of them stay in Kings Bay to graze the invasive hydrilla. One thing, tho': They don't like email. Call them on the free phone line you'll find on their site.

Saw other boats that relocate from Homossa Springs to Kings Bay in the summer. Glad I was on Birds. Not all put a crew member in the water to lead the newbies, but our's did.

 

[zuzanne]

To get there, take the Turnpike North from Orlando. It ends at I75, then just after you get on I75 take the first exit sign will say State Road #44 West to Inverness. 44 takes you straight into the North end of Crystal River. We always stay at the Best Western Hotel on Kings Bay and do the manatee snorkel trip with them. Its a nice reasonably priced place to stay, snorkel with the manatees and has a a couple of good restaurants right down the street that you can walk to. Do be sure to drive South to Hommassassa State Park. its about 6-10 miles South of Crystal River and is a great place to visit. Also South of that is the Weechi Wachee Gardens and mermaid show for something totally different & unique.

Have a safe trip. This is a beautiful area of Florida to visit. I'm sure you will have a great time there.

zuzanne

 

[rachelcbaker]

thanks to everyone for your replies - lots of really great information!

am really looking forward to our time in florida, hoping that the weather holds out for us (and for everyone else over there of course!). we are hoping to do some diving at kings cavern after the manatee tour which will hopefully get us back into practice for when we go down to key largo.

any recommendations for dive operators down there? there are so many on the net to choose from . i have emailed most of them but only a couple have got back.

cheers

rachel

 

[CBulla]

I've got recipies for Manatee as well, that is should manatee season be open while your here.

Kidding! Enjoy your time with the manatees, its quite an experience to actually see them.

 

[Scubakevdm]

hi, i am coming over to florida from the UK in a few weeks time and staying in kissimee before heading down to the keys for some diving.

can anyone help as to the best place to snorkel with manatees. i know there is a place at crystal river but i don't know how far that is to drive from kissimee or if there is somewhere else.

thanks in advance for any replies, i might not be able to reply to each post!

cheers

rachel

Hey.... did you call me today about this, at Splashdown? I spoke with a woman from the UK who was interested in diving with manatees. I think it was you! Huh, small world! Anyway, I told her Crystal River too.

 

[rachelcbaker]

Hey.... did you call me today about this, at Splashdown? I spoke with a woman from the UK who was interested in diving with manatees. I think it was you! Huh, small world! Anyway, I told her Crystal River too.

not me - i am too tight to call from the UK!!!