My Grandson wanta' swim with manatees; I wanta' Scuba

[DandyDon]

Hope I'm not too late for your plans. There are a few dozen manatee whove made Crystal River their year round home. I do tours for a living and although the manatee are not always in clear spring water, there are only one or two days in a year that I can't put people in the water with playful manatee.

Welcome to SB. You might want to introduce yourself in the Intros Forum http://www.scubaboard.com/f19.html and you might want to list your web site in your profile, so people like TNARC1 and I can find your business. SB is very restrictive about seeking business here without paying for an ad, but you are certainly welcome to list your web site on your profile.

We're still thinking about the Florida trip, but the summer air fares for 4 people old enough to pay for tickets is slowing us down. We'll probably do Florida, but not confirmed yet. Maybe they'll have a sale...?

I do have them about talked into The Keys, where my Scuba possibilities would be more interesting, however:
(a) Orlando-Tampa are would be cheaper to fly to; and
(b) There's certainly a lot more to do for a family up yonder.

Anyway, PM me your web site link, too, if you wouldn't mind...

thanks, don

 

[DEEPSEAWOLF]

If all else fails, head to Homassassa Springs State Park.

 

[subbs1]

Hope I'm not too late for your plans. There are a few dozen manatee whove made Crystal River their year round home. I do tours for a living and although the manatee are not always in clear spring water, there are only one or two days in a year that I can't put people in the water with playful manatee.

hi; I'm a novice on these boards, and may mess this up (with apologies), but will be in florida the first week in may, and am interested in snorkeling with manatees; please provide me with information re the tours you guide. thanks. steve

 

[GrierHPharmD]

I've been to the Crystal River/Homosassa River area several times, and I might recommend renting a boat from one of the local operators (I seem to remember Plantation Inn having pontoon boats for around $95/day). You can go out to a little Island (Bananna Island?) and dive into King's Spring (A small cavern with depths up to 53 ffw). The manatee are a little more plentiful at Homosassa River.

American Pro Divers has a nice little tour/introduction trip to the headwaters of the Homosassa. It leaves early in the morning and gets there before the other operators. They also videotape the dive, so you have something to take home for the little ones. I did it two years ago, and my daughter has had great show-and-tell sessions ever since.

While you're in the area, check out Rainbow River. It's a nice drift dive/drift snorkel trip. Depths are shallow (25-30 ft max), but vis is good and there are lots of fossils on the bottom, a few little cavern/spring boils, and good freshwater fish life. Last time we did it, I used a local guy's boat, and he charged roughly $25/person. The entry point is KP hole park. I seem to remember that I got his number from them. The company's name is "Underwater photography", or something like that and is based in Crystal River.

Good luck,
Grier

 

[South Dakota Diver]

Hope I'm not too late for your plans. There are a few dozen manatee whove made Crystal River their year round home. I do tours for a living and although the manatee are not always in clear spring water, there are only one or two days in a year that I can't put people in the water with playful manatee.

Hi -We will be in Tampa Jul 20-24 and we too are looking to dive/swim with these , as my son calls them "fat with a Brain"
2 are divers and 3 kids( all teenagers) any info would be great

 

[DandyDon]

Hi -We will be in Tampa Jul 20-24 and we too are looking to dive/swim with these , as my son calls them "fat with a Brain"
2 are divers and 3 kids( all teenagers) any info would be great

I booked with Birds Underwater in Crystal River: Ph 800-771-2763. Most of thse cousins to the elephant leave in the summer, but a few hang around the springs. He said they saw 5 the day I called. We leave here the 21st, and we do their boat the 23rd.

 

[zuzanne]

Birds Underwater is in Crystal River. They operate a dive shop, have a few house rentals right on the Crystal River that comes with kayaks for the guests use. Rates are pretty reasonable. They can set you up with diving and snorkeling for the others in your group. I love the Crystal River/Homassassa Springs area. Homassassa State park is a terrific place to see the manatees in an underwater viewing platform along with other wildlife. While most manatees do leave the springs in the summer, there are quite a few who stay there year round. We have also stayed at the Best Western Kings Bay Resort for very reasonable prices and rented their small boats and tooled around the area. They also have a dive shop on site with all types of rental gear. It is a beautiful place.

you can view their webpage at www.birdsunderwater.com

Zuzanne

 

[GrierHPharmD]

Hi Don,

First of all, you certainly don't have to be a local to be welcome here!

Secondly, I spoke with some of the dive operators (American Pro is the one I remember best) at Ocean Fest a couple of months ago, and they said the same thing that 1cavediver said above, i.e. that there are manatee in Crystal River year round. I've only dived there in December and January, so I don't have any first-hand experience.

Here's a link to a Crystal River page. It has a nice little cutaway diagram of King's Spring, a diveable cavern (~53ffw) in the bay there. Homosassa river (~7 miles south) is also good for manatee snorkeling.

Good luck,
Grier

http://www.floridacaves.com/crystalriver.htm

 

[DandyDon]

Hey, thanks you two...

I think I asked for logistic input, then reported my plans on a different thread, but who knows where I put that. We've got 4 adults, 1 adolescent, and 1 one year old in our group, so I booked 2 full size cars to get us around with flexibility.

They did not have a cottage with 2 privies when I called, so we're doing 2 nights, 3 rooms the the Crystal River Best Western, Weeke Wache park Thursday morning, then Birds tours Friday morning. I know better than try to plan too much with this motley bunch, so we'll leave the first afternoon open, and just plan on moving on the second one.

We then do 3 nights, 3 rooms at the Best Western at Busch Gardens. One day will be beach day at a beach to be determined, one for the park, and the last day for whatever before we fly out at 6pm.

Had fun organizing our snorkel gear last weekend, going thru what I already have that fits the rest, buying Sproting Good Store fins & snorkel, Walmart water shoes, etc. I'm not taking my dive gear on this trip, as there just won't be time, but then - I'll take a couple of Cert cards, just in case...