Crystal River Manatee Tour: Up Close With Manatees

The moment I learned that there’s a place where you can swim with manatees in the wild, I knew I had to go visit. Crystal River is the only place in Florida where you can legally swim with manatees in their natural habitat.

Particularly, Kings Bay and Three Sisters Springs are known as the manatee capital. The winter-time is the peak manatee viewing season when manatees huddle into the bay and springs to keep warm.

Just as I thought, the experience turned out to be amazing. Being able to see the manatees up close while swimming right next to them should definitely go on the Florida bucket list.

Snorkeling Manatee Tour

There are many different kinds of manatee tours that I will go over later, but the one we particularly went on was the snorkeling manatee tour.

Our Crystal River manatee tour was specifically with Crystal River Watersports which was a great experience.

After we arrived at the location, we had to fill out some paperwork and soon after were given all of our gear. If you go on a manatee tour, you are given all of the swimming gear that you will need so you don’t need to bring any of it with you.

The setup includes a wetsuit and snorkel mask which you put on before you leave on the boat. You are fitted for a wetsuit and after you get changed, you have to watch a video that highlights all of the important things to know before you go.

After everyone in your group is ready, it’s time to depart on the boat. Group sizes can vary, but we only have four people total in our group which made it perfectly comfortable.

Since we were going on this tour a bit late in the season, I was worried if we would see any manatees at all. Soon after we left on the boat, my worries went away because even as we were still traveling on the boat, we could see the manatees in the water.

Most tours in the area take you right to Three Sisters Springs and that’s exactly what ours did. This means that we had a bit of a boat ride through the Kings Bay before we got to the springs and could do some sight seeing in the meantime.

One of the interesting sites that we passed along the way was the Crystal River Archaeological State Park which is one of the interesting places to visit in Crystal River.

Once you get to the destination, you’re able to follow your guide into the water. As soon as you get into the water, you are surrounded by manatees which is an incredible feeling.

You can swim around and ask your tour guide to take your picture with the manatees. make sure to bring your underwater GoPro so that you can take some incredible underwater footage!

We saw this mama manatee and a smaller baby manatee swimming together. You will see these especially if you go later in the season because mama manatees tend to stay behind if they have a baby to keep them safe and warm for a longer time.

An adorable baby manatee with mama manatee that we saw on the manatee tour.

It’s very easy to spot the manatees while you are swimming in the water since the water is very clear. It’s some of the clearest water you will see in Florida which makes the Florida springs a delight to visit.

We came face to face with several manatees throughout our swim. Manatees tend to mind their business and continue eating at the floor of the stream. So you can just swim around them and they won’t be bothered. Sometimes they can even be a little curious about you and come up close to you.

You have about an hour to swim in the water which is plenty of time to swim around and see different places. If you swim through the water gates there in Three Sisters Springs, you will get to see water actually coming up out of the ground into the springs.

The underwater landscape of the springs is very cool to see while swimming with the manatees with sandy and rocky areas.

With a year-round water temperature of about 72 degrees the water is not freezing but it definitely feels cold especially on a colder day. The wetsuit definitely helps to keep warm so it’s worth going on a tour just to be able to have the wetsuit while you’re swimming.

Clear water at Three Sisters Springs

If you are taking the tour on a colder day, it might be best to bring a blanket or a jacket. On the day that we went is was on the colder side and we ended being a little cold on the boat trip. Thankfully on the way back, they give you a hot chocolate that warms you up after your swim but I still wish I had a towel or a light blanket with me.

The total tour time is about three hours with about an hour of swimming time.

Are Manatee Tours Safe?

Yes, manatee tours are very safe. Manatees are very calm creatures which has resulted in them being nicknamed gentle giants. They usually move around very slowly, just grazing at the grass on the bottom of the springs.

They usually don’t pay any attention to people other than the occasional curious manatee. If you leave them alone, they will leave you alone.

While there are alligators around the Florida springs but they don’t tend to hang out where there are a lot of people. Usually, where the tours go, there are plenty of people around so you won’t see any alligators around there making it safe to swim.

Also, the guide is there to ensure safety throughout your whole trip and if they decide that a situation is unsafe, then they will proceed with the necessary steps to create a safe environment.

Are Manatee Tours Worth It?

If it’s your first time in Crystal River and you’ve never swam with manatees before, then yes it’s absolutely worth it. Not only do they take you to a great spot, they give you a wetsuit, snorkel and take optional pictures of the experience.

The manatee tour experience is wonderful but now that I’ve done the manatee tour once and I feel a little more familiar with the area, I would not do it again. Instead, I would just go to Three Sisters Springs and enjoy my time at the springs to see the manatees.

The reason the manatee tour is valuable though is that there is no access to the water from the Three Sisters Springs. There is only land access to the refuge from which you can still see manatees but you would not be able to swim with them.

Can You See Manatees Without A Tour?

Yes, you can see manatees without the tour if you go to Three Sisters Springs. As mentioned, there is only land access if you enter the actual refuge, so to actually be able to swim with the manatees in the springs on your own, you would have to enter the water differently.

The in-water recreation at Three Sisters Springs is accessible by launching a vessel from any of the public boat ramps or kayak launches nearby. Then you would have to navigate to the springs on your own until you get to the spring run.

This means you would either have to bring your own kayaks or boat, or rent them somewhere nearby. Rentals are available near the two public kayak launches that are located at Hunter Springs Park and King’s Bay Park.

Responsible Wildlife Viewing

It’s important to point out that whenever there is an opportunity to interact with wildlife, it should be done responsibly. While manatees can get pretty close to you, you should never touch the manatees. It’s also important not to feed them anything and to try to maintain a distance at all times.

Manatees can be spooked which causes them to swim really fast. This depletes their energy levels fast. They are creatures of minimal movement that strictly need to preserve their energy to survive, especially in the winter.

Best Time To Go On A Manatee Tour

The best time to go on a manatee tour is anywhere from November to March. This is the Florida winter season when temperatures are low making the water colder. This makes the manatees congregate in the springs to keep warm.

Although it’s very probable that you will see manatees throughout all of those months, (we went in March and saw manatees) I do recommend going somewhere in the middle of the season. This is because you want the highest chances of seeing manatees and even though we did see some manatees there weren’t as many of them around anymore.

Some people reported not seeing any on their trip when they went too late in the season so to keep your chances high, go in the months of January or February.

Tips For Planning

• Make sure the tour goes to the springs – If the tour you are considering isn’t going to the Three Sisters Springs and instead is just making a stop somewhere in Kings Bay, then it might not be worth it. The water there is much more murkier than the water in the springs making it difficult to see anything underwater.
• Grab towels or blanket – After you take a swim in the water and get back on the boat, it’s going to be a little cold. Since the water and weather can be on the cooler side, the added wind from the boat can make it a chilly ride. Grab something to keep you warm along the way because you can only change out of your wetsuit when you get back to the starting location.
• Look out for manatees – Keep looking out for manatees and wildlife on your boat ride too, not only when you get to the springs. Along the way, we saw manatees and even a few dolphins taking refuge in the warm water too.
• Book you tour ahead of time – Although there are many tours to choose from, in the high season a particular tour you want might sell out. So make sure to get your tour booked ahead of time to make sure your plans are in place.

Other Things To Do In Crystal River

While Crystal River might be known for swimming with manatees, the town is worth a stop too. There are many fun things to do in Crystal River after your swim with the manatees. The downtown with shops, museums and galleries is very charming and you get to take some pictures with the cool manatee murals.

The best place to eat in town is The Crab Plant where you can get buckets of steam crab or their fresh catch of the day. If you’ve seen everything there is to see in Crystal River, head over to monkey island in Homosassa to see some of Florida’s monkeys too!