Swim With A Manatee: Our Tips Before Booking!
Getting into the water to swim with wild manatees at Crystal River Florida is without doubt one of the most amazing wildlife encounters ever! And non-swimmers can absolutely enjoy this (I’m one of them!).
Use this guide to find out how to book this experience, and also more ideas of things to do in Crystal River. We live around an hour away and love to bring family and friends here, as it’s also our excuse to swim with manatees once again!
After manatee adventures, shallow water diving for your dinner scallops, enjoy a morning inshore fishing or relax kayaking around Florida’s Nature Coast!
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How To Book A Manatee Swim
Before our top tips, if you are ready to book, here’s a helpful link to our favourite manatee tour.
It’s easy! Go online ahead of your visit to book an early morning manatee tour. This helps you beat the heat of the day!
🔍 Check Manatee Swimming Availability and Prices!
Most boats accommodate six people, with a captain and a guide who comes into the water with you.
Tours also include time afterwards in nearby 3 Sisters Spring, where you can relax in the crystal clear blue waters, the source of the spring. If you’re confident enough, hold your breath and try to dive down to it!
Quick Booking Links:
➡️ Flights & Accommodation: Expedia and Booking.Com
➡️ Rental Car: DiscoverCars
➡️ Weather Checks: Average Weather for Every Country
➡️ Tours and Experiences: Get Your Guide and Viator.
🎒Our Tip: Pre-book Manatee Swimming Tours well in advance because there is limited capacity and it’s very popular!
Our Top Manatee Swimming Tips
To maximize your manatee experience, we have a few tips to share before you go on your Florida adventure!
1. Be Ready For An Early Start
There are options to swim early morning or later in the day. We strongly suggest the earliest tour. The quieter cooler temperatures apparently are more conductive to manatee action.
Plan for a 5-5.30am get-up time to be at the check-in location for around 6am!
2. Prepare for 70 Degree Water Temperatures
You will need to wear a wet suit and these are provided by the tour operator and come in all sizes. Average water temperatures are in the 70s in this river so it’s cool to swim in year round.
Once you have your wetsuits on, there is a short transfer by mini-van to the jetty at Pete’s Pier where the boat will be waiting for you.
3. Keep Safety Top of Mind
Pre departure you will need to watch a short video on safety and rules in the water.
Even if you are not the greatest of swimmers, everyone gets a swim noodle (regardless of swimming ability) to use as additional stability. Also, we get buoyancy from our wetsuits.
The river can be deep in parts but you are always with a certified marine guide.
4. Remember Searching for Wild Manatees Takes Time
Manatees, an endangered species, live in the wild around the fresh water river They come into the area over winter mainly to eat the grasses growing on the riverbed and move as they graze.
Along the river, you will see cordoned off ‘manatee hotels.’ In certain months of the year, manatees come to rest, free of disturbances from boats and people. It’s like a retreat for them!!!
On this tour, the operator guarantees that you’re going to see a wild manatee! However, as ‘sea cows’ are continuously on the move you have to find them first which can take a wee while.
They’re constantly on the move looking for food, as adult manatees consume around 4 to 9 percent of their body weight daily. As we saw this firsthand: they love to munch!
5. Be Patient Getting Into the Water & Be Aware
The captain will position the boat a little way off, respectful, both of the manatee space and comfort.
This means you may have to swim a little to get over to where they are, but in our experiences, it’s never that far and with the noodle, even non-swimmers will be fine.
As you join the manatees (at a respectable distance) they may be submerged and eating. Suddenly they will be on the moving up to the surface to get some air which they do quite frequently while eating.
Even if resting, on average, a manatee comes up for air every 18-20 minutes. Try and catch sight as they pop their distinctive snouts up and within seconds submerge themselves again. They don’t want to miss out on that grass!
6. Follow The Law
It’s so easy to be excited and long to get closer to these incredible gentle giants of Crystal River. But don’t forget the strict legal rules which mean you cannot physically touch a manatee.
We are always surprised at how big a manatee is up close and personal! I mean, they tower above us. An adult manatee typically measures 10 feet and weighs between 800 and 1,200 pounds!!
7. Let Your Guide Take Your Photos!
As you hover your heads just below the water watching these magical animals do their thing you will have an urge to ‘capture the moment’! It’s good to know that your guide will snap a few photos with an underwater camera which are such a great souvenir.
8. Manatees Are Inquisitive – They Love Teasing You!
Manatees are incredibly curious. As we mentioned it is illegal to touch or disturb a manatee.
But they come towards you (as they did), just stay calm and enjoy a unique close encounter as they check you out!
One time, a juvenile manatee mistook one of our group’s braids for grass and decided to have a gentle nuzzle. Beth stayed still, her hair hanging there for the baby manatee to explore and after a few minutes, it realized that our human hair isn’t very appetizing.
9. Relax In Water With Wild Manatees
As we mentioned, manatees are more relaxed if we are more relaxed in the water with them. They seem to have little fear of passing right up in front of us, sometimes turning over giving us a little shove if we’re in their way – gently of course!
10. Enjoy Hot Drinks Before 3 Sisters Spring Float
Guides have hot coffee, chocolate and tea ready when you re-board. Even if you do this tour in the summer (we have too in July!) hot drinks are always welcome when you come out of the river.
What To Expect At Three Sisters Spring?
After time with the manatees you will sail to the Three Sisters Spring – a fairly short ride. The waters are, as the name suggests, crystal clear and the trees that hug the river banks are beautiful.
We followed our guide in the water, descending into a small pond like area. Then we swam single file for around 5-10 minutes. It was amazing when the stream opened up to reveal the source of the spring.
It’s very calm and relaxing here and you can spend around 20 minutes playing in the water. Look for fish swimming around too!
Also this is a fun spot to hold your breath and see how far down you can go. Be careful if you are prone to pressure in your ears though!
The guide films all the action throughout your time in the Springs too, using a go-pro, stills and video.
🎒 Our Tip: Buy the professional photo and video pack as a digital souvenir: we felt it was great value.
Where To Eat Breakfast After Your Swim
After an incredible early morning swim with manatees, we highly recommend heading for a hearty breakfast. We’ve enjoyed all these local restaurants during our visits:
- Biscuit Barn – the most traditional breakfast place in town, with delicious home cooking and friendly service.
- Cattle Dog Coffee Roasters – huge range of coffee and teas, and delicious food menu too.
Things To Do in Crystal River Beyond Manatees
Highlights
➡️ Half Day Manatee Swim
➡️ Relaxing Sunset Cruise
➡️ Scallop Dive Near Shore
Crystal River really is an outdoor playground offering fantastic experiences and activities for all age groups and interests. Come for a few days and try a few more of these great outdoor activities.
Snorkel For Clams
In the summer months, you can book a tour to go clamming in Crystal River Bay. The waters are shallow waters and it is a safe and fun activity for kids and adults alike. Scallop Adventures offers a family run scallop experience!
If you’re lucky and harvest your allocation of clams, take them to a shore side restaurant. They will usually cook them up for your dinner.
Go Fishing
This is a fantastic spot to go fishing as there are so many inlets and secret spot that a guide can take you too. Of course you can bring your won rod, and find a spot along the water’s edge too!
If you want a recommendation on a charter, we suggest Florida Fishing Adventures who can set you up for everything from tarpon, to red fish to clamming too.
Last time we fished here, we hooked a stingray (not intentional) and it took a while to land and then release, so you never know what excitement is waiting!
Manatee and Monkeys Kayak Tour Crystal River
If you love the idea of a gentler activity get out on a kayak or SUP. Bring your own and just launch at Hunter Springs Park and Kings Bay Park. Look out for manatees (of course) and yes, monkeys, who also hang out around here.
Alternatively, book an organized guided tour. Here’s 3 that offer different experiences:
- Morning Kayak Manatee & Monkey Guided Tour – choose from a clear 2-Person Kayak, a Clear Single Kayak, or if you prefer, a Paddleboard. Get ready to see lots of local wildlife, including turtles and maybe even an alligator.
- Night Time Kayak Tour Crystal River – a wonderful way to enjoy 3 sisters spring, followed by sunset on the water.
- Kayak Rental for Two – for a more intimate kayak trip, this 2 hour rental is great value. Find your own path through the river tributaries.
Sunset Tours
A cruise around King’s Bay at Sunset is an unforgettable experience to enjoy in Crystal River. This 2 hour sunset cruise is one of the most popular. Sit back and let the captain and crew point out wildlife in and out of the water. Bring binoculars just in case.
Fort Island Beach
Compared to other west coast Florida beaches, the local sandy spots around Crystal River may appear less appealing. That said, we recommend heading to Fort Island Beach.
The damage from previous hurricanes is hardly visible except the boat launch area is still closed at the time of updating this article. Pets are not permitted on the beach.
We spent a few hours here and it was pretty crowded. If you want more space, go early or later in the afternoon.Try to avoid weekends too.
Places to Eat Dinner In Crystal River
The name Crab Plant says it all – as fresh as you can get it here. It looks like a seafood industrial processing set up – and it is! Casual and friendly, enjoy the catch of the day!
Other restaurants to try are the much loved Waterfront Social, laid back friendly Vintage on 5th or Seafood Cellars – don’t let the strip mall location put you off.
Where to Stay In Crystal River
Crystal River is small, but there are a number of good chain hotel options just out of town too. Check out the 700+ Crystal River VRBO listings too.
📍$ – Just 1.3m from the town center, Holiday Inn Express offers affordable accommodation, pool, breakfast, parking & pets.
📍$$ – Close to the water Retreat at Crystal Manatee has off road parking, big rooms, breakfast & a pretty garden area. We have stayed here several times and love the location and relaxed atmosphere,
📍$$$ – If you need accommodation for family & larger groups, Crystal River Highrise is perfectly located. It sleeps 9 – a home from home!
->> Click here for more great accommodation choices, or browse the many Crystal River VRBO listings.
FAQs
Manatees are ocean goers but their closest animal relation is the elephant. It is believed that they evolved from the dugong and Steller’s sea cow species. Sadly, the latter was hunted to extinction in the 1700s.
A gentle giant manatee’s sole diet is wild grasses that grow in Florida’s coastal waters. Due to a reduction of their feeding grasses, they are struggling and are now classified as an endangered species.
You can swim with manatees year round in Crystal River, Florida.
Between November and April is high season as populations rest here during cooler months. We suggest planning your trip during these winter months.
Swimming with Wild Manatees is perhaps more expensive than other Florida water based activities, but it’s far more unique. Compared to a day in Disney, we say it’s likely cheaper to swim with manatees vs. a trip to Orlando!
We suggest you plan to stay for a night minimum before your swim, and preferably 2 nights so you can explore afterwards.
More Florida Vacation Ideas
You can easily combine a stay in Crystal River with the top beaches of Sarasota. How does a Siesta Key and Crystal River combination vacation sound?
As locals we love Florida’s smaller beach towns as each one is unique and full of sunshine, coastal gems and unique activities,
