Swimming With Manatees In Crystal River, FL

We had the wonderful experience swimming with manatees in August 2020 for my mom’s 60th birthday. We didn’t realize when we booked it back then that the majority of the manatees don’t live in Florida year-round. So we saw…3.

Were 3 awesome? Yes. Were we so glad to see them and swim with them? Absolutely. Did we want to see and swim with more though!? Oh yeah! We asked our guide when the best time to experience a river of manatees was and she said, January, particularly during or after a cold snap.

Enter our trip to Homosassa, FL in January 2024. We reunited with my mom and stepdad to make the most of this adventure since mom’s favorite marine animal is the manatee. We weren’t disappointed with our choice to go with American Pro Diving Center.

Our tour was led by Rodney and Captain Bruce. Rodney did a safety and manatee information session before we left the dive center. We drove our own car to the nearby marina to head out. Parking was available at the marina when we arrived, but it was January so don’t assume that there’ll be parking right there year-round, and it’s $5 per day to park.

We loaded up and began the short boat ride along the Crystal River to one of the warm springs where the manatees congregate when the weather is cooler. There were 10 of us on our tour which was a great number to get to know others and chat along the short ride, and relive the best moments on the way back, but not so busy that you felt crowded on the boat or in the water. There were a few other boats present with snorkelers and guides, but there were still plenty of manatees for us all to enjoy, without being crowded together with one another. The only crowding was the manatees!

The manatees group themselves together for warmth and to be near the head of the springs that send the warm geothermal water into the river. They were EVERYWHERE – below us, behind us, beside us, and in front of us. Remember – no touchy – no matter how close they are! I had several curious manatee friends who wanted to be nice and close so the photos and videos you see were taken as I floated on the surface and they swam around me.

The best moment was a manatee that hugged the pool noodle at my waist! The pool noodles provide extra buoyancy to keep your legs up out of the water. This serves 2 purposes – it keeps your feet up which means you won’t accidentally step on a manatee and it helps keep your face in the water.

We were allowed a little extra time in the water due to a boat issue at the beginning of our trip. We got an extra 15 minutes or so and it was just an incredible hour (usually 45 minutes) with these docile creatures. They’re giant, sweet and curious. Stephen had forgotten how big they were and he yelled out an expletive when he saw one for the first time on this visit. Not because they’re scary, just that they’re so big and they appear out of nowhere.

If a manatee doesn’t want to hang out with you they swim away and part of the “no touchy” rule is to not harass or chase them. You just swim gently and float and they come to you if they’re curious. Manatees aren’t blubber but muscle, so if they want to swim away they can get away very quickly with one flip of their tail.

This was, by far, one of the best animal experiences we’ve had and I’d highly recommend going with American Pro Diving Center. The staff was friendly, knowledgeable and kept an eye on everyone’s behavior with the manatees so that we were all able to stay in the water while enjoying the experience. Here’s the closest to manatee selfies I could get with me, Stephen and my mom.

Here’s a 5 minute video and some extra photos from our GoPro from the day.

We bought our tickets to swim with manatees with American Pro Diving Center on Groupon. At the time there was an additional discount available, so it only cost us something like a total of $48 for two people which was incredible value. This is the specific Groupon we bought, but if you’re interested in doing this and it’s expired by the time you come to buy it, do a search on Groupon for American Pro Diving Center and there’ll hopefully be a different deal you can get.