Manatee Adventure: Crystal River & Wildlife Park

Experience the real Florida with a Crystal River Manatee Swim. Get up-close with gentle manatees and explore the beauty of Crystal River and Homosassa State Wildlife Park.

Duration: 8 hours, 30 minutes
Cancellation: 24 hours
Highlights
  • Crystal River National Wildlife Refuge - The boat will navigate into the wildlife refuge, offering the opportunity to observe wild manatees in the river.
  • Crystal River - Upon reaching the scenic Crystal River, guests will enjoy a delightful narrated boat tour. Masks, snorkels, and fins will be provided, and participants are encouraged to swim…
What's Included
  • Airboat Ride on Tuesday and Thursday tours
  • Admission into Homosassa State Park
  • Driver/guide
  • Use of snorkel equipment, mask & snorkel
  • Picnic Lunch
  • River cruise to look for the manatees
  • Pickup and drop-off from designated hotels
What's Not Included
  • Gratuities
  • Breakfast
  • Airboat Ride on Fridays & Saturdays - tour is priced lower
  • Wetsuits must be hired
Additional Information

Experience the true essence of Florida! Get up close with the gentle manatees and admire the stunning Crystal River as you explore the Homosassa State Wildlife Park.
The tour takes you to Crystal River, where you can snorkel or swim in the waters inhabited by wild manatees. With an early morning departure, it’s a good idea to bring breakfast snacks for…

Location
Crystal River National Wildlife Refuge
1502 SE Kings Bay Dr,
Cancellation Policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

Customer Ratings
4.7
(254 Ratings)
5 stars
4 stars
3 stars
2 stars
1 star
Travel43045037153
May 24, 2026
Fun filled day snorkeling with manatees, visiting a state wildlife park and an exhilarating airboat ride! - My wife and I along with her brother and wife went on this tour on Thursday May 21 (ages 67-70). It left us with so many great memories and first experiences! The Grayline bus picked us up at our motel at 6:45. The van driver/tour guide greeted us and welcomed us on board. His name is Kevin. He was excellent the whole day long. Very friendly with a good sense of humor. He let us know what to expect and filled us with local information as we drove to our destinations, starting with snorkeling at Crystal River. There we were greeted by Captain Misty and her first mate, Bryan. We rented wet suits and had a fun time getting into those. Kevin told me that we would feel like a “stuffed sausage” 😁. We went for a very short boat ride and then got into the water. Bryan got into the water first and located manatees for us. Misty took the boat close by and anchored it while we all got in and snorkeled (or attempted to). It took some getting used to, but with further encouragement from Misty, I was able to master it and had a blast! This was a great time with lots of great memories made. The only downside of this was our timing. The water was mirky and not many manatees (peak times are during the winter months because they like the warm spring waters when the ocean cools down). But we did find some and snorkeled with them. Hint: make sure to change into your swimming suit before putting on your wet suits. We were in a hurry, so I just put the wet suit over my underwear and they were soaked when we finished. I thought the wet suit kept you dry….Nope 😁. Misty and Bryan were very pleasant and safe. Next we hopped back in the van and went to Homosassa State Park. We were given a tasty sack lunch there and given a couple of hours to explore the park and view the animals there. We had a nice leisurely time exploring the park. The highlight was the underwater viewing area for the manatees. There were three of them at the area feeding on lettuce they set out for them. A real close up experience! The water was much clearer here too, so that made it so we could see them feed well. Other fish were trying to eat the lettuce too. Lastly, we went on an exhilarating airboat ride (Wild Bills’s Airboat Tours). We saw gators and the driver took us on a fast fun ride back to the launching point. We also held a small gator. I would give this tour more than 5 stars if I could. Memories to last a lifetime!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Nicolawd9493hm
May 23, 2026
Great experience - A great experience day. Adam was friendly and informative with loads of great stories! Adam joined is walking round the wildlife park and had loads of additional information. The small group size meant the trip was comfortable and had a wonderful personal touch.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
587vaneg
May 23, 2026
Dive with manatees - Our guide Adam was very cool and funny . We spend an Amazing tour with him !
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Amelie_l
May 21, 2026
great day - To do! I loved my entire day! Thanks to Oscar, our guide, who was fantastic! I was just a bit disappointed not to receive the photos taken with the manatees by email.
Review provided by Viator
877bees
May 16, 2026
Manatee swim and snorkel experience - Mike was amazing! Drove us around all day, gave us loads of information and was very helpful. Everything was organised and sorted for us by Mike for the whole day. The manatee swim and snorkel was the highlight of the trip, we saw a mother and calf even though we went during the off season for manatees. Had a lovely lunch and relaxed walk around Homosassa springs wildlife state park, which we could look at the rescue animals they have and watch them feed the resident manatees at the park. Would definitely recommend this trip to anyone visiting. We were staying at the Disney parks hotels and got picked up right outside the door!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
488finlays
May 16, 2026
Amazing - Mini bus come on time and Mike was very friendly and informative from beginning to end of our trip. Once at the location everything ran smooth and the manatees welfare was top priority the entire time. Lunch was sorted and ready when we arrived back off the boat and on the way back stopped off at an animal rehab centre where we watched manatees eat in underwater viewing. Mike genuinely cared about our experience and made sure we stopped at the sanctuary just incase we didn’t see any wild manatees on our snorkel experience. We got to encounter a mother and baby on our experience. I couldn’t recommend more Mike really made the trip relaxing not having to worry about things running smoothly.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Resort50128425433
May 16, 2026
Manatees swim - Excellent day out. Guide was very informative and helpful. Swim with manatees was all you could hope for. Brilliant day out
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Laurard2478ei
May 7, 2026
Great day - Fantastic day all round .swimming with mum and her calf .Lunch was lovely. Manatee talk was good .airboat fab
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Carolynkz1267vw
May 1, 2026
Awesome tour experience that covers it all! - Another awesome tour with Grayline Orlando thanks to our tour guide Adam! Being so close to manatees is a unique experience and also a visit to the wildlife park where we watched manatees being fed. An airboat ride at Wild Bills was educational and alot of fun, this tour covers it all! Thanks again to Adam for looking after us so well, highly recommend this tour!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Susan
Apr 24, 2026
WE SWAM w/ MANATEE! A very well organized trip. Gina & Captain Mike care deeply for the manatee. Saw a Mom & baby! - Well organized and so fun! Saw 5 manatee & a 3 day old baby! Gina & Mike care deeply about the safety of the Manatee and patiently directed us to places where we found these gentle giants of the sea. It was amazing. These people are wonderful. Thank you so much… it was the highlight of our Nana & granddaughter Orlando trip :)
Review provided by Tripadvisor
From $169
up to 10 guests
1 - Adult
Cancellation: Free cancellation up to 24 hours before the start of your experience (local time).