Amazing experience! - The trip was amazing. We saw a lot of manatees, one mother and baby and even spotted a dolphin! Captain Chris and our guide Mike were brilliant. So helpful and knowledgeable. Was the highlight of our holiday. Word of advice - bring towels and warm clothing for after the swim 😃

MANATEES FTW - We had a GREAT time swimming with manatees at River Ventures! First, they were VERY up front with us that we weren't going to see hundreds of manatees because at this point in the year most of them had headed back to the Gulf of Mexico. However, the half dozen or so I did see were still a highlight of my life so far. Our guide Crosby swam around looking for manatees and then pointed us where to go. I'm telling you, NOTHING prepares you for how huge these beautiful animals are. I think we were in the water around 90 minutes or so, and to be frank, it is quite exhausting. The nice thing is that you are welcome to seek back to the boat at anytime. My 8yo son got in the water and then decided he didn't want anything to do with this, so he hung out on the boat with Captain Emerson (hopefully he wasn't being too annoying for you Cap). Overall I would highly recommend going to River Ventures. I could tell that they care very deeply for the manatees and do their best to prepare you on the dos and don'ts on how to behave around them. My recommendation for anyone that want to see A LOT of manatees is to go in the winter. But yeah, 10/10 experience! Thanks Crosby and Emerson!

Amazing experience - My sister and our daughters experienced this tour and had so much fun. Marissa and Captain Chris were amazing, informative, kind, and so fun! Swimming with the manatees was exhilarating. Captain Chris and Marissa knew exactly where to go to give us great views. This was definitely an experience of a lifetime.

Such a great time with knowledgeable guides! - Our tour guide Marisa and captain Chris made sure we had a great time! They made sure that everyone in the group was able to see a manatee. It was my first time snorkeling and they made sure the mask fit and that we were all good. Two manatees swam underneath me. I cannot wait to do it again!

Wonderful experience and great tour guides - Mike and Troy were most patient and excellent tour guides. They made the experience wonderful. Manatees are my son’s favorite animal . A manatee came right up in front of him.

A great experience - It was a lot of fun! 2 of us went in the water and 2 of us stayed on the boat and was a great experience for all of us. Chris and Crosby made it even better with their jokes

AMAZING - This was an absolutely amazing experience and was definitely worth it! There was wonderful guides/captains (we had Irish Dave and Carlos) who made the experience even better!

What an experience - It was amazing to swim with such gentle giants and experience it with my daughter. Our captain and tour guides were awesome!

Manatees in March! - Second time coming to Florida, specifically to swim with the manatees. We came last year but someone had set it up for us so when we bought the tickets online we got the wrong ones and we were supposed to get a private tour because we have a three-year-old. The front desk woman, whose name I did not catch but she had glasses and was super cute, figured it out for us and let us go on a boat with another two groups. I felt so bad, we had just drove an hour and a half and I was going to be devastated if it couldn’t be worked out some way. I was bawling. (Sorry!) I had come last year at the end of September but wasn’t able to see much due to the hurricane that came through shortly before we arrived. We debated one going with a different company but decided to revisit River Ventures. I was trying not to get my hopes up, but we found some right away. A mama and a calf sleeping quietly near a dock. The water wasn’t as crystal clear as it could have been but I got to see them!! With my own eyes! The baby came up over to me and I was freaking out!! It was a better experience for sure. My son has autism and was in the cold water with my husband a bit away so they wouldn’t scare any of the manatees off, but they got to see it too. We got some cool pics off my camera but then better pics from the Go Pro from Mike. Kelley was an awesome boat captain, we had her last time and she remembered us when we got off the shuttle and onto the boat. All in all, I got to see the manatees and that is what I came to Florida from California for. It was a wonderful experience and I am grateful I took the chance to see the manatees again. I’m still fighting stage 4 cervical cancer, so these trips mean so much to us as a family.

It was OK - The tour was OK I guess. We expected a lot more. It started with the video in the beautiful nature. Unfortunatelly, the Springs were nothing like what we saw in the video. It was crowded (the tour was at 8 a.m.) and the water was not clear at all. The caprain took us a bit further down where we saw two marked manatees. We had to swimm quite a bit, there were three kids on our tour (incl. our 8 and 12-year old) and they had quite enough. The water was not warm and neoprens did not sit well. It was OK for us but all kids were cold. Once the tour quide said the manatees left for the Gulf, it was clear that we will not see anything. It might have been great but not end of March where there are very few left. Plus we were dissapointed while we expected something similar like in the video we saw and not a tiny spring lake full of boots and people. If I knew this, I wouldn’t book the tour for this kund if money. For me and my family, it was only 50% experience. Captain, tour guide and staff were all nice.