Private Manatee Swim: Exclusive Snorkel Tour Experience
5.0
305 Ratings
Crystal River
Experience the ultimate private manatee swim with our exclusive snorkel tour. Swim alongside gentle giants on a professionally guided tour. All equipment, wet suits, and amenities included.
Duration:
4 hours
Cancellation:
1 day
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Highlights
- 9301 W Fort Island Trail - Crystal River offers the best location to see and interact with the Florida manatee, a subspecies of the West Indian manatee, also known as gentle giants. Unlike other areas of Florida, the federal government allows for “passive observation” in the water between manatees and people in Kings Bay. This allows face-to-face interaction with manatees. We provide pre-tour education on passive observation and how to get the best experience during the tour. We also offer a hotel package including accommodations and breakfast with your Florida manatee tour.
Swimming with the manatees and exploring the greater Kings Bay estuary and springs is extremely popular. Manatee tour experiences are best done by snorkeling while wearing wet suits, making the interaction as silent as possible. This way the manatees are more inclined to approach and get close. We maintain new suits and snorkel gear, all included in our manatee tours, as well as full-service facilities for changing. Your in-water guide will be taking videos and pictures of your manatee experience, which will be available for purchase at the dive shop. All our tour boats are fully enclosed in the winter time to protect our customers.
What's Included
- Boat Coats for cold mornings
- US Coast Guard certified captain
- Professionally insured water guide
- Full 5mm wet-suits, mask & snorkels provided
- Complimentary towel service
- Warm beverages including coffee and hot chocolate
- Bottled water available
What's Not Included
- Gratuities
- DVD or Flash Drive (available to purchase)
- Swimsuits
Additional Information
Enjoy the exclusive luxury of our manatee snorkel tour with the boat all to yourself! Experience the peaceful wonder of swimming with these serene creatures under the guidance of professional tour guides. The cost covers full equipment including 5mm wet suits, masks, snorkel, towel service, hot chocolate, coffee, warm showers, boat coats, and heated changing facility. The tour can accommodate up to 6 individuals, please contact us for pricing details for larger gatherings.
- Children must be accompanied by an adult
- Wet suits available in children’s size 6 up to 3XL
Location
9301 W Fort Island Trail
West Fort Island Trail
Departure Point: Plantation on Crystal River
Address: Plantation Adventure Center
Cancellation Policy
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
Customer Ratings
5.0
(305 Ratings)
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Ambercn5725eu
Apr 6, 2024
Magical Experience!!! - We had an amazing time with our family on our private Manatee Tour! Our guide, Ryan, was informative and helpful in the water! Unfortunately, our tour was after the August 2023 hurricane and the waters were pretty murky. This is totally out of control of the tour. Our guide found a manatee (Patches) and her baby! While visibility was low due to the waters, the experience of Patches swimming under me with her baby was something I will never forget! Ryan took excellent photos that I will forever cherish. We had plenty of time in our tour to head over to Three Sisters. The tagged manatee boy was there resting and the water was CLEAR! Our guide was able to get pictures of us with this sweet manatee in the backdrop as well as many scenic underwater pictures and pictures of our family that we didn't even know he was taking! Truly, a magical experience that I would do again! Do the tour! Have someone else take pictures! Be in the moment! Love love loved this so much!!!!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Daytrip671922
Mar 15, 2024
Bucket List Item Completed! - Just returned from our trip to Tampa and can't say enough about our tour experience at Plantation Adventure Center. Dave was our boat captain and Tristan was our Divemaster/Photographer--they were phenomenal! Due to the hurricane last year there weren't as many manatees as we had hoped to see but Dave and Tristan went our of their way to get us to as many spots as possible to catch some sightings. We loved every minute of our experience and are planning a future return so that we can do it again!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Pzkat
Mar 13, 2024
Friendly staff, wonderful experience up on the water - We had a great time on the early morning semi-private tour. It was beautiful to start out before sunrise and watch the sunrise from the water. We were able to tour the bay and swim in the 3 sisters springs and see these gentle giants up close and personal. Our guide was lovely and knowledgeable as was our boat captain. Warm drinks and parkas on board made for a cozy and comfortable experience. The staff couldn’t have been friendlier. Would highly reccommend!
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Johntj1322qj
Mar 11, 2024
Awesome Manatee Tour! - Awesome tour with Kendra and Cory. Highly recommend! Manatees were incredible and the tour was flexible to allow us to stay with the manatees since they were in a crystal clear location.
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I9888msmelissar
Feb 29, 2024
Best experience ever! - Such a great experience! Cory was amazing with my five year old daughter. Swam with her all the way out there on his back and there were manatees everywhere. Capt Dave was awesome too! Highly recommend!
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Nathanielw481
Feb 25, 2024
Swimming with manatees! - We had an absolutely wonderful experience and got to see several manatees up close and personal! Our Inwater Guide was Michelle Sankey and she was great with the kids and helping our whole family in the water. Captain Dave was also super helpful on the boat helping us spot manatees. Because the recent Hurricane Idalia brought saltwater into King's Bay and killed lots of the vegetation in the water which helps clean the water and keep it clear, it was a little harder to see but still a once in a lifetime nonetheless. The private tour was well worth it, getting the full attention from our Captain and Inwater Guide.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
P6497spkristenp
Feb 21, 2024
Amazing Manatee Tour - Mark and Laura were great. We saw lots of manatees. Early morning was a great time to go, and the small group size was really nice. They had coats, hot chocolate, and coffee to warm us up after.
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J5553guwilliamp
Feb 21, 2024
Awesome time swimming with manatees - We had a great time snorkeling with the manatees. The wet suits were thick and made it very comfortable on a chilly morning. Our captain and photographer (Mark and Laura) were a great team and made it a fun adventure for our family. We got to the area a little earlier than most and had it mostly to ourselves for a while before other tours showed up. Even got lucky and had a small manatee come up and check us out very closely as we floated. Would definitely recommend if looking for a great swim with the manatees.
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H1273kajaimel
Feb 21, 2024
Fantastic experience for our mom-cation - My BFF and I went on the 6:30am swim on a very chilly morning. We are in our 40's and were on a mom-cation away from our husbands and kids. The wetsuits provided much needed warmth. The instruction was fantastic. We saw at least 30 manatee (perhaps 50? it's hard to tell if you've seen that one or it was a new one). We had plenty of time in the water. Warm beverages and "boat coats" were available when we got back to the boat. All we needed was our swim suits. Everything else was provided. I highly suggest the early morning private swim with 6 people. We were only the 2nd boat there and had plenty of time before larger/louder groups arrived. We purchased the thumb drive with photos from the gift shop. We had a fantastic time!
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Susanj066
Feb 19, 2024
Plantation is the best in Crystal River - Great trip as always, third time. Dive master Ryan was really great. The manatees were all over. Ryan took great pics and I did too with my GoPro knock. We will surely go again with Plantation, even planning our first scalloping trip with them.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
