How To See Manatees in Florida

While Florida has plenty of native wildlife and it usually isn’t hard to find, one of the most distinctive residents needs a bit of effort to track down, but it is totally worth it.

The West Indian manatee, or sea cow as it is often known, loves the warm coastal waters and inland rivers of the Sunshine State, making it their winter home as well as their base for exploring further afield.

Originally mistaken for mermaids when Christopher Columbus first arrived in the New World (so the legend goes – we have trouble believing it!), the manatee has endured a chequered history ever since, including being hunted for food and hit by boats.

In recent times, it has suffered from the loss of its feeding areas and severe cold snaps, which combine to cause malnutrition and cold shock for these docile creatures. Now safeguarded by the 1972 Marine Mammal Protection Act, the manatee has made something of a comeback since then, albeit it is still an officially Threatened species.

Manatees and Florida visitors

The good news for our visitors is that manatees are still carefully overseen by various conservation and protection groups, and it is perfectly possible to see them in the wild. In fact, it is encouraged in most instances, as part of the revenue raised by the various sight-seeing activities goes back to helping protect the animal and its habitat.

There is also an official manatee “season,” from November to the end of March, and that provides optimum viewing prospects, including the chance to actually swim with manatees in “the Manatee Capital of the World,” Crystal River.

In fact, Crystal River is also home to one of the most ambitious manatee habitat restoration projects in the world, led by the local Save Crystal River coalition. In conjunction with the University of Florida and several state wildlife offices, they have made big strides in replanting the eelgrass that is the manatee’s favourite food.

It is also at the forefront of a state-wide effort to improve water quality after decades of fertilizer run-off that has been instrumental in killing off the eelgrass. Called Fertilizer Free for Manatees, it is something we can all contribute to savethemanatee.org/how-to-help/take-action/fertilizer-free.

Even better, after a terrible year of manatee deaths in 2021 and 2022, caused in large part by the eelgrass beds in the Indian River dying off, there are signs of a rebound with more awareness of the necessary steps needed to reverse the process.

Both SeaWorld and Walt Disney World’s Epcot park offer manatee exhibits that help to rescue and rehabilitate animals that have suffered injuries or cold shock, but it stands to reason that if you’ve come all this way, you’d like to see them in the wild, and we would heartily endorse that idea.

So, where should we go near Orlando to see manatees?

Excellent question. The good news is that, from Orlando, you can head out in several directions and be fairly sure of a manatee encounter, either by boat tour, guided swimming tour or even, in some cases, just from the shore or along one of the state’s rivers, which are spring fed and keep the water at a steady, manatee-approved temperature year-round.

Just to start with, there are two state parks within a fairly short distance that offer a great opportunity to see manatees without leaving dry land.

Blue Spring State Park in Orange City is a 60-mile drive from our villas at the fab Encore Resort at Reunion, pretty much straight up I-4 to Exit 104, and then a short jog through the small town of Orange City. The park is a designated manatee refuge, and is positively packed with the creatures during the winter.

A record 662 manatees were counted here in January 2022 (it was seriously cold back then, and the animals really huddled together for extra warmth), and even more recently (February 19) the local count was still a healthy 64.

The winter months (Nov-Mar) are a designated warm-water refuge in the park, and all private boating and water activities are suspended, but you can still take the daily St John’s River Nature Cruise with Blue Spring Adventures to get a close-up of the manatee activity, or take a guided kayak tour. They are perfectly visible from platforms along the river’s edge, though.

A little further up I-4 (Exit 114), manatees can usually be seen in winter at DeLeon Springs State Park, where there is also a 50-minute boat eco-tour that highlights the local wildlife, plus the delicious opportunity for breakfast or lunch at the unique Old Sugar Mill Pancake House.

If you don’t mind a longer drive, manatees are guaranteed in winter around the warm waters of the Big Bend Power Station in Apollo Beach, just south of Tampa. From November 1 to April 15, the Manatee Viewing Center provides grandstand views as well as an excellent education centre, Tidal Walk and coastal habitat trail.

And then there’s Crystal River

Saving the best for last, there really is nothing quite like the superb opportunity provided by Crystal River on the Gulf Coast, the only place in America where it is legal to swim with manatees.

It is about a two-hour drive from our villa areas, but it is well worth it for the unique experience it offers. There are several operators that offer the trademark swim-with-manatees tours, while you can also hire kayaks or canoes and head out into the waters along Kings Bay and explore for yourself.

It is important to note, even on the guided tours, that it is still illegal to initiate contact with manatees and you shouldn’t try to touch them. But you WILL get some great close-ups! You can see more at www.discovercrystalriverfl.com/things-to-do/on-water.

You should also definitely make time for Three Sisters Springs, one of the natural wonders of Florida, where the crystal-clear spring-fed waters are often full of manatees and the boardwalk around the main springs provides the perfect viewing platform.

However, if you’d like the real five-star experience of Crystal River – and someone else to do the driving! – you should book one of the signature manatee adventure tours with several Orlando excursion operators. As well as comfortable round-trip transportation, they provide the full manatee snorkelling experience as well as a trip to see more wildlife at Homosassa Springs State Park, which includes Nature’s Fish Bowl underwater observatory AND take an airboat ride.

The Big Three to choose from are:

Real Florida Adventures, with their signature manatee snorkelling tour; Gray Line Tours, featuring the Manatee Swim, Snorkel and Boat Day Tour; and City Sightseeing Orlando, offering their highlight Florida Adventure Tour.

All provide that essential thrill of swimming in the manatees’ home waters, and there really is no substitute for being truly up close and personal with these wonderful creatures.

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