Swimming with the Florida Manatee

arielaonthegoTravels around USA

So, who here has heard of a manatee? Who here knows what a manatee looks like? Because I asked around, and told people that I went to swim with a manatee also known as sea cow, and they were like, “Oh manatee! I know what that is!”
What they were thinking of:

I’m gonna tell y’all that THIS is a manatee. They are the little floating blobs of the sea, munching on grass all day everyday. Eat. Sleep. Repeat. Sounds like a pretty good deal, not gonna lie.

Image result for manatee

The first time I heard about manatee was from Veggietales. If you know, you know.

Mwahahaha (click this)

I saw some at Sea World too, but they were mostly there for rehab because they get injured by boats. The people at Sea World keep the manatees there for a while until they are all better, and then release them back into the wild where they belong. 🙂

Manatees at Sea World Orlando

In the United States of America, manatees roam from Texas, up to a place as far as Massachusetts. The best time to see manatees in Florida is around November to March because during these months the water gets cold. They need to move to the freshwater springs where the temperature remains at a constant 72 degrees throughout the year. Okay, so manatees look like chubby gray blobs, but they don’t really have enough fat to insulate their bodies. They are herbivores, and they eat 150 lbs of sea grass or plants a day (at Sea World, they feed them lettuce). An adult manatee can be 12 ft. in length and can weigh 800 to 1,200 lbs. To put it simple, I wouldn’t want a manatee to sit on me any time soon. There is two other species of manatee besides the West Indian Manatee (Florida Manatee), there is the Amazonian manatee and the West African manatee.

Man vs Manatee

My dad bought another property in Crystal River-a little town north of Tampa and west of Orlando. So he decided to tour around the area, and do some activities. That’s why he took me and my mom to swim with the manatees. XD He booked it with Crystal River Watersports because it’s very close to our property. We’re glad we picked them because the boat ride on the Indian River Canal to Crystal River is surprisingly quite nice and relaxing. With the other tour companies, you will ride on a shuttle/bus on the way to the boat ride. By the way, Citrus County is the only place in Florida where you can swim with the manatees.

Crystal River Watersports
Indian River leading to Crystal River

A three hour tour costs $105 USD per person. We changed into the wet suits that they provided, then we watched a 30 minute video because manatees are protected. Basically the video said that you were only allowed to look at ’em and not touch ’em at all. We went swimming with the manatees in April, and the tour company assured us that there will be manatees because there are some resident manatees that stay in Crystal River year-round. The tour was pretty much a private tour, because we were by ourselves. The boat ride to get there was a little slow though, because we had to slow down for the manatees. Remember when I said the manatees at Sea World were there because they got hit by boats? Yeah, well, that’s the thing we wanted to avoid. We also saw an alligator too XD

Because it is already April there’s not a lot of manatees anymore compare to the peak manatee season from December to February. I look fabulous in snorkel gear, as you can see.

We saw quite a few manatees, I think overall we saw seven! When it’s the peak manatee season, you see hundreds an hundred’s of ’em! Manatees make this little squeaking noise, and it’s actually really cute, plus they also crunch on sea grass, which is strange because they don’t have any teeth. Manatee crunching sounds ASMR, anyone?

That’s really all for the swimming with the manatee bit, but we did also see a nice dolphin swimming past us! So I guess technically we swam with the dolphins again?

There are other things to do at Crystal River, but the highlights is to see the manatees. The downtown has nice restaurants and shops. There’s a Crystal River Archaeological State Park, where the natives buried their dead and then over time it turned into this large mound. Click here for more information about Crystal River.

We also had lunch at Coney Island! The footlongs was delicious. They have good hot dogs too. I like hot dogs!

There’s also a beautiful resort called The Plantation on Crystal River. It’s got waterfront access, so it’s kinda got manatees in it’s backyard XD

Photos are courtesy of Crystal River Watersports.

That’s all for today, bye everyone! I hope you got to learn more about manatees! XD

29 thoughts on “Swimming with the Florida Manatee”

  1. I swam with manatees 20 odd years ago! It was unforgettable! I feel so sorry for them that they get hurt by boat propellors so often because they are such gentle, nice animals. One time, I bought my Mum a tea strainer shaped like a manatee, which is amazing because it looks like it’s basking in warm water. My uncle called it Hugh and made the pun, “I weep for Hugh-manatee”. Get it?

    1. Well then, I gotta remember to get a manatee tea strainer next time I see one! Pffftt, hugh-manatee! I love it. That is the only correct name for a manatee. How you should name a pig bacon. Or dinner. 😀

  2. What a fun experience! When we lived in Florida we would always see manatees and dolphins in the river between the mainland and the barrier island. Such gentle sweet creatures.

  3. Swimming with manatees is something I had wanted to do for years. Last Thanksgiving, my daughters visited from Texas, and I got to swim with manatees near Plantation in Crystal river. It was awesome! I am glad you got to go. I enjoyed you interesting post about the trip. There is also a post on my site called “Swimming with the Manatees.”

    1. Oooooh, yesss I will be sure to check that out! Thanks for reading! 😀

  4. Anita and I just returned from a Palm Shores trip to Florida. Did not have time to “swim with the manatees” this time around, but next year we may try this!!
    ❤️&🙏, c.a.

  5. Ok…….Just………….Why??!
    What on earth! That song brings back why I don’t like veggietales🤣
    I love how the sign says “no standing on the manatees”
    Did you know Manatees inspired mermaids? Crazy huh? Manatees are adorable but idk if I would think they were a mermaid.
    This look like an awesome time! Really pretty places!

    1. Aahhhhh you dont like Veggietales! Sad, but understandable since they are talking, blinking, singing vegetables. Maaaaaybe i should re-evaluate my life choices. Anyway, no i didn’t know that mermaids myths came from the mermaids! That’s really cool! (although I don’t really see how you could get “half human half fish” from “huge fat gray creature that looks like a cow”. XD

    1. I mean… I guess so? This is what happens when you grow up in America -_- XD

        1. Lol, yeah I know! Up here it’s just a bit more… what’s the word… proper I guess?
          😀

          1. Well, i wouldn’t say that. in Fact, compared to Northern USA we probably use more slang. But the US has a lot more diversity of culture than us. In the South they would be a LOT less well spoken than us…

          2. Hmm, yeah I think that Canada is more diverse than America. I have more immigrant friends up here than I do in the US. Most of the immigrants down south are Spanish speaking, so it’s not really THAT diverse over there.

  9. You have described a wonderful experience with the manatee. What you have shared is very informative; I learned a lot. I enjoyed reading about your activities at Crystal River with the manatee. Thank You for sharing.

      1. You are very welcome! You took me on a very enjoyable play trip with the manatee. I had never read about the manatee. So, I learned a lot. Thank You! 💖

        1. Yay! Your comment made my day! I love being able to share my experiences with others in hopes that they learn something new! 😀

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