When planning your trip, consider visiting the springs in the early morning and during the middle of the week. Local springs will be less crowded on weekdays and the manatees are most active and playful in the mornings.
People Also Ask
Manatees tend to be most active earliest in the morning, so our later tours generally encounter more feeding or resting manatees that may not be quite as interested in us.
Which months are best for seeing manatees? The peak season for observing manatees is November through April, and the local manatee population swells to its largest size between December and February. You can spot manatees in our waterways all year round, but the population is much smaller during the summer months.
One of the best, and most popular places to see manatees in Florida is in Crystal River, Florida. This area is just an hour or so north of the Tampa area along the Gulf Coast. It offers easy access and plenty of opportunities for close encounters with manatees.
Crystal River is the only place in Florida where you can swim with manatees. Find out how to meet a manatee and get to know these awe-inspiring creatures better.
(RNN) - Several manatees swam near the beachgoers at Siesta Key Beach in Sarasota, FL. The people flocked to the edge of the waters to get a look at the manatees as they calmly moved along. You don't see this every day on the beach, Chris Otto told WWSB.
Tour operators do a great job keeping down egregious behavior, but it takes super quiet guests for the manatees to feel safe enough to initiate interaction. (more on that later). That being said, if the only time you have available is a holiday, then it's still absolutely worth going.
Crystal River is the only place in Florida where you can swim with manatees. Find out how to meet a manatee and get to know these awe-inspiring creatures better.
The manatee season at Crystal River NWR begins in mid-November and ends in late March. This is when the manatee sanctuaries go into effect. During the winter months, manatees come to the springs of Crystal River NWR to conserve the energy necessary to survive the cold Gulf waters.