While enjoying a holiday at Eiko’s Beach House in Treasure Island this summer and swimming in the crystal clear Gulf of Mexico, we were visited by two friendly manatee who swam right up to us and sprayed us with water before slowly swimming to John’s Pass.
This manatee encounter prompted us to spend more time with these wonderfully gentle sea creatures. In our opinion while dolphin encounters are fun, manatee encounters are divine!
If you and your family want to maximise on a manatee experience, the best place to go is River Ventures, Crystal River, roughly 70 miles North of Treasure Island on US 19.
What are Manatee?
What are manatee you may ask? Manatee have a nickname; sea cows. They have been mis-identified as mermaids by Spanish explorers who saw them swimming in the warm waters off the coast of Florida.
However, manatee are most closely related to elephants and these mammals are located throughout the Southeast US coastline with the largest concentration in West Florida. With no natural predators, manatee live near fresh water springs that maintain a constant but rather cold temperature year round. They eat mostly algae and seaweed and have no teeth and pose no threat to humans.
Where to see Manatee?
In taking a day trip from Eiko’s Beach House in Treasure Island to Crystal River it is suggested you leave early and book a manatee tour in advance.
A three hour tour cost around $59 and this includes a wetsuit (fresh water springs are cold, around 72 degrees F) masks and snorkels to observe the manatee and a guide and ship captain.
Once you are fitted into a wetsuit at one of the manatee tour locations in Crystal River it is a short 5 minute drive to the docks to board your boat.
The Trip
Prior to departing, visitors are required to view a short video on how to interact with the manatee as they are a protected species according to US and Florida law. The gist of the video is “do not approach or touch the manatee but you allow them to approach and touch you”.
As there is a large colony of manatee in Crystal River it only takes 10 minutes to find your first one. The guide can spot them as large brown objects on the bottom of the clear water or by looking for bubbles as manatee actually need to breathe and exhale while under water.
Once located, your party can enter the water. Remember the water is cold even in Florida during the summer, as you are likely very close to a freshwater spring.
After getting used to the water, it takes about 2-3 minutes, you gently swim to where the manatee is feeding or resting.
Meeting the Manatee
At this point you float on top of the water and watch the manatee as it munches on algae. It is fascinating as these gentle creatures can weigh over 1000 pounds, yet they are graceful and it is thrilling to watch them come to the surface for air and then sink back down into the depths of Crystal River to continue feeding or resting.
Sometimes, however, the manatee takes an interest in you. They will gently swim near you and may surface to “look you in the eye” with their small pale blue eyes, and then feeling satisfied return to their cool resting place below on the river bed.
Our group was satisfied as we visited three locations were the manatee ate, slept and played. After roughly 1 ½ hours we had to say goodbye to our gentle and majestic friends and return to the boat and peel the wetsuit off.
Home Time
During the two hour drive back to the Eiko’s Beach House in Treasure Island we discussed the manatee, how they evolved from being a land based creature to a sea based mammals. The younger members of the group marveled at the encounter and relished the memory of the personal experience with the manatee. That evening we lit a fire at the outside fireplace and thought about the day’s experience.
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