Swim with manatees in Crystal River on a small-group tour with a maximum of 6 guests per boat. Your 3-hour experience includes snorkel gear, a sanitized wetsuit, shuttle to the marina, time on Kings Bay, and admission to our on-site aquarium. Our local captain and crew focus on respectful, passive manatee observation in the wild. Because manatees are wild animals, every tour is different. Sightings, interactions, water clarity, and spring access can vary by day, season, weather, tides, and wildlife behavior. Our crew will take you to the best available areas of Kings Bay and help you enjoy the experience responsibly. After your tour, visit our on-site aquarium, included with your ticket. Our aquarium focuses on Florida’s native and invasive aquatic species, making this more than a boat trip — it’s a deeper look at the waters, wildlife, and ecosystem that make Crystal River special.
Prices change with the date; the lowest is shown.
From the operator’s live schedule on Viator, checked Oct 7.
Reviews collected by Viator and Tripadvisor
Excurgo comparison of 127 Viator tours, recalculated daily.
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
Crystal River Manatee Swim – 3 Hours, Maximum 6 Guests lasts about 3 hours.
Prices start at $80 per person for this Crystal River experience, booked through Viator with the price shown before checkout. There is 1 booking option, so the final price depends on the option you choose.
According to the operator’s current schedule, it runs every day, with 11 departures a day between 6:00 AM and 3:30 PM.
Yes. Cancel at least 1 day before the start for a full refund. Later cancellations are non-refundable.
The meeting point is Check in at the SeaDaddy’s front desk inside Kings Bay Plaza at 308 SE US Hwy 19, Crystal River. We are located between Seafood Seller and Little Caesars Pizza, and the plaza can also be entered from Kings Bay Drive. Please arrive 10 minutes before your scheduled start time for check-in. Hotel pickup is not part of this experience.
The experience is available in EN.
It is a small-group experience with a maximum of 6 participants.
Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller Children must be accompanied by an adult
Wheelchair accessible Snorkeling is not recommended for guests with recent surgeries or limited mobility.
Yes, bookings are confirmed instantly.
Travellers rate it 4.7 out of 5 across 241 reviews on Viator and Tripadvisor; it is run by Sea Daddys Adventures and Dive Center.
Reviews collected by Viator and Tripadvisor
Aiden (Captain) and Carmelo (instructor), were very professional and knowledgeable about the area. They pointed things out dolphins, tarpon and other marine life. Thank you, we had the best time snorkeling, learning and getting to know you.
My husband and I were gifted this manatee tour for our honeymoon and decided to do it as the last thing before going home. What an amazing experience! Colin and Nate were great tour guides. Everyone was extremely informative and made sure to get good views, get up close, and especially got good photos of everyone. Would absolutely recommend!
Our tour with Melo and Ryan was incredible, they were super friendly and well-informed. You can tell they love their jobs. The other group we were meant to go on the tour with cancelled, so we had a private tour. We found the manatees pretty quickly and had an amazing close encounter for a long chunk of time, it left me with tears in my eyes over how beautiful and precious manatees are. 10/10 would recommend to anyone who loves manatees.
We were lucky that despite it being a semi-private experience, we happened to be at a time when we didn't have other travel companions. Even knowing that it is harder to find manatees during the Summer, our crew (Bryan and Hemet) were tireless in their search. And the effort resulted in a close experience with 3 manatees, one of them very interactive. Spectacular!
Our two captions and our Tour guide were very nice and showed us all good spots. I highly recommend sea daddy. We liked the experience the first time so we decided to book again this time.
Nice family activity, very nice Captain and guide. Accommodating to our 4 y/o, too. We enjoyed our day!
We had an absolutely amazing time on the manatee snorkel tour with Captain Ryan and Emmett! Even with it being the off season, they made sure we got plenty of time with the manatees we saw. Swimming in the crystal clear spring was such a fun bonus! They were very knowledgeable and we enjoyed learning about the manatees and the area. The entire experience from start to finish was smooth, safe, and so memorable. Would absolutely book another tour with them and recommend Seadaddys to anyone wanting to swim with the manatees and have a beautiful day on Crystal River!
Clean cool water clear springs beautiful manatees lots of history about the area lolly island for one
Hello and good morning! We wanted to let you know what a great time we had swimming with the manatees on our tour yesterday. We consider ourselves very lucky to have had Hannah, as our tour guide and Ryan, as our captain. We want to give major props to them and let you know we had an amazing experience, as we had several encounters with these beautiful creatures! At first the manatees (a mother and her calf) kept swimming away, but the crew was persistent and determined to find them throughout the tour. However, they were also careful and respectful of the animals" habitat and safety. Your crew's knowledge and experience in their field goes above and beyond. It was definitely worth the price and turned out to be an even better tour than we expected. We had ample time in the water and were certainly pleased with the multiple interactions we had with these majestic creatures. There were several times when we were face-to-face with them, as they surfaced to get a breath. We hope to return next time we are in Florida. We stayed in Clearwater Beach and it was only a ninety minute drive and was an easy tl navigate your location. After our tour, we ate at Seafood Sellers next door, which the crew recommended, and we were served top notch Southern/Cajun cuisine. It was was overall the best experience we could have asked for. Thank you for an amazing time and we definitely recommend Seadaddy"s Nature and Dive Tours to all future travelers and locals alike! Best regards, Extremely satisfied customers Charlie and Krystal Perez
Had a great tour with Becky and Captain Aiden! They were both very experienced and gave us helpful tips along the way. We got to swim with a group of 3 manatees and then took a swim at the local spring. It was a great value and the length of time was just right! I really enjoyed the small group atmosphere as well!
| Tour | Duration | Rating | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crystal River Manatee Swim – 3 Hours, Maximum 6 Guests | 3 hours | 4.7 (241) | $80 | |
 Most Popular 3hr Manatee Swim Tour + In-Water Guide! | 3 hours | 4.9 (3,084) | $76 | View |
 Manatee Swim Tour with In Water Photographer | 3 hours | 4.9 (2,457) | $77 | View |
 3 Hour Small Group All Inclusive Manatee Swim with free Photo pkg | 3 hours | 5.0 (2,016) | $80 | View |
 All-Inclusive Small Group Manatee Swim with Free Photos | 3 hours | 5.0 (881) | $90 | View |
 Manatee Swim Tour | 3 hours | 5.0 (604) | $75 | View |
 Crystal River: Semi-Private Manatee Swim Tour With In Water Guide | 3 hours | 5.0 (530) | $70 | View |