Manatee Snorkeling Adventure Tour with Lunch & Hotel Pickup
Description
Come and enjoy the real Florida! Get up-close with the gentle manatee and see the beauty of Crystal River as you explore the Homosassa State Wildlife Park. The tour heads up to Crystal River where you can snorkel or swim in the rivers where wild manatees live. It's an early morning departure, so bring breakfast snacks to eat during the journey. Following a safety briefing and collecting your mask, snorkel & fins (wetsuit hire is $15 and required for swimmers) you board the boat. When manatees are spotted you can get into the river for great photos. If you prefer, you can opt to simply enjoy the boat ride while enjoying nature. In the afternoon explore Homosassa State Park. The park is home to many species of rescued native wildlife. If you purchase the Florida Adventure Tour fully inclusive option, you will also ride a Wild Airboat Ride on a river to spot the alligators and nature and enjoy a picnic lunch.
Tour Options
Itinerary
The boat will drive into the wildlife refuge where you will hope to see wild manatees on the river.
Upon arrival at the picturesque Crystal River, you will enjoy a fabulous narrated boat tour. You will be provided masks, snorkels & fins, and encouraged to swim alongside these friendly creatures under the guidance of certified dive masters. The manatees are endangered and have come to the Florida springs year-round to find shelter and food. In the winter months the manatee population can reach several hundred and during summer, the average count is 80. They are "gentle giants" and have no teeth. After your cruise, you head to Homosassa State Wildlife Park, famous throughout Florida for the rehabilitation of injured animals. It is here you’ll have the chance to see the current manatee residents at the park during an informative and entertaining feeding session with one of the park rangers. You’ll also see bears, panthers, alligators and even a hippo as you explore the rest of the park. Roundtrip transport from the Orlando area and a knowledgeable driver-guide is also included.
We will visit the State Park at Homosassa. You will walk around the State Park and see the animals and view the manatees in the underwater viewing chamber at this hospital facility for injured manatees. There is also a cafe at the park so you could purchase lunch here if you wish, or if you prefer to pack yourself a picnic they do have picnic tables you can use inside the park.
If the 'Manatee Swim, Park & Airboat' package is reserved then a 30 minute airboat ride on the Withlacoochee River will be included.
Highlights
What's included
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Infants are required to sit on an adult’s lap
- Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
- A small amount of walking is involved at your leisure through the State Park
Reviews(276)
Adam our driver was great, very entertaining and a nice guy. Now the swimming with the manatees and the airboat ride did not meet our expectations by no means. Adam was the better entertainer of the trip everything else was not worth $398. It is not advertised like it should be, water was muddy muddy and not clear and the airboat ride just was a normal boat ride to us.
I want to start off with Adam was a very good guide and had a very good attitude and was very bubbly. But I do wish the company for swimming with the manatees would not advertise that the water is crystal blue year round and would let guest know ahead of time they may not see a manatee at all during the summer months. When you go to book online, they show these pretty pictures of clear water and so many people swimming with manatees, which is true for certain months of the year. The company should definitely add that is does not look like that during the summer and you will not have the same experience! Not even our whole group got to see a manatee or swim with it. And the air boat ride just didn’t meet our expectations like it has in the past with different companies.
Excellent tour, truly amazing to see such a huge variety of wildlife, especially the manatees. Adam was a great guide, an extraordinary free style singer, and an exceptional show man ! The tour was definetly awesome and would have been even better with more information and facts about Florida's biodiversity.
The experience was amazing from start to finish. It was an incredible experience so swim with a manatee in their natural habitat. It was out of season however still saw a couple. We were fortunate to also see a Mom and her newbown calf, born 20 mins before we spotted them from the boat. Our tour guide Adam was brilliant from start to finish. His humour, knowledge and enthusiasm made the day even more special. He’s a credit to the company.
Absolutely fantastic only made better with our guide Adam, full of knowledge throughout, his Jason Statham impression needs work though. Adam is a credit to the grey line company.
Went on a tour with Adam as a guide and was great!
The experience was amazing meeting the mannitees was a great adventure and an awesome first-time activity. The staff was really friendly, acknowledging, funny. The amount of people coming was a perect amount and there were others to relate to in having a first-time experience. The atmosphere around was overall really nice to be around as well. This was an amazing full day activity consisting of so many exciting events creating new companions along the journey. Overall an awesome experience.
The pickup at the hotel was very positive. Kevin told us interesting things about the area or the history every now and then along the way. The team for swimming with manatees was very competent and paid close attention to compliance with the rules for the protection of the animals. The Homosassa Springs Wildlife is well worth seeing. ( Many mosquitoes) A highlight, however, was the airboat ride. I will definitely book with Grayline again.
Adam was brilliant and kept the tour going all day despite the weather not being the best. We had an amazing day and Jake was not sure about swimming with the manatees but Adam encouraged and reassured him and he eventually did the experience. He usually is not sure about people he does not know and is very shy, but he really liked Adam. The swim was amazing and we saw fish from our snorkel, manatees and dolphins from the boat. The manatee feed and animals were brilliant in the state park. The airboat was fantastic. Saw loads of gators and Florida fauna and flora. Also loved Adam’s commentary. Thank you for a wonderful day xx
This was an all day tour and well worth the price. We bagan with convenient hotel pickup at sunrise by Grayline Orlando. Our expert driver, Kevin, shuttled us over to Kings Bay Crystal River. The knowledgeable staff at Birds Underwater Dive Shop took us out to snorkel with manatees, we saw five including a calf. Visibility was poor this day due to recent rain, recommend going in winter if possible. Stopped for a box sandwich lunch at Ellie Schiller Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park. Finished the tours at Wild Bill's Airboat Tours. I would recommend any of these three activities on their own. This tour provided all three with lunch and the convenience of an expert driver. Well done Grayline Orlando. (Picture is at the wildlife park)
