Seeing Mantatees, Florida's "Gentle Giants" in the wild.

Published On: 02 Oct, 2024 11:57 AM

If you have never seen a manatee in the wild it is an experience well worth doing. A manatee weighs on average 1,000 pounds. They are gentle sea creatures, totally herbivorous and although they are often referred to as sea cows, due to their docile nature, they are not related to cows at all and are in fact most closely related to elephants! Usually they are found in the coastal waters of Florida but when the water gets cooler in the winter months they make their way inland to the warmer springs during mid November to mid March before returning to the sea.

The first time that Richard and I ever saw a manatee was when we went to the Mote Aquarium in Sarasota a few of years ago and were amazed at how large  and beautiful they were.

Mote Aquarium is well worth a visit but in our opinion, nothing beats seeing an animal in its natural surroundings so a trip to one of the state parks such as Blue Spring  was a must do activity on our next visit. Blue Spring State Park is approximately 1 hour and 18 minutes away from the villa and a great place to have a day out. You can see the manatees from various look outs on the boardwalk that border the river. The water is absolutely crystal clear so you have a perfect view of the manatees in the water as well as lots of fish. 

We have now done a visit to Blue Springs State Park several times, in both February and November, to observe the manatees from the viewing platforms, while they are in the inland waters of the warmer springs. Manatees come inland from the sea from mid November until the beginning of March with the numbers of manatees peaking in December, January and February. In fact Blue Spring State Park is one of the largest winter gathering sites for manatees in Florida. That being said there have been times when we have visited and seen well over twenty there and other times not one. Such is the unpredictability of wildlife. Disappointing but it is still a really lovely place to spend the day and we always enjoy a walk along the boardwalk through the woods.  

Such a great sight and combined with taking a picnic (which you can eat at a picnic table provided in the state park), followed by a 2 hour boat ride with the  St Johns River Cruise   during which you see so much wildlife such as alligators, turtles an abundance of birds, it is a day out which is a real highlight of our holiday. The manatees only come inland at certain times so the year so you would need to check the website of Blue Spring State Park to see when they there although even at times of the year when they are not at the state park a day there is still well worth the journey.

 Another place that we have been to see manatees in the wild was at Crystal Springs. We went to Florida with a group of our friends, one of whom was really keen to be able to swim with manatees and so she was delighted to find a company that offered the chance to Snorkel With Manatees over at a place called Homosassa near Crystal Springs. It was a fairly long drive at just under two hours to get there but well worth it as it was an amazing day out and experience. Manatees are not allowed to be touched, chased or harassed in any way. In Crystal River the tour guides have to register with the Environmental Agency and they are trained in how to swim safely with manatees and to passively observe them, and to then pass this training on to the groups who they take out on the boats. We  certainly felt that the company we went out with was very professional and made sure that everyone was well briefed on what they had to do in the water and the rules that had to be followed.  Read our full Swim with Manatees at Crystal River post here.