One of the best things about being a newbie at diving is that almost every dive is new and full of adventure. I've had the excitement of seeing my first shark, my first swimming moray, and finding 2+ million year old Megaladon teeth. But nothing prepared me for my dive in Crystal River.
My wife and I planned on a day of diving in the springs and snorkeling with the manatees. We read up on what to expect. In no way did I expect what we found.
First, the springs. Three Sisters was a pretty, but a shallow dive. So shallow my dc said I spend more time above the surface than below. Still, it was pretty. Kings Hole was a mess. Suspended particles (I'm being polite) clouded the viz to about 7 feet. The dive shop later said with the manatees in, they make quite a mess.
But the highlight, and I can't underscore this enough, were snorkeling with the manatees. While some crusty divers, as well as some not-so-crusty divers may say, "oh hum", that's okay because we all get off on different things. But swimming with these animals is an experience I will never forget. I can't choose an adjective that best describes the experiece because there are so many.
We read not to expect much. Let the manatees swim to you if they are interested. They MIGHT let you scratch them. If they don't come by, we were supposed to be satisfied with just seeing them. Okay. Now I can only hope for my wifes sake one stops by.
We were fortunate in that we were the only two people in the water. We swam over to where we saw some motion. About 50 feet from the boat, we had manatee after manatee come visit us....rolling over....asking for a tummy scratch. How could we resist? Many checked us out nose (theirs) to our masks. In short order, my wife and I drifted apart, each having our own mini-herd. While our stories where very similar, I can tell you that eventually one very large bull decided I was his. He rolled and rolled looking for scratching, bumping me if I paid attention to other manatees. At one point he used a flipper around my arm to pull me closer. I had to hug the big palooka, only getting about 1/3 of the way around him. He seemed to enjoy this. When I stopped he used both flippers about my hips to pull me closer. This actually pulled me under water. I had plenty of breath, so I didn't panic. Once I was pulled in I hugged again and he let me surface. I started to prepare myself for another go-round, but decided that while he might be gentle, he was HUGE and I didn't need to get into trouble. Besides, first hugging then what???? I was married and wasn't sure he would understand. I said my goodbyes, and started to swim back to the boat.
The ride home was all smiles. It was such a wonderful experience. And while I'm aware of other animal interactions, as in the Caymans, and I look forward to that experience. But like your first date, this encounter with the manatees I will never forget.
My wife and I planned on a day of diving in the springs and snorkeling with the manatees. We read up on what to expect. In no way did I expect what we found.
First, the springs. Three Sisters was a pretty, but a shallow dive. So shallow my dc said I spend more time above the surface than below. Still, it was pretty. Kings Hole was a mess. Suspended particles (I'm being polite) clouded the viz to about 7 feet. The dive shop later said with the manatees in, they make quite a mess.
But the highlight, and I can't underscore this enough, were snorkeling with the manatees. While some crusty divers, as well as some not-so-crusty divers may say, "oh hum", that's okay because we all get off on different things. But swimming with these animals is an experience I will never forget. I can't choose an adjective that best describes the experiece because there are so many.
We read not to expect much. Let the manatees swim to you if they are interested. They MIGHT let you scratch them. If they don't come by, we were supposed to be satisfied with just seeing them. Okay. Now I can only hope for my wifes sake one stops by.
We were fortunate in that we were the only two people in the water. We swam over to where we saw some motion. About 50 feet from the boat, we had manatee after manatee come visit us....rolling over....asking for a tummy scratch. How could we resist? Many checked us out nose (theirs) to our masks. In short order, my wife and I drifted apart, each having our own mini-herd. While our stories where very similar, I can tell you that eventually one very large bull decided I was his. He rolled and rolled looking for scratching, bumping me if I paid attention to other manatees. At one point he used a flipper around my arm to pull me closer. I had to hug the big palooka, only getting about 1/3 of the way around him. He seemed to enjoy this. When I stopped he used both flippers about my hips to pull me closer. This actually pulled me under water. I had plenty of breath, so I didn't panic. Once I was pulled in I hugged again and he let me surface. I started to prepare myself for another go-round, but decided that while he might be gentle, he was HUGE and I didn't need to get into trouble. Besides, first hugging then what???? I was married and wasn't sure he would understand. I said my goodbyes, and started to swim back to the boat.
The ride home was all smiles. It was such a wonderful experience. And while I'm aware of other animal interactions, as in the Caymans, and I look forward to that experience. But like your first date, this encounter with the manatees I will never forget.
