Crystal River and Manatees

[CGoheen]

I'm a new diver and my wife snorkels. We are trying to plan a winter trip to Crystal River - Florida, so both of us can snorkel with the manatees, and then maybe I can sneak in a dive or two. I don't trust advertising near as much as a friends recommendation. I searched Scubaboard and didn't find much on Crystal River, but I found some great advice and interesting comments on scuba. I'd appreciate any hints, tips or clues that anybody might have.

 

[blacknet]

Hello,

OK this come from a photographers point of view.

Get out EARLY! Before sun up and goto the head springs, and be sure it catch it on a VERY VERY cold morning.

Fact: manatee's huddle in the head springs on cold mornings.
Fact: manatee's move out to the main bay shortly after waking up (kinda like breakfast) but will make delays to investigate curious divers.

When I did crystal river we went thru birds underwater (say hello to bill for me) and we was coming back in and passed all the other 'manatee trips' and they may have seen a few if they was lucky. We seen probably about 30+ (including those in the off limits area).

The other way to do it is to get a boat and go out with a buddy to the area, but be sure to get there before dawn. (BE VERY SURE to observe the no wake zone)

For diving, be sure to check out the rainbow river, it's AWSOME (also be sure to bring a dive flag with you)

Ed

 

[samsliquidblue]

Hi CGoheen,
The manatee are wonderful to see and snorkel or dive with. I would reccommend that that you go by the local dive shop and pick up a book on manatee and do some reading on them. There are several good books that are short reads through the dive shops. Next I would call American Pro Divers in Crystal River, FL. and set up your first trips there and let them introduce you to the area and the manatee. That is the way I first encountered the manatee. Once you know the area and if you want to come back, then you can rent boats and navigate the areas by your self. The first time out it is nice to be guided and taken care of. The dive shop has wonderful people that take you to the springs to view and snorkel with the manatee early in the morning and over to King Springs to dive the canvern and see the monument dedicated to manatee. They also go into the Homassa River to see manatee too. The Rainbow River is a must for a clear drift dive and a sampling of the wildlife native to the rivers in FL. It consists of a trip through the shop up the river for a brief snorkel and then gearing up for a dive. The boat drifts with the group making it available at any time. The river is in a range of 35-45 feet most of the time. You can experience the grassy bottoms and the sandy out croppings of the large and small springs. The environment is wondeful and like a reef do not touch or chase the fish. Most of the underwater wild life will stay close for you to examine. There is one spring head part way down the river that two or three divers could fit in and there you can see the fish in the current. It is amazing to see and be near. If you need more help e-mail to samsliquidblue@yahoo.com

 

[CGoheen]

To Ed and Samantha,

Thanks to both of you, I found both places and I've sent some emails to check on costs and availability. Hopefully I can work out a schedule for the Labor Day time frame. Between the two of you I don't see how I can go wrong. I wouldn't have guessed that I had to go early in the morning and I definitely want a guided tour.

I'll let you know how it progresses.


craig goheen

 

[Rick Murchison]

Homosassa springs is a must - you will see manatees there, even if you don't see them at Crystal River, so include the park in your plans. Crystal river is a hit-or-miss proposition, where a warm spell can mean no manatees at all there - but they're behind a fence at Homosassa.
We've been going to Crystal River for years - and I've been there when they were thick as flies and I've been there when we had a complete bust... the *early* and *cold* advice in blacknet's post is spot on.
Here's the quick & dirty on the manatees - a good year for manatee viewing is one where the Gulf gets cold - that drives 'em up to the rivers and springs and powerplants. Then, if the headspring is warmer than the surrounding water they'll congregate there and you can really get in amongst 'em early in the morning, especially on a cold morning.
Usually, the Gulf reaches its lowest temps in mid-February, but as in anything dependent on the weather you just never can tell until it happens. Bottom line - no guarantees - but don't let that stop you... if you don't go you definitely can't be with 'em.
Good luck.
Rick
PS - the local authorities take their manatees and their rules about manatees very seriously. The no-wake and "manatee only" zones are carefully laid out to protect these unique threatened mammals, so pay close attention to them and obey them carefully.

 

[CGoheen]

In case you are all still tuned in here is my trip report. I went with American Pro Diver. We were going to leave from the dock next to the "suites", but since it has been warm in Florida, the LDS had us go to the main shop and out to the docks to a different area. The guide worked hard to find the Manatee's in the murky water. My wife, Mom-in-law and Father stayed on the pontoon boat and saw a lot. Many divers followed the guide, my "spotting team" sent me to the lone Manatees. It worked great. I found out is that you don't "dive" with the manatees and in fact you aren't even suppose to submerge with the manatees. Regardless, it was a great experience, the guide wasn't in any rush to get us out of the water, and he didn't just put us in the water to get us wet, like one of the tour boats seemed to be doing. I did follow the other advice and did the drift dive on the Rainbow River. I saw some large alligator gar, and bass. I also saw crawfish, catfish, turtles, etc, etc. The water was 71 degrees. About 2 knots of current. I squeezed almost 60 minutes out of my tank and I still wasn't at bingo. Great dive.

Thanks to all of you that provided advice and ideas.

 

[blacknet]

Hello,

What time of the day was it and how many manatee did you see?

Ed

 

[CGoheen]

Ed,

We left the dock on a pontoon boat at 0745 and headed up to three sisters springs and saw one manatee grazing. About 1/2 hour later we were out in the murky water and my best estimate was 9 or 10. There were three (cow/calf/+1) that seemed to be playing together and were friendly. There were six or seven other manatees. That count is based on my "spotters" staying on the boat. Later we went to "King Springs" cavern. I didn't plan to dive the cavern, so I snorkled around and met 2 more manatees outside of the "protected" area. The local volunteers who float around in kayaks and "enforce" protections were very helplful. They did spotting and provided some nice maps.

 

[blacknet]

Hello,

Last time I was at crystal river we hit the springs w/in about 10 mins of sun up (around 5-6am) and had about 30 manatee in the area. On our way back to shore we passed all the other dive op's going OUT and btw the manatee's followed us out to the main bay for their breakfast.

Like one of the founding fathers said "early to bed and early to rise"

Ed

 

[CGoheen]

One of the great drawbacks of using a commerical tour guide is their belief that they need to wait on their prepaid customers. I didn't mind waiting the 15-20 min delay for all the folks to show up, because I didn't know what I was missing.

Regardless, the water temp was 70 degrees, which seemed to keep the manatees out farther than "usual". My perfect hindsight tells me that I should have asked what the real departure time would be and how strick would they follow it.

Not ony did you see a bunch more manatees, I'll wager you saw them in the clear water of the springs? The 8-10 ft visibility does detract from the experience and make the manatees harder to find.

"Early to bed and Early to rise, and your girl goes out with other dives?"