A Manatee Experience - Continued - Page 2
How to See Them and Our Favorite Place
After your arrival in Crystal River, it is time for your manatee encounter. There are a number of ways for this to happen. There are many dive shops and charter operations that will take you on a guided tour of manatee habitats. Some that I have seen in Crystal River are Bird's Underwater, American Pro Diving Center, Plantation Inn Dive Shop, Crystal Lodge Dive Center, and the Port Hotel and Marina Dive Center.
They will take you on a pontoon boat (some of which are enclosed and heated) to the best manatee locations. Whether you like guided tours or not, this could be a good way to start your adventure. After you have visited the best manatee sites, you can then consider your next option - renting your own boat.
Most of the hotels in Crystal River have a dive shop on site or work with a local operator who will rent you a pontoon boat, a jon boat or a kayak. The boat on the right in the picture is a jon boat. Before taking out a rental boat, you will be required to watch a video about manatee safety. This is a good thing. We all need to be responsible when it comes to manatee safety. Before leaving on your excursion, remember to bring polarized sun glasses. They are important to spot the slow moving manatee when they approach the surface for a breath of air. While cruising on the river, travel at idle speed and have someone on the bow (front) of your boat to watch for manatees.
Okay, you are on the river but where is the best place to go? For my wife and I, there is no choice. Our favorite place is Three Sister's Springs. It has changed over the years but it has remained one of the most popular locations for seeing and photographing manatees. There are some down sides to its popularity. It is often crowded. No matter how early we arrive there - we are never there first. Someone always beats us there. Usually, it is one of the charter tour operators. Many dive shops will not allow rental boats to leave the docks until 8:00 am and the tour boats leave earlier. The positive aspect of this for the tour operators are their customers have a head start with the manatees. They also get a good spot at the spring. When we first started going to Three Sister's Springs, there was not a designated manatee sanctuary at the site. Now there is. That is a good thing for the manatees. They can get away from humans just by swimming into the sanctuary.
Three Sister's Springs is in a lagoon off the main river. The lagoon is where three springs provide a steady supply of crystal clear 72° water. The spring area itself is a beautiful site. It has a population of resident Atlantic needle fish, mullet, small and largemouth bass and other fresh and salt water fish species. You can also see egrets, herons, cormorants and osprey. It is a nature lover's delight. The manatee sanctuary is roped off and humans cannot enter the area between the ropes and the shoreline. It is important to remember when you are at Three Sister's Springs to stay in the water or on your boat. Don't venture onto the land adjacent to the springs. It is privately owned and the owner frowns on intruders. Considering the sheer volume of visitors to this spring, I can understand the feelings of local land owners. Please respect their feelings. It will keep the springs open to all who visit. Any of the places that rent you a boat can provide directions to Three Sisters. In the picture above, you can see a manatee underwater just in front of the sanctuary buoy.