Best place to see Manatee!!

[AmandaB]

My Eldest will be having her birthday just after we get back from Florida and I know she would love to see Manatee. :)

Can anyone suggest the best place to go in April to see them as it really would make her happy. We have a hire car so driving isn't an issue.

Thanks for the help,

Amanda

:wave:

[kellyd]

We saw a wild one in the sea at clearwater !

Sea world has them x

[Bob_and_Dawn]

We seen them from the pier at Sebastian Inlet when we were staying over at Vero Beach.

Lovely to watch.

Dawn

[disneyholic07]

we are going to give this one ago http://www.sunshinerivertours.com/

[joe]

Hi all :wave:

Im not sure if you want to see them in the parks but we saw them at bush gardens and we thought thay were ace. :spin: :pgig:

[Eeef]

one of my favourite ever video clips :)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YwNi8dzj0S8

[robbinsretreat]

Are you wanting a swim with them type interaction or do you just want to see them?
We went with Capt Joe (fun2dive.com (http://www.fun2dive.com)) for the ineteraction last August and we saw quite a few!!
if you want to just see them - seaworld? i think there is a sanctuary smewhere in homassa county ( near to crystal river)

hope this helps
Phil

[AmandaB]

Thanks for that I will look into all that have been suggested, I hadn't realised that Seaworld had them and we shall be going there.

[Malcolm]

Also you can see them at Tampa Power station as they have dozens of them come into the warm water that the station generates, they have a cafe and shop there with a good viewing area.

[lausan]

http://www.manateetour.biz/Crystal%20River/CR.html

[Diane]

Homosassa Springs State Park (north of Tarpon Springs) has a lot of manatee together with an underwater viewing station. They also have a number of 'feeding sessions' where you can sit and watch them receiving carrots and special cookies, they even snaffle inside the keeper's cookie tin when they are gone, looking for more! :d:

http://www.floridastateparks.org/homosassasprings/

Diane x

[FLGirl-UKNow]

Last weekend there was 201 counted at Blue Springs park. They generally stay until late March early April. They have a boat tour that you can take and it lasts for approximately 2 hours. You don't swim with them here but it is a nice park and good day away from the theme parks.

[RSSPENCE]

If you dont want to pay for an extra day out or all yours days are planned and full, then Seaworld has a great Manatee area. Some at Epcot too.
If you have the day too spare do one of the Manatee tours, I booked through Virgin. Excellent day out.
i keep finding all these reasons to head back to Florida.

[castanea1985]

Hi

We went kayaking with the manatees last summer! It was a fantastic day out, and we came up close with several! We were on the edge of Cape Canaveral waters, and the view of the launch pads was fantastic too!!

Here is the link if anyone is interested!

http://www.adayawaykayaktours.com/daytours.html

Tracy

[Villainlover]

Hi all :wave:

Im not sure if you want to see them in the parks but we saw them at bush gardens and we thought thay were ace. :spin: :pgig:

I love Busch Gardens, been every year just about since 1993 but I have never seen a Manatee whilst there?? wondering where they kept it/them?

have seen them at both Seaworld and Epcot though :grin:

[AmandaB]

Thank you all for your help. I will look into where we will go to see them. We are all looking forward to seeing them.

Amanda

[coma]

OK here's my recommended manatee list!

In captivity:
Sea World
EPCOT
Mote Marine Aquarium (clearwater area)
Homosassa Springs (best place to see them)
Lowry Park Zoo, Tampa (also very good)
Miami Seaquarium

In the Wild:
Crystal River (best place to swim with them in the wild)
Blue Spring state park
Manatee Springs state park
Tampa Bay power station (water is very murky, you can only really see nostrils on the surface)
Anywhere around the coastal areas, in the rivers and also in the Keys! Always keep an eye out when near water.

There aren't any Manatees in Busch Gardens although there used to be some Dolphins that were moved to Discovery cove.