Manatee swimming

[Guest]

Can anyone tell me whats its like, im a bit of a nervous swimmer but would love to do this! is the water clear?
Would be very glad of some advice

Thanks

Debs

[Guest]

I will be swimming with the manatees on 14th October, so will post again when I get home to tell you all about it I'm sure there are other Dibber's that have swam with them aswell, so someone should be able to help you!

Scrump x

[Anne]

hi Debs and welcome to the Dibb

Check out an earlier thread here and there are also some trip reports about it - I know Kirstenjet did it and it sounds great.

[monkeehanger]

Hi, I swam with the manatees two years ago at Crystal River. Had a fantastic time. The best tip is to be patient with them and they will come to you. If you have never used a snorkel and mask before I suggest trying to find somewhere to practice before you go.

The water was clean (for a river) and not too deep. You could stand up in most of the areas. No alligators bother you there either.

You may have to spend quite some time in the water so be prepared to wait for the manatees. I spent over an hour floating like a log in the water to be rewarded with the most fantastic experience of a family of manatees nudging me around in the water.

A disposable underwater camera is also a must. These can be bought locally and fairly cheap.

You don't need to be a strong swimmer, but again if you are not familiar with a snorkel, mask and flippers I would try and get some practice.

The guys who took us there were very knowledgeable and helped in every way.

Hope this help and you have a great time.

[suei]

We swam with the manatees this August at Crystal River with Birds Underwater, and it was amazing!
We had a whole morning out on the boat-longer than the trip should have lasted- and we saw 2 groups of manatees. 1 group were out in the river estuary where the water wasn't too clear, but that meant you had to get really close to them to be able to see them which was lovely, and they definitely seemed to enjoy playing with us-they would swim up close to you so that you could scratch their backs and under their front flippers. Some of the adults were really big-some were easily 10-12 feet long-but they move very slowly, and weren't at all frightening.
Later we found 4 more in an inlet area where the water was much clearer, and this group included a mum and a baby. The baby was really inquisitive and very playful, and kept swimming up to us to be stroked and scratched, and to swim between our legs! The mum called to the baby regularly-you could hear a squeaking noise under the water-and he'd go off to see her and then come back for more scratching!
We took lots of photos using disposable waterproof cameras, and a lot of them came out really well. Unfortunately Birds Underwater's PAL video machine was broken when we were there otherwise we would definitely have bought the video as the filming was really clear.
It was a fantastic morning, and I'd love to go back in the not too distant future to do it again, but in the winter when there are more manatees about. I'm sure you'll have a wonderful morning-can I come with you?!

[Guest]

Thanks to everyone, this is a must then! will get something booked up!

Thanks Again

Debs x

[Guest]

Just read the above thread. Swimming with the Manatees sounds great, a real once in a lifetime experience.

Can anyone give me a rough idea of prices, please as I am interested in doing this?

[Guest]

Hi Rattly_Noise!

We have paid $100 for 2 adults for a 3 hour swim, wetsuit, snorkel and fin hire, and the prices seem quite reasonable.

Hope you decide to book a swim, I can't wait to do ours

Scrump x

[Guest]

we're paying $85 per person. at fun2dive.com

going in December

Debs

[suei]

Our trip in August with Birds Underwater cost $29.50 for the Swim and $20 for wetsuit, mask and snorkel hire-total about £30 each. They billed us on booking for the Swim, and then on the day for the equipment we actually hired.