Crystal Springs followed by night in Clearwater, good plan?

[sarahly]

I’ve got a trip planned for October this year, myself and my 17 year old daughter for 19 nights. This will be a one off trip for us so I was hoping to fit in a little bit of ‘real Florida’ as well as the theme parks. We won’t have a car for the full trip but the plan is to hire one for a few days to fit in a couple of trips outside of Orlando.

I love the idea of swimming with manatees and I’ve read lots of good reviews of Crystal Springs, I also would like to take my daughter on a dolphin watching boat trip and to a Florida beach.

I was thinking an early start and drive to Crystal River for a morning swim. Is there anything else recommended to do/see in the area?

Then drive down to Clearwater where we can have dinner, hopefully see a lovely sunset, stay overnight and then spend the next day at the beach before driving back to Orlando.

Is there a scenic route to take between Crystal River and Clearwater? Any nice places to stop along the way?

Does this sound like a good plan?

Would planning this for a weekend be a good idea or not? I’ve read dibbers planning to avoid the theme parks at the weekend so was thinking maybe we could hire a car to include the weekend as a way of doing this. But would Crystal River and Clearwater be less enjoyable because of more visitors at the weekend too?

Would anyone anticipate it would be an issue to drive from Clearwater back to Orlando in the dark? For someone who isn’t familiar with the area?

Any advice much appreciated!

[vampiress88]

I’m not so sure about some of this as we have only been to Clearwater and we only drove there and stayed about 5hours. We went direct from our villa. It took 2 hours it was an easy drive but not really scenic. Although I did like going over what was basically just a road in the middle of the ocean that was nice having sea at both sides.
We also didn’t drive at night or in dark but it was a very easy drive so I wouldn’t have said it would be any worse than normal drive over here in the dark.

[greekgranny]

If driving down the US19 you could stop at Tarpon Springs the Greek town.

[sarahly]

vampiress88 and is a normal drive over there in the dark okay? I'm sure it will be fine, I've driven in Europe with no issue, but not so much in the dark as its always been summer.

Is Tarpon Springs a nice place to visit greekgranny? I love Greek food so its sounding appealing based on that alone!

[Lisbon]

Hi
You have to get up early for the manatee swim, maybe think of going the day before and book a hotel - you could also go kayaking the day before.
We went with a company that only had 6 divers which was much better that some of the tours which had lots more
If you're using a satnav it may have an option to avoid tolls and interstates to give you a scenic route
Rob

[greekgranny]

Originally Posted by sarahly

vampiress88 and is a normal drive over there in the dark okay? I'm sure it will be fine, I've driven in Europe with no issue, but not so much in the dark as its always been summer.

Is Tarpon Springs a nice place to visit greekgranny? I love Greek food so its sounding appealing based on that alone!

See more...

visitstpeteclearwater.co...tarpon-springs

Yes, It is different and genuine. Plenty of Greek pastries and restaurants. Mamas Greek cuisine is good but not overlooking the harbour as Mykonos is. Both have authentic greek food.

mamasgreekcuisine/

facebook/pages/categ...0668624612086/

hellasbakery/company-info...-retail-bakery

[vampiress88]

Driving over there was easier than here even in the dark. Only thing that threw me off was the rain as it’s definitely harder than here in that.

I drove in dark loads cos hubby had a beer.

[Keirasean]

Hi
I’ve not been to crystal river..but looked at it often. For a reasonable priced hotel in great location at Clearwater I’d recommend pier 60 hotel. Clear sky cafe is good for dinner. Boat ride of little toot for dolphins. Bait shack is quaint for lunch, etc. We always combine Clearwater with a day at Busch gardens. You could go to Busch on the second day then drive home from Busch... an hours drive (if staying championsgate type area in orlando)
We are going for 17 days in October too. Can’t wait
K

[sarahly]

Originally Posted by greekgranny

visitstpeteclearwater.co...tarpon-springs

Yes, It is different and genuine. Plenty of Greek pastries and restaurants. Mamas Greek cuisine is good but not overlooking the harbour as Mykonos is. Both have authentic greek food.

mamasgreekcuisine/

facebook/pages/categ...0668624612086/

hellasbakery/company-info...-retail-bakery

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Oooh thanks for the tips!

Originally Posted by vampiress88

Driving over there was easier than here even in the dark. Only thing that threw me off was the rain as it’s definitely harder than here in that.

I drove in dark loads cos hubby had a beer.

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That's reassuring, thank you.

Originally Posted by Lisbon

You have to get up early for the manatee swim, maybe think of going the day before and book a hotel - you could also go kayaking the day before.
We went with a company that only had 6 divers which was much better that some of the tours which had lots more
If you're using a satnav it may have an option to avoid tolls and interstates to give you a scenic route

See more...

Thanks Rob, I think it'll be an early morning, not sure if we can fit another night. Was fun2dive the company you used? I've been looking at that one, think I must have seen it recommended elsewhere on here and some of their tours is limited to 6 people. I like the look of their guided paddle tours as well.

Can I ask how strong a swimmer you think you have to be for the manatee swim? We can both swim but we're not swimmers and have never swam anywhere other than a pool.

Originally Posted by Keirasean

I’ve not been to crystal river..but looked at it often. For a reasonable priced hotel in great location at Clearwater I’d recommend pier 60 hotel. Clear sky cafe is good for dinner. Boat ride of little toot for dolphins. Bait shack is quaint for lunch, etc. We always combine Clearwater with a day at Busch gardens. You could go to Busch on the second day then drive home from Busch... an hours drive (if staying championsgate type area in orlando)
We are going for 17 days in October too. Can’t wait

See more...

Thanks for the hotel tip! Eee I'm starting to get quite excited now, this trip is for my daughter really and its a surprise, but the more I'm reading and planning the more excited I'm getting! How many times have you been? I don't think we'll have time for Busch Gardens even though the rides do look great, this is our first and only trip so lots of decisions to be made about what we do and don't have time for.

[Keirasean]

Happy planning 😁
This is 5th time for us.
Other things we always do now are;
Stay 1 night at Royal Pacific club level at universal to get 2 days front of line passes and 2 days free food 😉. Actually works out a bargain for what you get
Visit abracadabra icrecream and longhorns for flos fillet steak
Cabana at Roas rapids at aquatica (good value for relax day)
Discovery cove is lovely... swimming on reef with fish
And the list goes on 😁😁
Love it