Manatee Adventure: Explore Crystal River & Homosassa Park

Experience the real Florida with a Crystal River Manatee Swim. Get up-close with gentle manatees and explore the beauty of Crystal River and Homosassa State Wildlife Park.

Duration: 8 hours, 30 minutes
Cancellation: 24 hours
Highlights
  • Crystal River National Wildlife Refuge - The boat will navigate into the wildlife refuge, offering a chance to spot wild manatees in the river.
  • Crystal River - Upon reaching the scenic Crystal River, enjoy a delightful narrated boat tour. Masks, snorkels, and fins will be provided, and guests are encouraged to swim alongside these friendly…
What's Included
  • Airboat Ride on Tuesday and Thursday tours
  • Admission into Homosassa State Park
  • Pickup and drop-off from designated meeting points
  • Driver/guide
  • Use of snorkel equipment, mask & snorkel
  • Picnic Lunch
  • River cruise to look for the manatees
What's Not Included
  • Gratuities
  • Breakfast
  • Airboat Ride on Fridays & Saturdays - tour is priced lower
  • Wetsuits must be hired
Additional Information

Come and enjoy the real Florida! Get up-close with the gentle manatee and see the beauty of Crystal River as you explore the Homosassa State Wildlife Park.
The tour heads up to Crystal River where you can snorkel or swim in the rivers where wild manatees live. It’s an early morning departure, so bring breakfast snacks to eat during the journey….

Location
Charley's Steak House
Parkway Boulevard
Cancellation Policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

Customer Ratings
4.7
(203 Ratings)
5 stars
4 stars
3 stars
2 stars
1 star
Julia_s
Aug 17, 2025
Nice tour - Nicely planed. It was a pleasure to be on the tour. Everything worked smooth. The guide took good care of us
Review provided by Viator
762annabellef
Aug 16, 2025
An unforgettable day trip - We had an amazing day trip yesterday from Orlando to Crystal River, to see and snorkel with the wild manatees there. Our tour guide, Mauricio, was superb, friendly and knowledgeable, and went out of his way to ensure we had an unforgettable day, chauffeuring us safely to and from, and providing a delicious packed lunch for us to enjoy. He also dropped us back directly to our hotel, which we really appreciated after a long hot day! August is the low season for manatees at Crystal River as most of them move out to sea in the warmer months, so sightings aren’t guaranteed, but we were lucky enough to see and snorkel with a male manatee, which was an unforgettable experience. We then saw a mother and calf from the boat, which was really special too. We were provided with wetsuits and all snorkeling equipment, including pool noodle floats, which enable you to float motionless when close to the manatees, to avoid startling them and allow you to observe them peacefully. The whole area is beautiful, and we swam to several of the freshwater springs that feed the area with cool, clear freshwater, and saw a range of other wildlife including turtles, leaping fish, birds and dragonflies. After the manatee experience, we were taken to Homosassa wildlife park to enjoy a delicious packed lunch, and see a variety of animals and birds in the beautiful surroundings there. We left with wonderful memories and a lot of amazing photos. I can’t recommend this trip enough—especially with Mauricio as your guide!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Jayne_r
Aug 13, 2025
Swim with the manatees - What a fantastic day. Oscar our guide was superb, kept us complete informed of each step of the day. Swimming with the manatees was incredible. The wildlife in the Homosassa park was such a delight, seeing the manatees being fed was a super event. The airboat ride is not to be missed- an experience we will never forget
Review provided by Viator
Departure798139
Aug 12, 2025
Unforgettable! - It was just amazing! 🤗 Snorkeling with the rabbits will remain engraved for life. Many thanks to Oscar for his sympathy and professionalism.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
41mar_ao
Jul 25, 2025
Unforgettable experience for nature lovers - I went with my husband and my 15- and 10-year-old sons. We are a Spanish family but we follow Ricky's explanations pretty well. If we had doubts we would ask him later and he helped us with a lot of kindness. We loved being with him, he's outdone himself. Swimming alongside manaties is a great experience, looking for them is already an adventure in itself. You can also see fish and turtles. The nature park is like you're inside a big tropical forest. Several animals to see with a pleasant walk.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Rajshreek2023
Jul 25, 2025
- Amazing trip, loved every stop we made. First snorkeling and swimming with the Manatees, our captain was enthusiastic and amazing. Followed by the Homossassa Springs park visit which was hugely awesome due to the number of birds and animals in the park. We also saw more Manatees here while they were being fed. Finally we had an exciting air boat ride with Wild Bills and a gator tour...our tour guide Carmen from Grayline was very engaging, friendly and gave us good tips throughout to make this trip wholesome. I would recommend this to anyone who loves nature, outdoors and animals! My 13 yr old sold found this to be the highlight of this holiday!!!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Tinawj5210wz
Jul 23, 2025
Excellent. - Overall it was an excellent trip. However, the swim with the manatees was a let down due to the weather which caused poor visibility. The wildlife park was a pleasant experience. Again though as it had been raining the tram ride and boat ride were closed. Maybe, the time we spent there could have been shorter? The airboat ride and seeing the alligators was an amazing experience. Thankfully the weather was better by then. Would certainly recommend. The lunch provided was good quality. Nice, fresh rolls with good amount of filling, plus a bottle of real lemonade, crisps and two cookies. Our tour guide Kevin was outstanding. He was a happy, positive and very knowledgeable guide giving us lots of information.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Lucinda_m
Jul 9, 2025
Swimming with Manatees - I had a lovely day and everyone was so lovely. Highly recommend this experience and stepping away from the parks. I'm gutted as forgot the name of my tour guide for this trip. He was lovely, Knowledgeable and deserves recognition. Thank you 😊
Review provided by Viator
Floraw947
Jul 6, 2025
Beautiful experience - Had an absolutely amazing time! It was so beautiful swimming with the manatees. The hike after was great as well. And most of all our tour guide Oscar was a joy to be with and very informative.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Erthed
Jul 29, 2025
Good but not great - timing is everything! Great hosts, but "meh" total experience (IMO!) - First, Carmen (our tour guide for the day) was very friendly and chatty, totally personable and entertaining, too. I don't know how I didn't realize this, but this tour starts out with a 2-hour drive to the first destination. From there, you start with the manatee tour. There is definitely a better time to go on the manatee tour during the year, and I don't know that it's summer. Water was murky, we were in a residential location which totally changed the vibes, and we only saw one manatee. Captain and co-captain were wonderful, but the allure was not there. It was a special moment when we saw the manatee come up near us, but I would recommend doing this when they migrate during the winter. The second stop (Homosassa) was a bit of a flop and the time there felt too long, especially considering that a large part of the exhibit is currently closed to visitors (the underwater observatory). The final destination (Wild Bill's Airboat Tour) was great and longer than expected. That being said, I also didn't realize the day would go this late. We didn't return to Orlando until close to 6:30pm. Maybe it was my fault that I didn't realize this would be a 12 hour day, but none of the three of us in my group saw this specified anywhere in the write-up. It was a long day and we ended up missing our dinner reservation. Would I do this again? I'm not sure... I'd love to see the manatees in the winter during their migration, and the airboat tour was fun and exhilarating, but the animal rehab park was just mediocre - and they give you way too much time to be there. That's hard when it's the end of July in FL. It was incredibly hot and there was no place to get out of the heat. GREAT people at all locations, though.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
From $159
up to 10 guests
1 - Adult
Cancellation: Free cancellation up to 24 hours before the start of your experience (local time).