Excellent tour guide Traci is not only the guide but she owns the place. She was amazing and fun to spend hours with under the Florida sun searching for manatees. I would do this again and again.

We had the most incredible experience with Crystal River Manatee Adventure! We brought our two toddlers (ages 3 and 4), and to our delight, the tour ended up being a private one since the other two spots weren’t filled. Leah and Chris were absolutely amazing from start to finish — incredibly accommodating, patient, and thoughtful with our little ones.They guided us to the best spots to see manatees and gave clear, easy-to-follow instructions on how to behave around them to make sure everyone (including the manatees!) had a safe and respectful experience. We really appreciated the flexibility they offered, allowing us to choose whether we wanted to spend more time observing the manatees or enjoy some free swim time.Leah even went above and beyond by carrying my daughter on her back so she could get an up-close look at the manatees — a moment we’ll never forget. Plus, they captured amazing photos and videos for us that we’ll treasure forever.This tour exceeded all expectations and was one of the highlights of our family trip. I cannot recommend Crystal River Manatee Adventure enough — especially for families with young kids. Thank you, Leah and Chris, for making it such a magical and memorable day!

This is a hard review to write as I have mixed feelings about the tour. I'm giving the tour operator a rating of average however swimming with the manatees was a bucket list experience that has now been fulfilled and that part made the trip excellent. Captain Fred was knowledgable, pleasant and entertaining. He offered us hot chocolate to help warm us up after the swim and because we were out of the water with time left on our hands, he drove us around to other sanctuary spots to view hundreds of manatees by boat. He provided us with excellent information about the manatee population which added to the experience.I wish I would have known: 1 - The pictures on the website show the swimmers with full body wetsuits. We were given wet suits with short sleeves and legs. When the air temperature is 55 degrees and the water is barely above 70, it makes for an even colder experience in the water. Every other tour boat provided full-body wet suits. The one he had for my mom didn't even hug her legs which meant that the cold spring water flooded her suit and she wasn't able to stay in as long as we did.2 - There is no place to change on the boat and they do not provide any form of towel or heater, except for the hot chocolate, so make sure you bring layers to wrap yourself in after your swim. We brought extra towels and it helped that it was a sunny day but when you are cold, you are cold.3 - This is not a water-guided tour, so once you are in the water, you either have to rely on the Captain pointing out where the manatees are or tag along with another group tour to figure out where to go.

Captain Shelly and Courtney were excellent tour guides! My wife and I had a blast and seen quite a few manatees! Very accommodating and with a lot of fun facts! Thanks!

We were a family of four with two older teens. We had a pontoon boat to ourselves with our captain Fred. We struggled getting used to snorkeling as we never did it before. Wear contacts ( not glasses) if you have the option. Once we got the hang of snorkeling, we saw two manatees. Fred made sure that all of us saw the manatees. The boat ride was completely enjoyable. We saw another mom/baby manatee swimming, an alligator floating ( in another part of the water), and turtles. It was a great 3 hours!