Crystal River: A Quaint Drinking Village with a Manatee Problem

Finding myself with an extra day in Orlando, I decided to repeat one of my favorite Florida experiences—snorkeling with manatees.

The warm fresh water springs that feed the rivers have made Crystal River the best place in the U.S. to see manatees during wintertime. In fact, Crystal River hosts the largest congregation of manatees in the wintertime. During warmer months, manatees spread out as far as Alabama and North Carolina.

My first encounter with manatees was in November 2002. It was an unforgettable experience. Yes, manatees are very cute. Yes, they are gentle giants. But what impressed me the most, was the intelligence you can see in their eyes. Of course, I immediately proceeded to blind said intelligence with my little underwater camera… I need to stop doing that to wildlife.

My most recent experience was in March 2006, the tail end of the season when warmer weather had allowed manatees to spread out, increasing the tourist to manatee ratio. Compared to my prior experience it was not as great, but those people that had never done it were very happy. And for me, a bad day in the water is better than a good day on dry land.

Overall, it is a really unique experience to commune with these endangered creatures.

Every time I go I make a point of having some local fare somewhere unpretentious, conch and gator not being terribly easy to get back home in L.A. Mmm, mmm, good.

Quick Tips:

Unless you are an early riser, get to Crystal River and spend the night. Tour check in is early (6:15am) and Crystal River is 2 hours from Orlando, or one and a half hours from Tampa.

Brave the cold weather in winter (November – February). The water will be a warm 72°F thanks to the natural springs, and there will be more manatee "wintering" in the area. Do bring warm clothes as the time in between swims will be cold.

If your outfit is running several boats, try to get on one without kids or divers. Both of these will stir up the bottom, and kill visibility within minutes.

Avoid overly hyper or obnoxious people, and resist the urge to join their manatee touching frenzy. Swarming the manatees will only serve to drive them off.

Best Way To Get Around:

Car rental. I didn't see much in the way of public transportation.

Kayaking is a great way to see the area. There are many places in town you can rent kayaks. Sit on tops are easy to maneuver and hard to topple.

After snorkeling with Manatees I was looking for a place to chill out and maybe get some conch fritters. I stumbled unto Dan’s Clam Stand and had one of the best seafood meals ever.

I sat in the outdoor Tiki hut, attached to the very utilitarian looking main building, sat back, and chowed. I was in luck, as they had conch on the day I went. The conch fritters were outstanding. Unlike so many places, I could actually see, feel, and taste the conch.

I then had a gator burger. It was very nice. The taste of gator is actually very mild, so I would recommend tartar sauce, or even better, the really yummy horseradish sauce served by the house. Have the hush puppies, you can get fries anywhere. The puppies are good.

For the less adventuresome stomachs, Dan’s has a lot of the standard seafood fare including clams, oysters, and some really delicious fried shrimp. Decent sized, the shrimp flavor still comes through. My problem with a lot of places that sell fried seafood is that everything, the shrimp, calamari, clams; taste the same—like batter. The fried seafood at Dan’s retains its taste and the crispiness from the fried batter only enhances the texture.

I actually met Dan, a gregarious and generous person. He certainly enjoys feeding people good food. This is a great place to relax, chow, maybe get a beer or two, and watch the world drive by.

Appetizers are between $5 and $7, and a seafood sandwich with hush puppies is about $8.

There is another location run by Dan's wife. The Address is 7364 W. Grover Cleveland Boulevard; Homosassa, FL 34446; (352) 795-9081. Please note that Dan's is not open on Sundays.

Manatees are aquatic mammals that inhabit shallow, marshy coastal areas. An average adult male is 10 feet long and weighs 1,000 pounds. They are strict vegetarians, and are quite gentle. The West Indian Mantee, the type endemic to Florida, is an endangered species. They face the threat of diminishing suitable habitats and injury from boat propellers.

The Crystal River area is riddled with underground springs that spout fresh, 72ºF water year round, making it an ideal place for the largest North American congregation of manatees during the winter. Manatees have a very narrow range of water temperature in which they can survive, and these warm waters make it an ideal spot for manatees from all over Florida to “winter.”

My first trip was in November 2002, and I had many awesome encounters with manatees. Some were very friendly, I had some serious face time with them. Manatees love being scratched, especially if you have nails and can get some of the algae off. Not having nails, I was apparently not doing a good enough scratching job for one of the manatees, so it pinned my hand underneath its fin in an effort to get me to scratch harder and where it was itchiest.

We also ran into one mother and her calf. They were not in a playful mood, and consciously stayed in the protected area. There’s that intelligence thing again. As far as animal encounters, this ranks up there for me. In comparisson, my March 2006 trip was disappointing. The warmer weather caused the manatees to spread out, and at one point there were two outfits (five boats total) anchored within feet of each other. Despite the best efforts of the guides, tourists crowded around the couple of manatees, and forgot the “manatee manners” required by law. Please don’t be an ugly nature tourist and respect the animals. Since I am on a soapbox, dive equipment is NOT necessary and is actually quite obnoxious considering most of the time you are in waist deep water.

Both times I hooked up with Bird’s Underwater, a Crystal River outfit. It cost $29 for the tour and $20 for gear—wetsuit, mask, snorkel, and fins. I recommend them. The staff is courteous and professional. They also start before the other tours, so your group can have some alone time with the manatees. They will also tape the whole experience, and you can buy a video of DVD afterwards.

Don’t let my last experience deter you, if you have the opportunity, it is definitely something you should do. You’ll be glad you did.