FL: Crystal River

After our quiet Sunday finishing the Keys, we spent a long Monday driving back up Florida; we arrived at our campground late at night and weary.  

But the next morning we got up at the crack of dawn and donned our swimsuits. My parents and I had made special plans to surprise the kids with one last Florida adventure: 

swimming with manatees!!!!! 

(Kermit flail!)

Ahem. 

There's a lot of significance to this event for me, but I'll save that for another post. But let's just say I kept this a secret partly because I just could not believe it was even going to happen.

Because manatees are endangered, it is illegal to intentionally get in the water with them and definitely to get near them. But there is one place in the entire US where it is legal to swim with manatees--one particular county that was grandfathered because so much of the local economy is based upon manatees. We knew it would be the wrong time of year to see them there, since it is famous as their wintering grounds but in the summer they move on to even warmer Gulf waters. Still, there are usually a few manatees that choose to stay year round, and we were hopeful we could see one.

We arrived at the tour spot, had the orientation (don't poke the manatees! don't try to ride the manatees!), donned our wetsuits (oh, that was hysterical!), and headed out on a boat to find some manatees.

Such a beautiful day, again. 

When one was spotted, sleeping down at the bottom of the river, our guide led us all out. My parents stayed on the boat and tried to get some pics of us. 

We have photos of the action under the water too!  Daughter Happy had brought along her camera, which is small and waterproof!  The tour guide also took photos and video of the underwater parts, which my parents gifted to us at the end. I'm thankful I have photos to share with you all because the underwater experience is so hard to describe!

Photo credit: Happy

Plant & tiny fish life on the bottom of the Crystal River.

There are actually two very different ecosystems here, and we snorkeled in both. First, the Crystal River itself, which was not very crystal because of algae growth. This larger river ecosystem is shared by the wildlife and lots of human boat activity, as the river connects to the Gulf of Mexico at its end. This is also why the manatees use it as their personal highway, moving from other places in the Gulf during the summer back here in the winter, always seeking the warmer waters, but also needing fresh water for drinking.

Photo credit: Happy

The plants that feed the "sea cows."

Photo credit: Happy

And our first sight of a manatee, sleeping on the bottom of the river!

Photo credit: Happy

Sunny face to face with our manatee.

Manatee. . . and we.

Sleeping manatees still have to come up to breathe every so often.

We also saw another manatee on the tour, this time one swimming. She swam right under our boat--and was much faster than I expected! Alas, while I watched the whole thing through my camera screen, somehow all I recorded was my hand. Ah well!

The second ecosystem our tour guide led us to was the Three Sisters Springs. This is where three fresh water springs come up under water in a creek, making a spot the manatees love to winter in. Being summer, it was manatee free. But it was still beautiful and was a favorite part of the experience for me. 

The water in this area was noticeably colder than in the river proper, because of the springs. But apparently it will be warmer than the surrounding waters in the winter, which is one reason the manatees seek it out. 

Photo credit: Happy

Lots of fish to watch here, both small and big!

Photo credit: Happy

Video taken by our guide that shows the truly crystal waters of the Three Sisters spring; the large depression you see on the creek floor is one of the springs.

After the water part was over the tour guides had hot cocoa or coffee (they mixed the two to make a "mocha" for me) to warm us up.  We had a nice boat ride back to the Plantation dock, complete with rainbow.

Back at the Plantation they had hot showers so we could get all clean and dry--so important since from here we started the long car drive back to my folks' house.  And when we started this road trip, we told the kids they could each pick out one souvenir from anywhere on the road; at the Plantation gift shop, Smiley saw his souvenir: 

Meet Louie, the plush manatee. (with bonus big sister photobomb.)

With a hoodie, because those Three Sisters waters are chilly.

We arrived back in Tuscaloosa after our roughly 2 weeks in Florida with so many memories. And almost as many bug bites.