The largest and only increasing herd of manatees in the USA makes its winter home in Crystal River and King’s Bay. There is a resident herd year round but as the manatees seek warmer water between October and March, the opportunity for manatee viewing and “close up” scuba or snorkel encounters increases during these months.
 

Stay at King’s Bay Lodge and have your Charter pick you up early for a quick change into a wet suit at out dockside dressing room and a surrealistic boat ride across the Bay to manatee concentrations. Swimming beside these beautiful gentle giants is a unique experience. If you choose not to “Swim with a Tee” you can sit in comfort on the boat and watch them glide in the water around you. Many Charter captains offer to make underwater pictures or movies of their customers swimming with the manatees.