Manatee Info Needed

[irishlostboy]

Hi all,
I have just found out I will have a chance to go to Florida to dive with Manatees this December, and I am looking for info, ideally from people who have done this, or who live in Florida and know the locales. I would have posted this in the regional section of the forum, but things seem pretty dead in there.
I need to know:
1. Can I rent actual freediving gear. big fins, weights etc, so I can get down there and lay about on the riverbed with the manatees. If not I will import some new stuff from Europe if I need to.
2. Are there any "off the beaten track" places that I can dive with them. I don't want to be stuck with a swarm of tourists all interfering with the manatees and getting in the way of my camera.
3. While in Florida, where are the best places to go get in the water with other creatures. Alligators (wild only) Dolphins (wild only) etc
4. Are there any other must see freedive locations in the area I must check out?
Thanks for any info or insights you can provide.

 

[Erik]

Hey!
I'm from Canada but was just in Fla freediving some freshwater springs.
As far as I saw, and according to my 2 Fla friends, being in the water with manatees is illegal, and rangers are very motivated to protect them. You are not allowed to approach them, and even if they come to you, authorities will not stand for it.

Maybe I'm wrong. I'm sure there's good reason to leave them alone.

The springs and caves are magical! Weekdays are better as locals like swimming and tubing but winters are apparently much less crowded. We dove 3 different springs a day.
A side benefit was the extremely pleasant people of northern Florida.
Have a great trip.

 

[cdavis]

It depends on where you are. In some of the spring feed state parks Erik is right. Manatees can be a pain because they can come up to you while you are trying to dive the spring and the rangers will still run you out of the water, Blue Springs State Park is particularly bad. If you get there when they first open, preferably during the week and head for the spring boil, you will probably see some manatees within camera range, but far enough away that the rangers don't get crazy. Check the regs first, most of the spring is closed to divers (and swimmers??) in winter, when there are lots of manatees.

There are several places in Crystal river where you can approach manatees, just stay out of the closed areas. Huge numbers of tourists, so get there very early. If the manatees haven't been hassled by the tourists, they will probably interact with you. Vis is a bit flacky, often not great. You might be able to rent some pretty crappy snorkeling gear in the Crystal river area. Internet search time.

There are probably some private spots with good vis, but nobody is going to say where they are.

General advice on how to handle them. . . Ignore their presence. If nobody else is hassling them, pretty soon they get curious and come to you. When they do, they are very friendly, curious, seem to love interacting with you. You will not see that behavior is you approach them first, especially if you move too quickly. As long as things are very calm, they like to be scratched.

Erik is right about the springs, but we couldn't take him to the best places, next trip.

Connor

 

[irishlostboy]

Thanks for the advice guys. Ya, we will head down to crystal river direction where the interaction is legal.
I have dived with a wild solitary dolphin a good bit before and the interaction/advice is the same. Just be in the water and let the animals do their own thing and dictate what they want. most animals are curious if they are not scared/annoyed.
Ya, will possibly rent crappy snorkel gear and maybe throw some rocks in a backpack for ballast.

 

[cdavis]

Good luck with your trip.

Wish I could reccommend a dolfin encounter, but the bottlenose dolphin we have don't normally come to swimmers/divers. If you ever get to the Bahamas, the spotted dolphin are a hoot to dive with. Needs a boat and good local knowledge to find'em.

 

[cdavis]

Well, it is possible to get lucky. This weekend, took the boat down to Cayo Costa, a mostly uninhabited island not too far from home. A big(like 10 ft) manatee started hanging around the boat where we were anchored to go to the beach. I got in with him. things very calm, slow motion. He wanted his back scratched, but nowhere else, kept turning his back to me any time I tried to scratch his sides or belly. After a while, he seemed to get enough and we just lay on the bottom together. Very cool. Karen got a few good pics that I will post once I figure out how. After I got out, he made it clear that he wanted some more interaction.

A very interesting and, for me, unique, experiance.