Crystal River is home to the only national wildlife refuge in the United States specifically created to protect habitats for Florida’s beloved official marine mammal, the Florida manatee. Explore our Visitor Center and Nature Store to learn about manatees and their habitat.

Crystal River is the only place in Florida where you can swim with manatees. Find out how to meet a manatee and get to know these gentle creatures better.

Learn about our precious manatees in a spectacular setting. Situated right on King's Bay in the heart of Crystal River, the National Wildlife Refuge Complex and Visitors Center is not to be missed. The facility has interactive displays and exhibits about the Crystal River Wildlife Refuge, along with a wonderful Nature Store.

There are plenty of ways for anyone to see manatees from swimming with manatees to kayaking and stand up paddle-boarding and boat tours, to visiting the incredible fully accessible boardwalks at Three Sisters Springs Refuge in Crystal River and Ellie Schiller Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park in Homosassa.

2025年1月13日 · For the best chance of swimming with manatees, you should head to Crystal River from November through mid-March, when they hang out in its springs to escape the cold waters of the Atlantic. The absolute best time to see them is from January through February—my husband, Justin, and I visited Crystal River in early January and literally were ...

2024年12月15日 · At Homosassa State Park, 15 minutes south of Crystal River, you can see manatees every day via the park’s underwater observatory of its resident manatee population. Visitors start a visit on a pontoon boat ride down Pepper Creek to the wildlife park, where you also see Florida panthers, bears, bobcats, deer, alligators and a wide variety of ...

2015年9月18日 · The biggest attraction at Crystal River National Wildlife Refuge is the up to 600 or so wild Florida manatees that migrate here during the winter. Crystal River, the only refuge created...

A hidden gem along Florida’s Nature Coast, the Plantation on Crystal River offering two new packages that will give you the chance to swim with West Indian Manatees in Crystal River -- the only location in North America where you can legally swim and interact with these beloved sea cows in the wild.

Located about an hour and a half from Tampa and Orlando, Crystal River is known as the “Manatee Capitol of the world.” Nestled in the heart of Central Florida’s “Nature Coast”, Crystal River and nearby Homosassa are home to some of the largest concentrations of Manatees in the entire world – and are the only places in the U.S. where ...

Crystal River is special because it supports the largest concentration of manatees in a natural spring area. Concentrations of manatees in Crystal River are one of the highest in the State. Certain times of the year are better than others for viewing manatees in Kings Bay.