Yes, it’s that time of year again. You may be thinking, but I feel like I just cleaned up from the last manatee-appreciation blowout I hosted. Well, time does pass quickly when you’re a manatee fan (like I am).
The most fun I had in 2025 was with manatees. My friend Gal and I went swimming with them at Crystal River, Florida. During the winter, the manatees head in from the Gulf of Mexico (no one there uses any other name for it) looking for the many warm springs, all comfy-cozy at 72F/22C year round.
You have a bunch of options for communing with the manatees:
- viewing them from numerous bridges and platforms in state parks
- paddling in a see-through plastic kayak and viewing them from above
- snorkeling in the water, seeing them swim by, below and around you
Gal and I took the third option, and boy was it amazing. That day happened to be warm, so there were fewer creatures to see, but the ones we saw were massive and cool-looking.
I’m definitely going back, hopefully to see a large aggregation of manatees (that’s what google says we should call them). I highly recommend this for you, your families, your friends, your coworkers, your neighbors, your creditors, your old flames, everyone.
If you’re interested in some of the posts in which I sing the praises of manatees, here you go:
Catherine’s manatee-intensive vacation: the director’s cut
Six things I’ve learned about manatees
Succinct Sunday: things to do with manatees
Not-very-wordy Wednesday: manatees are here to save your day
I’ll leave you with this selfie of Gal and me at daybreak in our wetsuits, ready to see manatees. I admit that I inserted the baby manatee myself– it didn’t actually pose with us. But it’s awfully cute.
Happy Manatee Appreciation Day!
Love the manatee and you photo!