Swim with Manatee's?

[tdelano]

I am thinking of taking a day or two after the theme parks to go on a swim with the manatee's. Has anyone had a good/bad experience with any tour operators or could reccomend someplace nearby to stay?
Thanks!

 

[NotUrsula]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/w...node=&contentId=A28686-2002Nov8&notFound=true

 

[LKS]

We went with Byrd's Underwater because they head out the earliest (and coldest - brrrrrrr!) in the morning and you can see the manatees without crowds. You really have to do this on a very, very cold day to have a great experience and see lots of manatees. The day we went out it was in Jan-Feb and was 31 degrees and pitch dark when we arrived at the dock.

It was a great experience, but probably the coldest I have ever been in my life. It took a hot bath, breakfast and a long nap before I was fully recovered.

We took our own wetsuits and borrowed caps, but we went barefoot and that was a big mistake. The boats have thin indoor/outdoor carpet over a metal deck and our feet really, really froze. Wear the booties.

Take an underwater camera for once it starts getting light.