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Old 01-28-2007, 04:55 PM
 
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I'd like to take a day trip to see some manatees this winter. Any suggestions? I'd prefer to watch them from a dock, riverbank, shoreline etc.
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Old 01-28-2007, 05:00 PM
 
Location: Central FL
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How about Homossasa Springs? You don't always get to view manatees at Blue Springs - but I've seen them EVERY time I've been to Homossasa. You take a boat ride over to the park.....the boat ride is free. Then there are nice boardwalks through the park. It's really nice. Lots of animals and an underwater observatory. You see thousands of fish - it's fun to identify them and lots of Manatees. They even feed the manatees while you watch.

It makes a great day trip. I think it's probably about two hours from Tampa...perhaps a little further, but worth it!
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Old 01-28-2007, 05:09 PM
 
Location: central fl
467 posts, read 1,691,297 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by pianogal View Post
How about Homossasa Springs? You don't always get to view manatees at Blue Springs - but I've seen them EVERY time I've been to Homossasa. You take a boat ride over to the park.....the boat ride is free. Then there are nice boardwalks through the park. It's really nice. Lots of animals and an underwater observatory. You see thousands of fish - it's fun to identify them and lots of Manatees. They even feed the manatees while you watch.

It makes a great day trip. I think it's probably about two hours from Tampa...perhaps a little further, but worth it!
there are a bunch of them in blue springs now...i went there about 3 weeks ago.
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Old 01-28-2007, 05:10 PM
 
Location: Marion, IN
8,189 posts, read 31,226,172 times
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TECO has a plant right on the water. This time of year the manatees hang out there because the plant discharges warm water. Sorry, I can't remember which side of the bay it is on. Hopefully someone else does.

If you don't find them outdoors you can visit Snooty & friends at the Bishop Planetarium in Bradenton. They used to have a live webcam on the manatee tank, but I don't know if it is still online.
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Old 01-28-2007, 05:16 PM
 
944 posts, read 3,846,978 times
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I saw Snoots last year. He's cool.

Is the boat ride just to get to the park? I really want to avoid riding on a boat because a friend of mine did that and the boat actually hit one !!!

pianogal, can you be more specific about the place your're talking about? Homosassa Springs + Manatees produced a lot of results on google. Homosassa Springs State Wildlife Park?

Thanks for the suggestions, keep them coming!

Last edited by Muggy; 01-28-2007 at 05:24 PM..
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Old 01-28-2007, 05:34 PM
 
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Blue Springs State Park, I would think it's about two hours from you. Here's the site: <http://www.floridastateparks.org/bluespring/default.cfm> If you go under things to do you will see you can take a two hour boat cruise to see them up close. You just missed the Manatee Festival it was yesterday and today in Orange City.
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Old 01-28-2007, 05:35 PM
 
Location: Central FL
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Yes, it is Homosassa Springs State Wildlife Park and you don't have to ride the boat - there is a nice walk through a hammock to the park. We rode the boat over and then walked back - it's not a long walk. The boat ride was nice - it was a large pontoon like boat. They drove very slowly and you got a narrated version of all the wildlife and fauna you could see along the river banks. But the walk was nice, too. I meant to give you the main website...it is www dot hswsp dot com.

We really enjoyed our day there and think it is one of the best state parks. They have had a live webcam on their website to view the manatees...don't know if it's up and running now.
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Old 01-28-2007, 06:05 PM
 
Location: Central Fl
2,903 posts, read 12,530,555 times
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We visited TECO last month....it was great. The water was low, so we saw A LOT of manatees, and some baby ones......
They have a nice little museum, shop, etc.......IT WAS ALL FREE.

And it was real close to Tampa.....real close.

Frank D.
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Old 01-28-2007, 06:13 PM
 
Location: On the plateau, TN
15,205 posts, read 12,066,932 times
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The one at Apollo Beach ¿
Been there a few years ago.

Now I have my own manatee that I brought to TN last August for my pond.




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Old 01-28-2007, 06:19 PM
 
Location: Central FL
1,683 posts, read 8,209,634 times
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[QUOTE=Bones;314533]The one at Apollo Beach ¿
Been there a few years ago.

Now I have my own manatee that I brought to TN last August for my pond.



Your pond is beautiful!!
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