Tampa Electric Manatee Viewing Center

The Tampa Electric has supplied electricity to the Tampa region since 1899. The Manatee viewing center is located at 6990 Dickman Road in Apollo Beach, Florida. The viewing center got its name when visitors got to see manatees that gathered in the clean and warm water discharge canal between the Big Bend Power Station and the center when the temperature of Tampa Bay fell below 68 degrees Fahrenheit. The facility offers visitor viewing platforms and a tidal walkway that takes onlookers deep into the mangrove habitat. There are hundreds of varieties of birds, fish, and other animals that thrive in the area. The center offers an educational building and hub, along with a gift shop, the South Shore Café, and webcams that are in operation during various seasons. The viewing center offers much more than a typical viewing center.

Since its inception the center has grown and expanded from a small collection of observation platforms into a fifty acre facility that attracts crowds from all over the state. More than three million visitors have frequented the facility since it opened its doors. The facility continues to grow and plans of expansion are always in the work. At times observers have witness over 300 manatees at one time in the warm discharge water.