My husband and I recently booked the Manatees and Monkeys tour at Silver Springs State Park with Epic Paddle Adventures through Viator. Our guides were Stevie and Ben.
The meet-up instructions weren't extremely clear, but I was able to use context clues, such as the clear kayaks and a small sign with the business name on the side of a plastic tote, to figure out which group we were with. The guides weren't dressed in any specific colors or anything. As far as I know, we were the first to check in, but somehow we were close to last when being set up in a kayak. We weren't told about or offered dry bags either. I saw others with them, asked, and had to run back and grab a couple while we were lined up to launch. Another group asked us to grab some for them as well.
Stevie provided us with a brief paddling tutorial prior to our departure being that we were the only ones in our group to have never been kayaking previously. Ben made sure our seats were set up properly and secured for the ride and assisted me with fashioning my life vest into a cushion for my bottom. After the tour, everyone was complaining about their bums hurting, but I was just fine!
As paddling novices, we stayed at the rear of the pack for most of the tour and missed out on all of the informative bits and bites provided by Stevie, but the springs were relaxing, beautiful and teeming with wildlife! It would've been nice if we could've been positioned at the front of the group, being one of the first to launch since we did arrive first and we were beginners. Just a thought for future tours.
The manatees were majestic! Go for the manatee. I was worried that we wouldn't see any, but that was no issue. The water is crystal clear and the manatee are present. They're calm and they come right alongside and beneath the kayaks. It was amazing.
Our guides got us back to dock safe and sound and that's all I really cared about. Pictures were taken throughout and a QR code to view them was provided. Later that day, they weren't there, despite tours that happened after ours being online. During the tour, we were told that we didn't need to take pics because they'd take plenty. In fact, most of us had our things in dry bags for safety. We really wanted those pictures. I called the office and spoke to a woman who said she'd speak to whomever uploads them and if they weren't there by the end of the day to call her back. They were eventually uploaded and I was stoked to see the underwater video of the manatee! I'm happy I took pictures of my husband and I because those candid shots of us struggling to paddle are only suitable for comic relief purposes. Speaking of which, some of the guides' jokes and anecdotes weren't funny and were borderline offensive. I tried to let them roll off my back, but it is partially the reason for the lower rating. read more