Garrett was a blast! We are just coming into the warm season and most manatees are back in the…read moregulf, he still got us to 7 manatees, 2 gators, and we caught a dolphin in kings bay towards the end. He gave us plenty of time to look for things to come up out of the water which was great for my 2 year old. Boat was shaded and was enjoyable even with a small child. Other tours wouldn't let me book because she was under 3- we brought our own lifevest but they did also have some on board that were her size.

Thank you Piper and Wade (best guide and captain combo ever!) for an experience my wife and I will…read morenever forget! Amazing! We learned so much and got to go face to face with a big old male. Piper's encouragement and direction kept us calm when things got exciting! Would recommend to everyone who loves nature. Also the office staff were gracious and made great recommendation for lunch at a local deli. 100% glad we chose these guys.

Snorkeling with Manatees! William L Schams and I had a fun encounter with many manatees at Crystal…read moreRiver, Florida. Salty Siren Tours and Charters was our tour guide. Our guide, Tyler, was so fun and made sure all of us had the best spot to have clear water and positive encounters with the Manatees. He also made sure we were safe, had pictures and videos. A really nice and thoughtful person. Our captain was Captain Randy. He was very knowledgeable, kind and fun. He made sure we had hot beverages after we got out of the water! He was a very experienced captain. William was loved by the baby Manatee so much. It constantly sought him. It was adorable. Our guide, Tyler, had a really close encounter with the Manatee nibbling his facial hair! Lol. The whole experience, we maintained our instructions to not touch the Manatees. They could touch us, but was had to stay still and be respectful. The Crystal River Community is doing everything they can to protect the Manatees and educate us humans how to respect them. What a beautiful place.

I took my group of friends from out of town to Salty Siren. We swam with the manatees and had a…read moreterrific experience. One friend was a little afraid of swimming and they helped her feel comfortable. She had a terrific time. We all got the hang of snorkeling and swimming. They got good pictures of us too.

Very disappointing experience at Three Sisters Springs. During our Florida vacation we visited…read moreseven parks from Fort De Soto up to this area and had great experiences everywhere else. When we arrived, the parking attendant directed us to park across the street and said we could pay at the gate or the visitor center. When we returned to the gate it was closed and the attendant had stepped away with a sign saying to wait or go to the visitor center, so we assumed we could pay there. When we reached the buildings we were aggressively approached by a volunteer named Cyndi Stone who immediately accused us of breaking federal laws and sneaking in. We tried to explain the misunderstanding but she was not interested in listening. The interaction was embarrassing and unnecessarily confrontational. We were clearly tourists unfamiliar with the setup and would have happily paid the fee if approached respectfully. Instead, the situation ruined the visit and we chose to leave. On the way out a different person at the gate apologized, which we appreciated, but clearer instructions and a more respectful approach would make a big difference for visitors.

Do you want to see Manatees in the wild? Come here!…read more Late November to early March these wonderous creature come to the warmer inlets of the gulf and like to habg out here at the 3 sister's spring, where the water is 72°F year round, and crystal clear. The grounds of the spring head are nicely kept, and contain a nicely informative walk. Come see the floaty potatoes!

Very friendly and knowledgeable staff, easy entry point for a day on the river. Great time…read morekayaking with the manatees!

MANATEES ARE MAGICAL! We saw well over 30+ manatees on our late January kayaking outing. We rented…read morea 2-seater top kayak (comes w paddles and life vests). And from the staff to the dock hands, to the quality of the vessel and cleanliness of the shop: 10/10. A guide handed us a laminated map (nice touch) and told us where to head for manatee sightings. And even pointed us to a cove that homes a lot of turtles and alligators. We saw it all! They have volunteers overseeing the 3 sisters springs, to help monitor the safety of the manatees (and scold ignorant people lol). Great time! If you're unsure, let me assure you.. just book.

Fantastic trip with a very knowledgeable and professional crew. From check in to the boat ride it…read morewas safe and fun. We saw plenty of gators and learned a lot about them and the surrounding area. You can tell they love the lake and the animals. It is definitely worth the trip, we will be back.

Awesome experience.. everyone was super friendly.. awesome tour.. randy is an awesome guide and we…read morewere able to pet Luke their alligator..

My girlfriend and I came to the port not knowing what to expect, being from Chicago. We met Sandy…read moreon the pier and found her to be both knowledgeable and extremely personable. Once on board, Captain Jake led us to all the popular hang-outs to see Manatees up close and personable. In a nutshell, the three hours we spent with Jake and Sandy was truly an enjoyable experience. If you want a personal tour and not the big business rush job, book these people!!

Awesome time Casey and Jake went above and beyond to ensure we all experienced the manatees…read more They also gave us the history of Kings Bay and explained the conservation efforts taking place Highly recommend

Thank you to Heidi and Andy for the awesome time! So special getting to swim with manatees, and…read morethanks for answering all my many excited questions!

This was our second time using Birds to swim with Manatees and we will choose them every time now…read more Had an amazing experience with Captain Misty and Guide Gina. Highly recommend the 6am tour as you get viewing time before it gets really busy. I really appreciate Birds Underwater as they do a great job educating you about the manatees and how to passively observe. Made the manatees more comfortable and as a result we got to have some amazing interactions with them.

Good morning, Yesterday, my son Lee, his fiancé Ashley and…read moremyself Theresa went on the boat tour through Kings Bay to see the manatees. Captain Marty, our guide, provided a beautiful history about how the manatees group together in the warm water at winter time. We also had the wonderful opportunity to see the manatees and a garr fish.. We all agree it was one of the highlights of our day.. Many thanks to Captain Marty for showing all of us a great time... Theresa from Vero Beach

I think it's important to note that there's a good change you will only see one or potentially none…read moreat all. The crew was extremely nice, but for the money, I would have done something else. We went into the cove area and there was 1 manatee that other boats were waiting to see. After one group left, we swam up, saw it for about 5 min before it swam off. That was basically the extent of it. I swam to see one of the springs. But for $500 for a family of 5; I wish there we could have seen others or at least tried to go and see other ones. It also would have been helpful if we could have had an option to cancel if they had tours that didn't see any or really low exposure that day (or been able to reschedule for a colder day).

Before we left we advised that the fishing pontoon we rented for the whole day had no working…read moreradio, the cigarette adaptor did t work to charge our phones if we needed. We were told they could either give us a different pontoon with no live well or give us a portable speaker. Bill crap. We spent over $350 and it wasn't fully functioning. Thank goodness my husband knew the water and we made the best of it for his birthday. Just disappointed that I didn't go with a different place to rent which was cheaper.

Very clean, easy in & out for those who know how to drive ... lol. There are people sitting on…read moresides specifically to catch those who don't...

Friendly staff. The boat captain was knowledgeable. Loved that he plucked plastic bags out of the…read morewater. It was a beautiful, relaxing trip. Saw many manatees!

Oh Lordy, where do I start? I was raised in the area and…read moremoved away 40 years ago. My bff and I were on a road trip tour of my favorite places. Crystal River was always one of my favorite places to play in the water. So during our "drive by" selected to do Captain Wayne's 2 hour manatee tour. I knew it was a shot in the dark because,well June, they are rare in the rivers this time of year. My BFF was hoping to see dolphins (also rare in the rivers I know). When we boarded first thing he asked was what we wanted out of this journey, we told him our hopes. We set sail in his wonderful pontoon boat completely shaded in the hot Florida sun. He told stories and provided information and answered all our silly questions with such importance we felt valued for our interests and not silly for asking such question. We happened upon ( I'm sure he did the searching but we never saw) our first pod of manatees coming up and diving so wonderful we were thrilled. After a little bit we came up on yet another pod of manatees. The respect and distance he gave them while insuring our amazing views was the marks of a caring and mindful captain. We were heading back in and time was short. But then Captain Wayne's spotted some dolphins getting ready to feed. He explained the process and what we could expect and it was AMAZING! Watching them circle the school of fish and watching them catch in midair was just a once in a lifetime experience. We stayed and watched the whole thing, running our time over by almost 30 minutes. He never rushed or even noticed that I could see. I have seen many places touristy (cattle feeds I call them) rushing in and never connecting. I can promise you this is not that. If you have time and are in Crystal River - Take this cruise with Captain Wayne, I believe you will not regret this decision! Captain Wayne's, if you're reading this - thank you thank you thank you for everything, you made it so special. A day we will not forget.