Crystal River manatee swim prices, extras included
The four manatee tours on this site cost between ~$50 and ~$79 per person. The stay-dry cruise is the cheapest and the shortest, while the two guided swims and the clear kayak sit within a few dollars of each other. What moves the final bill is the extras, from photos to parking to tips.
Four Crystal River tours side by side
The table lists the regular "from" price per person for each tour on our home page. The figure on the booking page moves with the date and with the site you book on, so treat it as a starting point rather than a quote.
| Tour | From | Length | Group | Meeting point | Included | Costs extra |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Explorida group swim (our pick) | ~$69 | 3 h | Up to 10 | Explorida Adventure Center, 545 N Citrus Ave | Wetsuit, snorkel gear, float noodles, in-water guide, bottled water | Photos and videos, food, tips |
| Crystal River Manatee Adventures, semi-private swim | ~$76 | About 3 h | Up to 6 | 403 NE 2nd St | Wetsuit, mask, snorkel, heated boat in winter, hot chocolate and coffee | Photos ($40 plus tax on GetYourGuide), towels, tips |
| Kacey's Custom Adventures, clear kayak | ~$79 | 2–2.5 h | Up to 10 | Pete's Pier Marina, 1 SW 1st Pl | Clear or sit-on-top kayak, guide, life vest, photo package | $10 parking, gratuities |
| Explorida viewing cruise | ~$50 | 1.5 h | Up to 12 | 545 N Citrus Ave | Captain, Coast Guard certified boat, bottled water | Food, tips |
One tour can cost a different amount on GetYourGuide and on Viator. Open both buttons before you pay, because the gap between the two sites is sometimes bigger than the price of a photo package.
The two swims cost nearly the same
Explorida's group swim at ~$69 and Crystal River Manatee Adventures' semi-private swim at ~$76 are a few dollars apart. Both last about three hours and put you in a wetsuit, with a guide in the water who also takes the photos.
What separates them is the size of the group. Explorida takes up to 10 swimmers, while Crystal River Manatee Adventures never puts more than six guests on a boat and heats it in winter. Hot chocolate and coffee are served on board all year.
Explorida's swim holds 4.9 from 2,400+ reviews on Viator and 4.7 from 600+ on GetYourGuide. The semi-private swim scores 5.0 from 500+ on Viator and 4.9 from 100+ on GetYourGuide, a smaller pile of reviews from smaller boats.
Explorida runs a boat only when at least three guests have booked it, by its own listing. If your slot looks empty, ask the operator what happens before you plan the rest of the day around that swim.
The swim most people book
Explorida's three-hour group swim in the Kings Bay refuge waters, with a wetsuit, float noodles and an in-water guide. Photos are sold separately at the end.
The clear kayak costs more than it looks
Kacey's clear kayak tour at ~$79 is the highest fare of the four on paper, for a shorter outing of two to two and a half hours. In return the fare includes a free photo package, which the swims either sell or may sell.
Two costs sit outside the fare. Parking at Pete's Pier Marina, the meeting point, is $10, and the listing says gratuities are not included. Add both and the kayak lands close to a swim with paid photos.
Kacey's holds 4.8 from 200+ reviews on Viator and 4.5 from 48 reviews on GetYourGuide. If you are torn between paddling and swimming, our swim, kayak or boat comparison sets the three ways side by side.
The cheapest way to see manatees stays dry
Explorida's viewing cruise at ~$50 is the lowest price on the site and the shortest trip, about 1.5 hours on a Coast Guard certified boat. Swimming is not allowed, so there is no wetsuit to wear and no photographer to pay.
The cruise holds 4.9 from 1,200+ reviews on Viator and 4.7 from 200+ on GetYourGuide. Some GetYourGuide reviewers wanted a clearer idea of how many manatees they would see, and how close, at different times of year.
From the deck, a manatee on a murky day can look like a grey shape under the surface. The animals gather in much bigger numbers in the cold months, which our guide to the best time to go explains.
Photos, the extra most people pay
On the Explorida swim, the guide who swims with you also carries the camera. Pictures and clips go on sale once the tour is over, and the listing gives no price, so ask at check-in if you want a figure before you get wet.
Crystal River Manatee Adventures' GetYourGuide listing sells the guide's photos for $40 plus tax after the tour. The Viator title of the same tour says photos are included, so check which version your booking confirmation shows.
Kacey's kayak includes a free photo package, and on the cruise you bring your own phone. Our underwater photo guide covers how the pictures work on each tour and when your own camera does the job.
Tips, towels and the smaller costs
None of the four fares includes tips. Tipping the in-water guide and the captain is the usual custom on American boat tours, and Kacey's listing says plainly that gratuities come on top.
Crystal River Manatee Adventures does not supply towels, so pack your own. Explorida lists food and hotel pickup as not included on its swim, and our list of what to bring covers the rest of the bag.
No tour on this site collects you from a hotel, so budget for the drive and perhaps a night in town if you want the first boat. Our day plan from Orlando or Tampa works through the drive and the timing.
Private boats for families and groups
If your party would fill most of a boat anyway, a private charter can make sense. Explorida offers private boats for up to six or up to 10 people on Viator, and Crystal River Manatee Adventures has a private option for your own group of up to six.
Prices for these depend on the date and group size, so compare them with the per-person fare multiplied out. Explorida's public tours take no children under 3, which makes a private boat the way to bring a toddler, as our guide to manatee tours with kids explains.