Visiting Manatee Springs State Park in Florida

West Indian manatees can be seen in the warmer water of the springs during winter months. Unfortunately, we arrived in early spring and were told by the park ranger that we had missed the manatees by 2 days. Manatees or not, the freshwater spring is beautiful.

There is a cave entrance at the bottom of the spring, making it a popular spot for scuba divers. The water is very clear and numerous fish can be see swimming around, making it a great spot for swimming and snorkeling.

There is a boardwalk through the swamp that leads to a dock on the river. There are benches at the dock and it is a very nice place to sit and relax.

There are also kayaks and standup paddle boards available to rent at the park. You can either pay a little extra and have them shuttle you up the river to put in, or you can just paddle from the springs to get to the river.

While it is not likely to see any alligators in the designated swimming area in the spring, alligators do frequent the nearby river. I saw two sunning themselves on logs while I was kayaking on the river. There were also a lot of turtles and aquatic birds on the river. Other wildlife within the park include armadillos, birds, and frogs.

In addition to the spring and river, there are a few short trails in the park. There is also a maintained campground for tent and RV camping. As someone used to primitive camping, it was an interesting change. The campsite we got didn't have much privacy, but it was clean and had a picnic table and grill.