The Plantation on Crystal River is a 50-year-old, 232-acre eco-friendly resort that offers a SWIM WITH MANATEES package. Located a little over an hour from Tampa international airport surrounded by the natural springs of Kings Bay, this Crystal River hotel offers several specials and packages to create your perfect vacation.
A long tree lined driveway leads to a manatee themed fountain in front of majestic white columns and a green shuttered hotel. Manatee themed art work cover the walls throughout the hotel. Plantation on Crystal River offers 196 rooms with water, garden and golf views. Junior suites offer a king bed or two double beds along with a sleeper sofa and seating. Golf Villas provide a separate bedroom, a generous seating area and a sleeper sofa.
Rooms & Suites: Features & Amenities
Our water view room consisted of two double beds, outdoor seating overlooking the river, access to the vanity & sink outside the bathroom and a shower & tub combo. It was so nice to open the door in the mornings to walk along the river and see the boats starting their day. Dylan and Damian enjoyed being able to throw the football around alongside the river outside our room while they waited for others to finish their showers.
Food and Drinks
Plantation on Crystal River offers several excellent dining options. West 82 Bar & Grill can be found just off the lobby serving breakfast, lunch and dinner every day. There is a separate bar area which serves little plates and cocktails. The breakfast buffet at West 82 Bar & Grill hit the spot for all of us. The biscuits are awesome! Our server remembered our drink order for the second morning which was a great personal touch.
The Tiki Bar is found next to the pool offering daily food and drinks outdoors. We were lucky enough to be there to hear the live music Friday and Saturday night. Sophie Noelle was playing Friday Night for those enjoying “manaritas” at the Tiki Bar and those splashing around in the hot tub on this cold night. We sat under an umbrella on Saturday evening after our manatee trip savoring wings, tenders and sandwiches.
For the golf lovers the 19th Hole Sports Bar & Grill offers breakfast and lunch at a casual and comfortable indoor/outdoor dining space. Here you can enjoy classic American fare served quickly with a drink menu.
Inclusive Amenities
- Heated Outdoor Lagoon Pool & Hot Tub
- Nine Hole Golf Course
- Driving Range
- Fitness Center
- Tennis & Pickle-ball
- Sand Volleyball
- Horseshoes, Croquet, Shuffleboard, & Corn-hole
- Oversized Chess & Checkers
- Live Poolside Entertainment
Saturday morning we had some time before our manatee tour. After our delicious buffet breakfast I beat Dylan at the outdoor oversized chess game and then Damian beat me at connect-4 (I was distracted by the boats going in and out of the marina).
We took a 10 minute drive to Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park. The park features a variety of captive animals such as alligators, black bears, red wolf, Key deer, flamingos, whooping cranes and the oldest hippopotamus in captivity. The native wildlife that reside in the park serve as ambassadors for their species, providing visitors face-to-face connections with the animals and their habitats. Each with a unique life story, all of the animal inhabitants are here for the same reason – they are unable to survive in the wild on their own. We saw large schools of large jacks, snapper, snook and others. A unique underwater structure, the Underwater Observatory, allows visitors to “walk underwater” beneath the spring’s surface to watch the various fish and manatees swim about.
Manatee Tour
A subspecies of the West Indian manatee, the Florida manatee calls the Crystal River habitat home. Federal government allows “passive observation” of these creatures in King Bay, which means you can experience face-to-face interaction with these gentle giants. The best time to snorkel with manatees is during the colder months of November thru February. Colder weather means these West Indian Manatees migrate from the Gulf of Mexico into the warmer waters of Kings Bay.
Plantation Adventure Center is steps away from the rooms at Plantation on Crystal River. The Adventure Center has everything you need for your 3 hour tour. First you get your 5 mm wetsuit, which is always a little struggle to get on, then you watch a short video explaining how to “passively observe” the manatees as to limit any disturbances. This is the only place in North America where it is legal to snorkel and interact with manatees.
We had 12 people on our tour including the professional diver and the captain of the boat. Chase, age 14, and Dylan, age 11, were the only children. Masks, snorkels and towels are all provided on the boat. On the way out the captain and the mate, Jake, describe the manatee population and what has been done to increase the population over the years. Jake gets a feel for everyone’s experience level in the water and degree of comfort around the manatees.
Jake was great at getting everyone in the water and positioned to see the manatees. This was Dylan’s first time snorkeling and the non-swimmer Damian’s second time snorkeling. Damian brought his own life jacket and swim noodles were provided to assist in floating comfortably while viewing the moving manatees.
The manatees are constantly eating and you can definitely hear this happening! Manatees are herbivores, eating sea grass and algae up to 7 hours each day. They prefer water that is 3-7 ft deep, which makes viewing them much easier. Their flippers are used to move along the bottom and move plants to their mouth. While eating the manatees surfaced every five minutes or so. As they surface they come up right next to you to take a breathe. They have no fear and do not even seem to notice or care that humans are there!
Listen to the manatee eating!
We made four stops at different locations to see the manatees. At each stop we saw about 3 manatees eating sea grass on the bottom of the bay, often getting pulled up from the manatees moving and eating. We were right next to 5-6 different manatees making the whole experience AWESOME.
We left the docks around 2:15 and returned close to 5:00pm. Masks, wetsuits and towels are returned at the dock, showers and changing areas are provided if needed, and pictures taken by Jake are displayed on the screen upon return. These pictures can be purchased at the Adventure Center. I highly recommend this experience be put on your travel bucket list. The kids loved it and any level of swimmer/snorkeler was able to participate with ease.
Contact me for a manatee package. Online reservations for this package are not available.
