Captain Mariah and Heidi were amazing! We went on the 6:15am tour on July 1st. It took a little bit of searching (20 minutes) to find a manatee; however, it was worth the wait! We were just happy to find a manatee. We found a manatee who was busy munching grass. Heidi stayed in the water with us and helped to direct us where to float in front of the manatee for best viewing. She kept with us and answered questions as we floated near the manatee. We always felt safe and guided with our team.
River Ventures provides excellent, pleasant, and knowledgeable staff who not only desire to educate you about manatees, but also want to provide a wonderful experience with the manatees. Each participant has a noodle that represents your boat's color to keep each tour group separated and organized.
Also, I recommend listening to your tour guide and using the defogger on your goggles. We purchased whole-face masks / snorkels and used them before-hand. However, the cold water seemed to fog some of our masks. Our guides were patient and helped us to swim back to the boat to apply to our masks. You can take your own photos, but the photos that the guides take are great and allow you to enjoy your experience while swimming with the manatees.