Our family of 5 (teenage aged) did the 8:15 tour on December 30th 2020. From the time we arrived and put on our wetsuits to swimming and getting back was all a top-notch experience!
I highly recommend Captain Wade and guide Trish...they took us to a spot just before the Three Sisters Springs where it was less crowded yet still plenty of manatees. We saw several mothers with calves and other manatees who were very friendly! I'm convinced Trish is a manatee whisperer! She was able to bring the manatees right in and allow us to get up close and personal with them. Both Wade and Trish worked together to tell us when manatees were coming in; they were a great duo! I credit Wade and Trish for our great experience!
An added bonus; the complimentary hot chocolate onboard afterwards was delicious! Just what we needed to warm back up! Trish also took plenty of pictures of the experience that were available to purchase afterwards. The longer you stay in the water, the more pictures of you and the manatees you are going to get! Our family were the first ones in and the last ones out, and therefore we were in most of the pictures.
Everyone in our family loved this experience; especially since I was initially the only one who wanted to go. I highly recommend for anyone who has ever wanted to do this, and even for those who are a little more weary of it! It was one of my favorite things I've ever done. Be sure to go with River Ventures!
One additional observation: if you have younger children, I don't recommend doing this unless they are capable of being very quiet and very still in the water. One of the younger ones in our group (a different family) did not enjoy this experience as much and accidentally frighted a manatee away at one point. Had we not seen as many manatees as we did, this could've been very disappointing.