We booked the 6:15 AM tour the night before since we knew the weather would be fine the next day and headed over to Crystal River. The big takeway I felt in using River Ventures for our manatee tour was how professional they were with every step. An informational video showed us what to expect and then the whole group of about 20 of us took a 2 minute bus ride to the docks. We were on a boat with RHONDA as captain and MEGHAN for swimming. There were only six of us on the boat which is amazing. I did lot's of Trip Advisor research and found that other tours had more like 15-20 people per boat and it usually cost more to be in this private of a group size. Rhonda and Meghan were the first to spot the manatees TWO times during our tour. Mind you, this meant we got in the water first with these lovely blubbery creatures which allowed us to float alongside them, pet them when they approached, etc. After we were done floating amongst the manatees, 2-3 other boats would arrive to chase our find and toms of people would try to get what we already had! I am so happy to have been with Meghan and Rhonda that day, they are truly so talented at what they do and couldn't have been nicer! A big part of the tour is that they take photos of you with the manatees. Since the water was foggy, there weren't many photos that turned out, so River Ventures gave us the USB of all the photos free of charge! Professional, nice, and fun!! CHOOSE THESE GUYS and THANK YOU RHONDA AND MEGHAN!