I am so happy that I booked this excursion for our family during our Florida vacation! It was one of the highlights for sure. Captain Ron and Lauren are great! Both were super friendly and Ron was very knowledgable about manatees.
Tip: arrive already in your bathing suit, if you can, so when you get there, you can put on your wet suit, watch the video, and get on the boat to begin your tour. They only have one bathroom so this helps.
After you hop on the boat, he takes you on a short ride to begin searching for manatees. We saw quite a few that day, but they were already surrounded by other tourist groups on other boats so Ron waited til we could find a few to view on our own. It didn't take long and they spotted a mama and baby. We were able to watch them for a good 20-30 minutes before getting back on the boat. You get super close to them which was awesome! Lauren was great about taking tons of pictures and videos with her underwater camera. It was so worth the $30 to purchase the USB to take home for memories. That's cheap! Get the pictures!
We also were able to visit Three Sister's Springs which was beautiful. We saw a few fish, a crab, and the hole that the actual spring comes from. My 19 yo son loved this place! Lauren got some great pics here too.
If you want to avoid the large over crowded tourist boats, I would recommend this place. They only take up to 6 people at a time, which I loved. This was an awesome way to spend our morning.