Before booking this adventure with Plantation Adventure Center, I did and extensive research of all the different Manatee tours and their reviews. I could not be more pleased with my choice. First, I recommend booking the early tour, we were the only ones out there for most of the time and we got one on one time with a playful baby and its mother. Second, Captains Misty and Ed were extremely knowledgeable and were a major reason we had a magical manatee experience, here's why: There were 6 of us on the private tour, My wife and I (46,42), My wife's parents (76,80), and our daughter and her friend (15,16). My wife's mother wears glasses and couldn't get her mask to seal, Captains Misty and Ed turned the boat around and returned to the dock and retrieved prescription goggles that she could use without her glasses. On the way back out to our destination Captains Misty and Ed gave us educational information about manatees and the local area with some humor mixed in. Once at our location they were able to quickly locate the manatees and got us in the water so we could get some one on one time with them before others arrived. Ed was able to guide the girls by the elbow so they could get as close as possible to the baby manatee which was awesome. Ed was also able guide my wife and her mother in the same manner so they could get up-close and personal with the baby as well, which led to my wife getting lots of kisses and attention from the baby manatee. After about an hour of alone time with the manatees other groups started to show up and to give testament to how well respected Misty and Ed are the other boat captains were giving Misty and Ed permission to direct their tour guides and passengers to where ever they needed them to be. Once we were finished with our manatee experience Misty and Ed took us for a tour of the sisters hot springs while we sipped on coffee and hot chocolate. This was an absolutely amazing experience that you should not pass up. We did get a private tour, which was great because it was just us, and well worth the price. Last, once we returned to the shop we were looking for souvenir shirts and they didn't have the correct size for the girls so they called to another shop to find the same shirt in the sized needed. The Plantation Adventure Center went out of their way on several occasions to make sure we had a great time. I can not thank the staff enough for the experience the provided for my Family.