Manatees and Springs in Crystal River (#90)

We made it to our second stop on Crystal River without incident. And, after we arrived, we learned others were not so lucky. The trip int Crystal River was long and beautiful, but we were focused on making our way through the maze so don't have as many good pictures.

On the way there in the dense fog, we had a visitor decide to join us. Ted said that meant they knew we were going to have a safe journey.

We became extremely proficient at using our radar. Turns out the radar can see the birds beautifully.

After several hours the fog cleared and we had several hours of smooth sailing with fog on the horizon.

We arrived at Crystal River and Laura took the Three Sisters Springs tours. Just the week before when the weateher was colder the springs were filled with manatees. We only saw this one in the top left side of the picture in the springs.

There were about six manatees here, but they were much harder to see except for when they came up for air.

The marina we stayed at was Pete's Pier.

The walkway to our docks wasn't damaged during the storms.

The main source of income are the manatee and swim wiht manatee tours.

The Sparkling Star in Crystal River.

And from the distance.

This is a dredger and one of the boats they use for the manatee swimming tours.

Crystal river was a beautiful stop.

Stay: 2 nights

Pete's Pier

Pros: Peaceful, Great Location, Walking distance to dinner, grocery, and laundrymat, nice staff, unique location

Cons: Shallow entrance (one boat w/4 ft draft hit something and had to have propellers fixed), Two shared bathrooms with public, only two shared showers, no laundry

Rating: 4 stars