St. Johns River Cruise - Blue Spring State Park

The tour guide was very informative and entertaining. The viator web site along the information set to us was incorrect. You DO NOT need to be at the park a hour and half before your scheduled appointment. That is only necessary during the peak of maninee season.

Excellent nature cruise. Pleasant ride and extremely interesting and informative guide. We saw alligators, many birds, a few manatee and learned a lot about the ecosystem in general. 2 hrs went fast

Go online to the Florida State park website before you go to register for entrance to the park. You can only pay online to enter the state park and you have to register for the state parks website to do that. It will save frustration when you get there. It is hot and boat moves very slow be prepared. The river is beautiful and birds were beautiful.. Host was Ok. He did give some hosts and tell about the birds we saw. I think we went at a bad time of year. Not many birds. Only 1 baby alligator.

Lee our narrator was just wonderful. I've been on this trip two or three other times over the past 20 years, and it's always been truly excellent. I would recommend people bring binoculars or a binocular to spot all the wildlife that the narrator and other passengers will point out.

Guide was very knowledgeable about river and shared a bunch of river history.

Our guide was amazing! We had the best time! She was so knowledgeable about the ecosystem and wildlife.

Showed up for our scheduled paid reservation only to be let down because they didn’t have any record of it in their system even though I had the tickets on my phone.

We took part in a one-hour river cruise. It was an unforgettable experience. We were impressed by the captain’s knowledge of the area and the wildlife. We’re sorry to hear she’s retiring and that we won’t be able to go with her next time. We wish her many happy years of retirement.

Blue Spring State Park is a neat place to visit. The clear water in their picture is the swim and kayak area of the spring and not where you ride on the tour boat, which is actually in the river where you cannot see into the water. Also, you need to go in the winter months if you would like to see all the manatees because the water from the spring is warm and the manatees come in large numbers to stay warm in the winter.

This was a great experience. The tour guide was very attentive for wildlife and would stop, and even back the boat up if someone spotted something. We say many alligators (even little ones) many different species of birds, some deer, and finally 2 manatees.

I booked the event and had to change the date for the following day. When we got there to the meeting area way early and stood in the sun so that we could get on the boat first, we were waylaid unexpectedly and told that we didn't purchase a ticket for that day. We had to stand to the side and try to explain to the captain's assistant what probably happened. At first, she was not going to let us on the boat but then said well that she would add us anyway. Needless to say, we were last on the boat and not to mention embarrassed that she thought we were trying to get on the boat without paying (in front of everyone). We were very unhappy about the whole experience.

Very casual boat tour … due to manatees, have to go very slow. Guide explained wildlife that was spotted and definitely wasn’t in a rush. Great job answering questions.

The Springs are beautiful. The boat tour was fantastic. Boat Captain is very knowledgeable about history of St John River

Not a very exciting tour. The guide was very knowledgeable. Didn't see anything exciting. Just floated the river for 2 hours.

Really satisfying tour through pristine ecosystem. We saw manatees before even starting the boat ride, gators, multiple birds and fish, even a white-tailed deer and turkeys after the ride, in the park. Our guide was excellent and friendly.

Great experience! Captain Lee was awesome! Very informative and provided an educational and very safe trip!

Doesn't live up to pictures. Saw no manatee. You don't sail in clear water. Only saw birds

We had an awesome trip and were able to see tons of different wildlife. The highlight was watching an 8-10 foot alligator catch a large fish, raise it’s head in the air and swallow the fish whole.

This was a great experience for our family. I would recommend it. However, we did the 2 hour boat tour an it was a bit long to hold the attention of the grandsons. I think the 1 hour may have worked better. The boat was super slow..as it should be!

Very beautiful, peaceful and informative

Great Experience :) Tour Guide was well informed about the area and clearly answered every question also helped that she was funny. Would go again.

Skipper was super entertaining and we saw lots of wildlife from the boat even manatees in May. When the boat ride is over highly recommend walking to the spring for a swim.

There is a long drive from the entrance to the car park. The boats are very spacious, easy to board and our captain/guide was witty and very informative. We saw a variety of birds, alligators, turtles and a basking cotton mouth snake. Surprisingly we also saw folk kayaking, paddle boarding and generally splashing around in the water!

We loved this and highly recommend we enjoyed and had no idea this even existed. Informative and fun!

Experience was wonderful. A bit long its 2 hours not 45 minutes but Captan was great and ride was nice.

The captain was very informative and fun to listen to. She was very accommodating to slow down ,back up ,when we saw something we were interested in. It was a very relaxing way to spend the morning!

This is a nice relaxing boat ride on the St. Johns River, leaving from Blue Springs State Park. I love how it takes you through old Florida as it was a hundred plus years ago. We watched a Bald Eagle swoop down and get a fish from the river. Saw five manatees, a lot of aligators, some small, some large. The tour guide / boat driver was great. She was very knowlegable of the local wildlife. The price is great for a nice two hour adenture on the river. We took the tour on a Wednesday morning at 10 AM when it wasn't quite as crowded and before it got too hot. Just know that you will have to pay to get into the park ($6 / car load), but you can ride then stay in the park as long as you want. There are picnic facilities, a boardwalk, a swiming area, and a snack bar. A great day.

We saw several manatees, lots of birds and alligators . The scenery was lovely. Our guide gave us many oppo6to take pictures. She was very knowledgeable

We missed manatee season, but saw lots of gators, birds and turtles. Our guide was fantastic, She was still in training, but we would never have guessed that. We learned lots and had a lovely cruise and beautiful park.

Great cruise. Saw lots of wildlife. However, there is no such thing as a Florida Panther. The stories guides will tell...

2 hr trip, drinks sold on board and it can get hot. We sat at the very front left side. Sun the whole time.

I would not recommend taking this trip as the address from email confirmation is confusing. The agency (Viator) and owner are not easy to work with.

It was a perfectly beautiful day and experience. The guide had a delightful repertoire of stories, humor and science to make the tour educational and entertaining for all ages in our diverse group. The owners need to invest in the tour boat motor to ensure it operates smoothly without distracting from the program.

It takes longer to get here from Kissimmee than your gps tells you, mostly because of the unbearable long backed up traffic lights at the start, so add an extra 30 minutes. But it was a beautiful cruise and well worth it. Nice grounds for a picnic if you pack food.

Great tour. Fun and informative. Captain was interesting and entertaining. Boat was comfortable. Left and returned on time

This is a 2 hour tour that goes around sections of the St.. John's River at Blue Springs State Park. You will see a variety of wildlife and the captain will narrate and tell stories and answer questions. State Park entry is required to get to the boat. There are some firm bench seats and other cushioned seats. All are upright.

Nice calm trip. The captain made sure to point out all the different wildlife. She moved the boat close and waited for guests to take pictures.

Highly Recommend! Lot of fun.

Very enjoyable. Our captain was an awesome narrator/ storyteller. Saw lots of alligators, herons, snowy egrets, and much more. Worth the $!!

This tour was great!! Rebecca was our guide and she was super knowledgable and was able to point out hidden alligators and birds in the trees. We saw so much but definitely a ton of alligators and some manatees!! Would definitely do again.

The driver was so knowledgable, we saw a plethora of wildlife. I would have loved to see more manatees, unfortunately we were only able to kind of see 1 but otherwise it was a beautiful day and so relaxing.

We saw a lot of alligators and birds, a few turtles and a couple manatees. It was a calm ride, a little slower than expected but still nice.

They should tell you that the manatees have already left and you will only see birds and gators. Kind of a let down

We took the 2 hour tour. Liz the guide, was very informative and had a great sense of humor. Saw a number of gators and birds.

The guides were very knowledgeable and the river tour was lovely. We did not see manatees but lots of alligator and birds.

Blue Springs park is quite nice and reasonable to get into. The pontoon boat was as expected. They had non alcoholic beverages on board. 2 hrs was long for the padding thickness on the seats. We seen plenty of gators, turtles and a variety of birds. Nice old Florida vibe. This was the end of Manatee season so there were none in the Blue Springs area but there were plenty of fish to observe in the crystal clear springs area. We did see a couple of manatees out on the St. Johns river. The water is not the springs so it is hard to really see them but still it was cool. The tour guide narrating was very knowledgeable. For the price it was fine and a nice afternoon.

The boat cruise was my first experience and it was great! It was a very relaxing and peaceful time; especially after two full days of walking.

Very relaxing and informative. The boat driver is very interactive and will turn it around for you or back up or move closer to Shore. He’s really really nice always asking if you have any questions. The seats are a little uncomfortable in case you might need to bring an extra cushion other than that it was really wonderful.

Went the last week of March, still able to see a few manatees, plenty of alligators, turtles, and birds. Trip was relaxing and informative thanks to the captain of the ship.