The 'Og' Manatee Snorkel Tour With In-water Guide/photographer

awesome tour with piper guile

Piper was our in water guide and she made sure to make our experience magical 💙 I wouldn’t recommend going with anyone else! Emerson was our captain and he was also great at helping us find the right spots!

Great experience from the booking with Juno, to the amazing duo of Captain Mike and Guide Crystal. It was relaxing and definitely a once in a lifetime experience! Will absolutely recommend them to all of our friends and family!

Mike and Crystal were wonderful guides. Very perceptive, knowledgeable, friendly and outgoing. We learned a lot during the tour. Not even a minute out off the dock they spotted a mother and calf that we spent quite a while with. The calf was very curious and interactive, getting up close and personal with us snorkelers. Even nibbled on the beard of one of us. The guides were great and made it clear how to be respectful of the animals and "passive observers", not engaging or touching the animals but giving the animals the freedom to do as they wish. We were lucky that the animals chose to be curious. 5 stars aren't enough for this one.

We had a great day and got to spend time swimming with the Manatee. Boat driver and guide were fantastic. We were well taken care of. My only disappointment was they supposedly took pictures during the excursion which we could purchase or access. But unfortunately at this time this has not happened. It would have been nice to see what kind of photos they had.

We had the most amazing experience today. From the moment we arrived we felt looked after and we knew we had chosen the right tour company for our once in a life time trip. JJ and Wade were great and very knowledgeable. JJ was amazing with my youngest daughter (9) and kept her feeling safe when she was a bit unsure about anything. My two girls liked the crew so much that they named their new stuffed manatee Little JJ Wade. The staff at the gift shop were also wonderful and very helpful with giving us advice on how to spend the rest of our day including the most scenic route back to Orlando. Thank you once again.

PROS: knowledgeable & passionate staff; gear comes with the package (varying sizes that can accommodate the large & small people); lots of merch that support manatee conservation & others CONS: small dirt parking; small sign making it a bit hard to find Definitely worth the trip and worth the cost. It’s an experience and we highly recommend. Our guide and captain are very passionate about the manatees & it’s infectious.

Guide Piper (and the whole team - from office staff to boat captain) were great! Everyone on our tour had an amazing time! Piper helped everyone feel comfortable being in the water and snorkeling. We got to spend loads of time watching the manatees (more than an hour and a half). Six out of five stars, couldn't have been any better!

It was beautiful. The specialist were very well trained, and we had a great unforgettable time. we will definitely return.

Our guide Natalie was wonderful engaging, knowledgeable, willing to answer anything and we could tell she cares immensely about the animals and the environment in which they live. She was funny and energetic and we would definitely ask for her again in the future. Our Captain Garret was also all of the above. My wife and I had a great time.

Awesome experience. Gary our guide and Garrett our captain went out of their way to make sure we had the best experience ever. We booked the private tour with photographs for six people. Absolute highlight of my life being able to swim next to a manatee

The staff we encountered were all very friendly and helpful and made us feel welcomed. We found many manatees and spent a good amount of time in the water with them. Also the merch in the store is amazing!!

Such a wonderful trip. Juno the front desk and reservation maker was awesome. The time we wanted was sold out so He called in an extra boat captain and guide to do an additional tour so we could do the tour when it fit our schedule. Moe was a great captain. Piper our guide was fabulous. With in 5 minutes of getting in the water she found a manatee for us. She made sure we all got to see manatees and lead us to them. If we saw her flipper in the air we knew she found a manatee.. There were a couple moms with babies. Even got to see a tiny baby nursing. A few huge ones swam under me. One of the moms came face to face with me as she was coming up to the surface. We were so close to the manatees. We were in the water about 2 hours until we said we were ready to go even though we still had time. The water was comfortable with the wetsuits. I highly recommend River Venture and Piper as a guide. Juno will make sure you get all reserved for a great trip. I will be bringing my visiting family and friends whenever they visit Florida. Swimming with those magnificent manatees should be a buck list for everyone. The highlight for me was seeing that little baby swimming under me to find mom to nurse I was close to a manatee for the entire 2 hours I stayed in the water. The was hot drinks for us when we got back to the office to change out of our wetsuits All I can say is if you’re in Florida join River Venture for an unforgettable tour.

What a thrill!! I had always wanted to swim with the manatees and our tour guides, Captain Mike and Crystal made it an amazing adventure!! We got to see a lot more than I was hoping for and even watched a baby nursing from its mother!! I was in awe of being so close to them. Crystal did an amazing job of taking underwater photos of these gentle giants! I bought the photo package and it was well worth it!! Mike and Crystal were so nice and accommodating and the people back at the office were so very kind too! What a wonderful group of people! On our way back in we even saw an alligator sunning himself on the bank. This trip is so with taking for anyone who wants to swim with the manatees!! I highly recommend it!!

Great tour! Awesome experience. Saw two adult manatees and a baby! Really knowledgeable guide and extremely responsible and environmentally conscious company.

Our snorkel and boat ride with Shawn and Capt. Michele was terrific in every way. Starting with the educational video and throughout the swim Shawn put everyone at ease, no matter what their experience level with snorkeling. He had a relaxed, friendly manner while providing us with great information and answering all our questions on the manatees throughout. Capt. Michele added to the experience with info from the boat captain's perspective. They also let us know what we could expect for number and activity level of manatees depending on the time of year. We saw two moms with babies, including one nursing, a single female and a single male. It was anazing!

Gary and Brian were great as well as everyone in the office! 1st timer and will definitely do it again! Within 20-30 mins on the boat we were swimming above a Momma and baby sleeping! Great experience and we will be back!!! Thanks all!!!

Experience of a lifetime!! Natilee was an awesome guide and the manitee’s were awesome as well, up close and personal!! Couldn’t ask for better!! Huge thank you!!

Had a great time on tour. Staff was amazing and very knowledgeable. I went at slow time of year and we saw one Manatee, but it was worth it, an amazing experience!

It was amazing experience. The tour guides were friendly, knowledgeable, and simply the best. It was so good we are thinking of coming back in January just to see the manatees.

Don't expect to see a whole lot of manatees. Expect to search for quite a while and maybe find one or two

My family and I were very happy with our experience; I personally was thrilled! The guides were excellent and made sure that everyone had the opportunity to interact with the manatees, they were extremely personable and helpful. Because it was cold, they put out blankets and hot chocolate, and made sure that everyone was comfortable and happy. They also took great photographs! I would have no hesitation going with River Ventures again, and I hope that in a year or so, I will!

I wanted to spend the last day of our friendscation sharing my beloved spirit animals with my husband (2nd time) and our best friends (1st time). Unfortunately, the manatees were not cooperating with our schedule and more elusive than I’ve encountered in the past. However, Crystal and Mike were determined to not have the morning be a bust, and were able to locate a mom and older calf just before time ran out. I was overjoyed to have my friends experience floating along, and just observing these beautiful gentile giants. Then came the hardest part of saying goodbye, and trying to not buy out the entire gift shop. (:3)

Piper and Mike were amazing . They made sure that our group had a great time and made the experience a memorable time for me and my girls

Garrett and Nat were awesome! Garret navigated us to the best place and located the manatee with his drone so we didn’t have to waste any time looking! Nat was an awesome guide and took me straight to the Manatee and got me acclimated to floating right by it quietly. With her tips and tricks about quiet floating and only using your hands, I was able to swim with the manatee for almost the full two hours! She took photos and some awesome videos. She was so kind to other groups too helping them take turns when we had seen it for a long time! I did the tour in early October which had low amounts of manatees but they were VERY active eating and you could hear them crunching the grass. It was so fun. I plan to come back in February for a tour when the number of manatees in the area are high because of the weather but they are less active.

Absolutely fantastic tour! The guides Gary and Brian were amazed! We were very lucky and saw a many manatees. Gary was incredibly knowledgeable. I can’t recommend this tour highly enough!

Excellent first time experience! Gary & Bryan were excellent guides. Gary truly made our experience feel special and personalized with his dedication to the wildlife and the tour. We were able to visit 4 springs and see manatees pretty quickly! None of the tour felt rushed at all and we spent around 3 hours touring and swimming with manatees. Gary & Bryan were both very informative and helpful during our tour and we will definitely be back! Thank you guys for an amazing time!

This has been a number one on my bucket list. I finally checked it off with a huge smile on my face! We were at Disney for the week, so a few of us went for a swim with the manatees on Saturday and my life has been made! This day was above and beyond anything i could have thought of! Huge thanks and shout out to James, John, Piper and Garrett! James and John for helping me set it all up and Piper and Garrett for a fanflippintastic time in the water with these beautiful sea potatoes! I hope to come back to experience this again! Until then West Virginia sends its best regards and love! If you need a ride don’t hesitate to call Rebecca at RoadRunner, John and James has their number!

We had Crystal and Mike girls had a great time. The manatees know the workers. Definitely a life changing experience. Highly recommend.

Wonderful trip with mike and Crystal. Saw 2 manatees. This is the off season. Still found two. Loved the trip!

We had JJ and Doug as our guide. They knew so much about the in and out of of the whole area. They taught us so much about the manatees and all the other sea life we saw. We learned about the history of everything. Very knowledgeable and very chill and friendly. They were killer amazing with the kids. We have 3 kids 13,11 and 5. Not only did they goof and play with them but they taught them how to snorkel and showed them amazing time . My baby has special Needs and was getting upset at first and another instructor from another tour Celeste came over calmed him down and he was smiling and loving the manatees. They were all good friends and all helped each other out. It was like every one was so nice and all friends. This was the best experience we had and I would do it again and again. We even got pictures that were amazing!! We saw so many manatees. We saw mama and her baby, them swimming and in big groups. We saw them sleeping and eating. Way bigger in person. They come right up to face fro face with you. They are so adorable!!!

Crystal guide and Lacy Captain were very informative and fun! They both made the trip 5 star from the start but even to the end those lady’s made every minute worth going!

Mike and Crystal were wonderful! It was a great trip. I will come back again and use river ventures. I will tell all our friends.

Bucket list thing! They were amazing from start to finish!! And gave us plenty of time!! Highly recommend!! Made sure we had the best experience all the way through!

Love swimming with the manatees it’s the most amazing relaxing experience ever. The tour guides our wonderful full of interesting facts and always give you a good laugh. So worth the money. You get plenty of time swimming with the manatees. It’s just a beautiful place. I have been twice with you guys so far. Once off season which was great seen a couple manatees and no crowds. Got awesome pictures which are very affordable. Also went during manatee season which was fabulous we were completely surrounded by manatees. Only small downside it was very crowded with tours. But definitely worth it to get to see so many manatees. We will definitely be going again. Can’t get enough of it!

Such a pleasant, fun and informational experience. From moment we entered facility throughout trip everyone was so nice, helpful and friendly, including little Zoey. So cute! Great time. Thank you!

We got to swim with manatees, what more could you ask for?! Very kind crew!

Great experience overall. Nat and Em were awesome guides and ensured we saw a few manatees. They were helpful and very friendly.

We had a fantastic morning, a little unsure at first as out of season, and didn’t want to waste time in Florida. We needn’t of worried as we had the best experience ever, we booked the 7am tour and it was fantastic waters were calm and clear our water guide meleah and our captain wade were very easy going, knowledgeable and very pleasant.we had a fantastic time on our tour we were able to see mother manatees with there young which are very playful . We even had time to go for a swim in three sisters spring . Value for money was great 👍🏻 All in all the best experience we had and definitely one off the bucket list

We were very happy—we saw manatees, even though it was a bit of a challenge, but it was a great time.

My fiancee and I really enjoyed our snorkel tour! We got up close and personal with a manatee for most of the time we were in the water. The manatee swam under and around us, and you could tell she was just as interested in being around us as we were her. Special thanks to our wonderful guide, Nat, and our boat captain, Wade! You can tell they’re very experienced in educating, guiding, and supervising folks around manatees, and they shared a lot of useful and interesting information that really enhanced the trip. They made it easy for us to feel comfortable in the water around wildlife, and facilitated a fun and educational experience for us.

It was a good time and Capt.Lacy and Gary were awesome guides! I would highly recommend them to have.

Guide was late, seen no manatees til very end then barely seen one, drone kept going dead when they were trying to look for them

I was a amazing swim. The people were amazing and the guide and boat captain was amazing. Would recommend this to anyone all day long.

We came to visit our family from NJ and took the tour yesterday. From start to finish I could not stop smiling. Emerson and Shawn made everything so fun and simple. We got to see a momma manatee with her baby, the springs, and some hidden gems. I couldn’t recommend booking this adventure enough! I am taking how so many wonderful memories!

This was by far one of the coolest experiences we have ever had! Piper and Garrett were amazing guides/captain. The experience was 10/10!

Our guide Piper was so enthusiastic and informative about our tour. She was very encouraging and made it a point to make sure everyone had a chance to see and observe the manatees. Fantastic experience and would highly recommend!

Arriving 30 minutes early at 6:30 AM, we were immediately welcomed by the friendly staff at River Ventures. The overall vibe was fantastic, and our tour had a cozy group size of just four people. Captain Brian and guide Gary were incredibly approachable, knowledgeably answering our questions throughout the nearly three-hour outing. The unforgettable highlight was definitely getting to see two manatees in the wild.

JJ and Malea were great! We couldn’t scallop cause of the tropical storm but they made sure we had a GREAT time regardless. Highly recommend this outfit and the people, but all the staff seem GREAT!