Manatee Park, Florida, United States

5Jessica G 5:00 PM Nov 30, 2021

Amazing experience and knowledgeable staff
This is a very inexpensive place to observe manatees or even better launch your kayaks and observe manatees right beside you. My husband had one manatee play with his kayak, spinning him and swimming underneath him. The parking is only $5 for the entire day. We brought our own kayaks, but you can rent kayaks there. We saw so many manatees right beside us. The staff at the park are so friendly and knowledgeable and the small gift shop is very nice. The staff also help in manatee rescues, for example in fishing lines and propeller injuries. They do recommend not chasing the manatees or paddling deep, and we sure didn't want to scare or harm the animals. Observing them closely was so much fun and if you kayak slowly and enjoy, the manatees may actually play with you.

4Susan B 5:00 PM Feb 4, 2023

Nice little park to view manatees when the weather is cooler. $5 parking - no admission
We visited in January, when the weather was cool, so there were lots of manatees in the warmer canals. The chain link fence separates you from the water by about 25 feet. if you walk down the pathway, there's an inlet where most of the manatees are floating. You see their little snouts come up for air, and occasionally see their back tail. Mostly you see their backs. Feeding them is prohibited. Plan to spend 30-60 minutes.