Paddles Outdoor Rentals And Tours — Attraction in Crystal River

I would have scored this a 3.5 but google only allows whole number scores so I rounded up. We went with the “swim with the manatees”option.

I’m going to start with the good.

Positives: Well prepared. The process for checking in was simple and well organized. Everyone was super happy and kind. We arrived about 45 minutes early and communication was excellent. The shop is small but very cute. Lots of fun manatee related nicknacks as you’d expect. The changing room and bathroom were clean and although the process for getting wetsuits on 10 of us could have been an awful headache they really helped us through it quickly and efficiently. Pretty prompt over all. A bit of a slow down at the boat launch but they didn’t take it out of our time. In fact we never felt rushed or on the clock at all. Our guide Jon had an amazing attitude. So fun. You could tell he loved the water and genuinely enjoyed what he was doing. Manatees are super cool and this was our group from New York’s first time around them. Being in the water with them is truly incredible. They did get us arms length from multiple manatees.

Now a few negatives. It’s all about expectations and value for your money. When you view the videos on the website it makes you think you are going to be swimming with dozens of manatees surrounding you in crystal clear water. At least for us this was not anywhere near what we experienced. We ended up kayaking for probably 90% of the trip and only swimming for about 10-15 minutes total. It made me think the wetsuits may not have been needed. The area we ended up swimming in was only about 2 feet of water. We kicked up so much dirt and made it incredibly difficult to see anything. Because it was quite a bit more expensive to add the swimming option if I could do it again I don’t think I’d do the swim part unless we knew that we could swim in an area where visibility wasn’t so poor. Now some constructive criticism for our guide. John had such a great attitude but was incredibly easily distracted. He trailed us at times and by the time he saw anything to point out to us many of our group had already passed. He also spent an inordinate amount of time talking to other people that weren’t part of our group. I think this is because he is such a chill and joyful guy but it did make us feel like we missed out on some important things the guide should have been pointing out.

Overall I enjoyed our time and I don’t know that all of the negative experiences were their fault but setting accurate expectations would make for a more...

We did the sunset/glow tour on July 1st. Totally by accident, it turned out it was the first time the tour was available. To say it was amazing is a total understatement.

We’d used Paddles Outdoors before during manatee season when there are hundreds in the springs/river for the winter. We were checking out their tours planning our visit to the area with the kids this summer and, while we were looking at the options, we saw the sunset/glow tour and thought it sounded great. During early dinner that evening we got a call from Josh, our guide, our reservation and letting us know we were the only ones on the tour. He said it was accidentally added to the website early and it was the first tour after several test runs. We love a new adventure, and this just made it all the better! We met Josh at the pier and immediately knew we were going to have a blast! He assured us he was ready. They had developed the idea and had tested it many times (with and without lights!)

We started out at Pete's Pier, crossed King's Bay, into 3 sisters right before dusk when it closes so we had it all to ourselves. Then back out across the bay for sunset. The sunset didn't really show up (Florida summer weather, right?) but we were having a blast watching everything come to life in the water at dusk. It was so cool. We hit a bunch of other springs: Idiots Delight I and II, Three sisters, Magnolia, House, Hunter, Jurassic and more I can't remember. The guide told us he had never actually seen a manatee at night and we saw multiple! "Oh, something big is coming, but not in a bad way. I think it's a dolphin. No! It's a manatee! " I think he was as excited as we were. We saw tons of fish, turtles, crabs, mullet, a skate, and, of course, manatees. The only thing we didn't see was a gator, but it wasn’t for lack of trying. We got some great pictures of our own, and Josh took a bunch of great photos too! One of our favorites was a video of House Springs’ sand boils where the spring is bubbling though the sand in the lights. This is usually not visible because so many people paddling and swimming have the bottom stirred up during the day. It was 5-star and we would do it again!

We’ve gone with Paddles three times now for tours and rentals. If we could give more than 5 stars we would! ...

Not super impressed with the shop. It was not a horrible experience just not one that leave you very happy and impressed with your experience. The woman doing the check in at 9am was just not friendly. Maybe she deals with a bunch of annoying people all day but we hadn’t done anything. 1 example of shortness was rudely saying “pee now before putting the suit on cause if you pee in the suit I’m charging you!” When could have easily said “please don’t pee in the suits”. The whole check in process she acted this way. The suits themselves were not good quality wetsuits. Also they had no size small wet suits! This was tough since my husband needed a small and so it was super loose and water leaked in a lot more than should have. Only Medium and larger. The teenage boys down at the docks were all super chill , friendly, and helpful!

The area and kayaking were super fun! I personally much rather Homosassa Springs as it’s much more natural and WAY less crowded. The whole vibe here was very touristy and full of “manatee protection volunteers” who had rude attitudes with everyone around. The actual state park rangers were very friendly and helpful.

Kings Bay was much nicer in my experience. More space and less crowded than the 3 sisters entrance. Also the manatees in this area were less scared and not trying so much to get away. I felt the manatees at 3 sisters were a little stressed with the amount of people “chasing” them. I would recommend checking out both but we personally had more fun at kings bay!

I would return to the area just not to Paddles Rentals. I personally recommend Snorkeling with Manatees company in Homosassa. The whole vibe was so different and...