One of the most beautiful parks I love coming here even just for a walk.Workers there always…read morefriendly

Had a beautiful day! Got to see turtles and alligators and even the monkeys! Worth our time and…read moremoney for sure! My 11 yr old had an awesome time and was happy to have gone! She asked the boat man 100 questions and he politely answered them all .. which was super nice. Also he informed us about the museum that was close but not in the property and it was very informative for our visit and homeschool information! Definitely go there too if your visiting

Friendly staff. The boat captain was knowledgeable. Loved that he plucked plastic bags out of the…read morewater. It was a beautiful, relaxing trip. Saw many manatees!

Oh Lordy, where do I start? I was raised in the area and…read moremoved away 40 years ago. My bff and I were on a road trip tour of my favorite places. Crystal River was always one of my favorite places to play in the water. So during our "drive by" selected to do Captain Wayne's 2 hour manatee tour. I knew it was a shot in the dark because,well June, they are rare in the rivers this time of year. My BFF was hoping to see dolphins (also rare in the rivers I know). When we boarded first thing he asked was what we wanted out of this journey, we told him our hopes. We set sail in his wonderful pontoon boat completely shaded in the hot Florida sun. He told stories and provided information and answered all our silly questions with such importance we felt valued for our interests and not silly for asking such question. We happened upon ( I'm sure he did the searching but we never saw) our first pod of manatees coming up and diving so wonderful we were thrilled. After a little bit we came up on yet another pod of manatees. The respect and distance he gave them while insuring our amazing views was the marks of a caring and mindful captain. We were heading back in and time was short. But then Captain Wayne's spotted some dolphins getting ready to feed. He explained the process and what we could expect and it was AMAZING! Watching them circle the school of fish and watching them catch in midair was just a once in a lifetime experience. We stayed and watched the whole thing, running our time over by almost 30 minutes. He never rushed or even noticed that I could see. I have seen many places touristy (cattle feeds I call them) rushing in and never connecting. I can promise you this is not that. If you have time and are in Crystal River - Take this cruise with Captain Wayne, I believe you will not regret this decision! Captain Wayne's, if you're reading this - thank you thank you thank you for everything, you made it so special. A day we will not forget.

We had a great dinner with local red fish tasty hush puppies everything was great eat right on the…read morewater

Today Captains Stephanie and Chris and dog Chevy gave our group a wonderful tour of the waters of…read moreOzello, the surrounding keys, Homosassa River and into the Gulf of Mexico. The showed us many creatures including pods of dolphins, sea turtles, Manta ray, schools of fish, some type of shark and sponge, eagle, trout, osprey and other birds. These gals are extremely knowledgeable and are happy to share their knowledge and love of the area. Do not hesitate to book a trip with them. We were booked at 10 am on the pontoon boat tour and it was informative and relaxing.

We had the best time today on our manatee swim. Captain Misty is very knowledgeable and tons of…read morefun. Derrick did an excellent job of getting us all up close and personal with the manatees as well as keeping our group all together. We will definitely come back!

(I'd give 10 stars if I could!)…read more Highlights: *FREE pictures and videos! *Smaller boat & group = more personal and attentive experience *If you're from out of town, these are the knowledgeable locals we all hope to find on our travels *AMAZING experience! Truly delightful *chef's kiss* This experience was the absolute highlight of my trip to Florida! The captains did an amazing job -- they were so knowledgeable, friendly and playful. I learned so much about the wildlife and felt like they genuinely went out of their way to make sure I had an unforgettable time in the water. The smaller boat and smaller group size made the whole experience feel personal, lots of attention to detail. If you're thinking about swimming with the manatees, there's really no choice -- you have to go with Go Local. Thank you all so much for making my birthday trip incredible. I'll definitely be doing this again!

Good morning, Yesterday, my son Lee, his fiancé Ashley and…read moremyself Theresa went on the boat tour through Kings Bay to see the manatees. Captain Marty, our guide, provided a beautiful history about how the manatees group together in the warm water at winter time. We also had the wonderful opportunity to see the manatees and a garr fish.. We all agree it was one of the highlights of our day.. Many thanks to Captain Marty for showing all of us a great time... Theresa from Vero Beach

I think it's important to note that there's a good change you will only see one or potentially none…read moreat all. The crew was extremely nice, but for the money, I would have done something else. We went into the cove area and there was 1 manatee that other boats were waiting to see. After one group left, we swam up, saw it for about 5 min before it swam off. That was basically the extent of it. I swam to see one of the springs. But for $500 for a family of 5; I wish there we could have seen others or at least tried to go and see other ones. It also would have been helpful if we could have had an option to cancel if they had tours that didn't see any or really low exposure that day (or been able to reschedule for a colder day).

Went with my 91 year old Father and we Loved it!!! Very informative, got to see Monkey Island up…read moreclose, got to see Bird Island close up with all the Blue Heron, huge houses that you can only get to by boat and a trip to Manatee Pub for a quick beer. Overall great experience and very inexpensive, only $25.

June 4, 2025. Had our friends visit from out of town and Captain Joe and Captain Michael of Island…read moreGirl Cruises gave an excellent tour of the Homosassa River. We visited Monkey Island and saw their new digs! The kids especially enjoyed their antics. Saw great blue herons, a few osprey nests, cormorants, Anhinga, turtles and manatee. We highly recommend this boat tour. Since we are locals, we do take this enjoyable cruise at least 3x's a year always learning something new. Educational info shared including the history of the river and environmental status. Thanks again for your hospitality gents! See you soon.

Captain Ron is very friendly and knowledgeable. He took time to listen to what I was looking for…read more He suggested the sunset cruise for my photography and nature wishes. It was excellent! The boat is comfortable and in good condition. Captain Ron covers safety. I felt totally relaxed with him.

This was a fun day. It really was a small group and we got to know each other and the manatees…read morereally well. Aubrey and Captain Ron were great guides.

My 13 year old granddaughter & I visited Florida to see Disney World and Universal Studios in 2014…read more The highlight of our trip was going out on a boat with Sunshine Tours to swim with the manatees. They provided us with wet suits & snorkels for swimming in the slightly cool river. The boat took us to a several different places on Crystal River to provide us whit as many opportunities as possible to see the manatees. The captain of the boat was ever so careful to turn off the engine when we were near any manatees. He was a wealth of knowledge and taught us so much about these wonderful creatures.

It was just my wife and three kids on the boat. It was a big boat and it was very cool they were…read morewilling to take out such a small party. The other boats we saw out there were packed. The manatees came right up to us. It was awesome!!! Such gentle creatures.

My girlfriend and I came to the port not knowing what to expect, being from Chicago. We met Sandy…read moreon the pier and found her to be both knowledgeable and extremely personable. Once on board, Captain Jake led us to all the popular hang-outs to see Manatees up close and personable. In a nutshell, the three hours we spent with Jake and Sandy was truly an enjoyable experience. If you want a personal tour and not the big business rush job, book these people!!

Awesome time Casey and Jake went above and beyond to ensure we all experienced the manatees…read more They also gave us the history of Kings Bay and explained the conservation efforts taking place Highly recommend

We had a fantastic time. What a great tour. Laura, our Captain, shared so much knowledge. She made…read morethe trip amazing. Tonya and the rest of the group were wonderful. We even scheduled another tour on Friday with them. Can't wait to go swimming with the Manatees!! Highly recommend this company.

100% am amazing tour! Captian Mark really knows his craft! All the staff were patient, kind, family…read moreoriented and worked together to bring these up close, very personal, and incredible experiences to us! We were a party of 6- two boys 13 and 11, my husband, self, and Dad in the water, my Mom observed from the boat. We had the best time, I mean- MANATEES!