American Pro Diving Center

Every year my family loves joining locals & other tourists for manatee tours with the tour companies. Here the adventure is different everytime!This year I have determined to state my opinion on the local attraction: snorkeling with the manatees.Over the years I have been to several manatee tour operators. Some I had been very disappointed, some had an average time, others I felt were in a different league of operations.My favorite is American Pro Diving Center!With them I can compare & contrast how vastly different they are from every other manatee tour agency here in town.Let me help you make the right decision on your experience by comparing the other tour companies in the area with American Pro Diving Center.First,I will state what most of the other tour captains do that I absolutely hate versus what American Pro does.Almost all of the other captains have their customers jump into the water WITHOUT a guide!The captains just stand on the front of their boat and point to where the manatees are.You then have to swim like a helpless fish out of water trying to find your way around this unknown body of water. I have been in the water for 30 minutes before having a captain smoking his cigarette on the front of his boat screaming to me "oh you just missed him","no he is to your other right","maybe if you swam faster you would have seen the manatee."Believe it or not these VIP tours make my family feel very small and stupid when we don't have a guide in the water.At American Pro their captains/guides are in the water with you. They are helping guide you letting you know exactly where the manatees are because they are right in the water with you.They will let you know when the proper time to touch the manatee or if you should merely just watch the manatee because he/she might be feeding or sleeping.Other captains just assume all manatees are a go.When in reality if they are sleeping or feeding their calves the customers should not be touching them.Second, now I know I have said captain/guide interchangeably.However, most of the guides out there are just CAPTAINS-they have no respective certification that says they are anything but a captain.At American Pro their employees are USCG certified captains along with some sort of Divemaster certification or guiding education.So I always ask myself why are they doing tours if they haven’t learned to deal with groups of people or even how to guide!Now on a general note for all experiences in Crystal River.This is an ecosystem!The water basin where most of the encounters happen is in King's Bay.Kings Bay is fed by Crystal Bay which is how the manatees enter into Crystal River which then feeds into King's Bay.Saying this remember this is a natural body of water which means its ever changing. Just like the ocean has algae blooms during different times of the year King's Bay also does.Water clarity varies from time to time.Just like my pool does!So just know that the water quality does vary but that does not hinder manatees coming into the bay.Each experience I have had has been in different types of water quality.Yet some of the best experiences I have had wasnt when it was crystal clear.I have had manatees be more playful during the times when water clarity wasnt the greatest. Something to remember,these are wild animals they come and go as they please.Sometimes they are as close to a dock and other times in the middle of the bay.You will also get to see how manatees interact with other manatees in different bodies of water.

Mike was a great guide and very interactive. The preggo Manatee whisperer. Also, clean facilities and equipment.