Manatee season on the Florida coast
Checking water temperatures…
Manatees run on water temperature. Below about 68°F they can't stay warm, so each winter they gather at Florida's springs and other warm-water refuges by the hundreds. When the coast warms back up they spread out again to graze seagrass along both coasts. The whole trick to seeing one is knowing what the water is doing.
Water temperature right now
Where to see manatees
Hours, fees and closures change with the season. Check each site before you drive.
- Blue Spring State Park (Orange City). A constant 72°F spring run on the St. Johns River. Manatee season runs November 15 through March 31, when hundreds can gather and swimming closes to protect them.
- Crystal River and Three Sisters Springs. The one place in Florida built around seeing wild manatees up close, with guided tours in season. The refuge's manatee season runs November 15 through March 31.
- TECO Manatee Viewing Center (Apollo Beach). Manatees gather in the warm outflow of the Big Bend power station. The center is free and open November 1 through April 15.
- FPL Manatee Lagoon (West Palm Beach). A free education center over the warm-water outflow of the Riviera Beach plant, open daily November 15 through March 31.
- Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park. A wildlife park with resident manatees on view year-round, plus wild ones in the river in winter.
Where do manatees go?
In winter, manatees crowd into springs, power plant outflows and other warm-water refuges, because coastal water drops below what they can survive for long. In summer they disperse. Seagrass beds, rivers and estuaries along both coasts all hold manatees from spring through fall, which is why summer sightings can happen anywhere a kayak can go.
FWC's most recent statewide abundance survey, flown across 2021 and 2022, estimated 8,350 to 11,730 manatees.
How to watch them
- Look, don't touch. Touching, feeding or watering manatees is illegal. Watch from a respectful distance.
- Give them room on the water. Slow down in marked manatee zones, and polarized glasses help you spot one before your prop does.
- Know the signs. A swirl of flat water, a round snout, or a mud trail is usually how a sighting starts.
- If you find an injured or orphaned manatee, call FWC's Wildlife Alert line: 888-404-3922.
Live water temperatures come from NOAA tide stations. Season logic follows FWC's guidance that manatees seek warm-water refuges when coastal water falls below 68°F. Sea turtle nesting · Every beach we cover
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