Wakulla Springs: manatees, Mtn biking & a boat tour… So far we are liking Florida’s forgotten coast.

December 14, 2021

Yay, finally it got cold enough that the manatees came back into Wakulla Springs State Park! When it’s warm and sunny, the manatees stay in the river and feed.

The timing was perfect when Stacey and I walked out to the platform above the spring and 13 manatees were all super active! The massive beasts were all

swimming about and snorting breaths of air, while rolling around with each other and flapping their tails in the air before diving deep. The main spring at Wakulla is 125 feet deep, and mastodon skeletons are found at the bottom!

After an hour of trying to take the best photo, we left the sea cows to their antics, and hopped on bikes. A 10 mile trail awaited us, and fun as it was to be in the woods on bikes, the tree roots bounced our bodies to the extreme.

I continued for a little more riding after lunch, while Stacey had some work. I checked out Cherokee Sink, and saw an owl when I got way back into the woods.

You don’t get to see many owls during the day, and I felt a little special at our encounter. The sink was just that - a hole in the earth filled with murky water where the “Do not swim here” sign was completely unnecessary…

Back to check out the cool old lodge and get our tickets to the main event. We do wish we made a plan to stay at the lodge during this trip and get in a midnight swim with the manatees - ah, next time. We head down to the boat tour, and we’re excited to see this beautiful section of river. Our usual mode of kayaking about wasn’t offered, and an hour and half boat tour for $8 each sounded unmissable. Ranger Captain Kat was an hour and forty minutes of fun. She not only had fun while driving the pontoon boat around the river obstacles, but pointed out everything, and gave us nonstop interpretation of everything we saw and didn’t see! We even got to see Tarzan and Creature from the Black Lagoon film locations along the river, as well baby gators and monster daddies. Birds, manatees, turtles, 500yr old trees, and flowering plants, were all pointed out, named, and given significance, by this ranger of rangers!

Stacey and I might go back tomorrow, just because we forgot most of what we learned already, and want to do it again before we move on to Alabama.