I saw my first manatees last summer nibbling on vegetation along the docks at Hilton Head’s Broad Creek Marina. Three of them maneuvered under the planks beneath my feet. In the brown, near-opaque water, their round bodies shifted in and out of focus, their flexible snouts gently feeling for food. Beside me stood a couple of families with young children looking on, too. And then the trio of massive marine mammals descended and disappeared. For an instant we paused, silent and smiling in awe of the slow, subtle magic we’d just witnessed.
That experience was a spark moment—peaceful, illuminative—imperative for me to see more manatees.
The closest place in winter for a Savannahian to see manatees is Florida’s Blue Spring State Park, a little over 250 miles from the Hostess City. And from November to April, this beautiful and well-maintained manatee sanctuary hosts a bustle of visitors from all over the world. If you’d like to be one of them, here are a few tips you need to know before you go:…