This episode of the Outside Podcast is brought to you by Visit Florida,

one of the country's great adventure destinations,

and the home of the Crystal River National Wildlife Refuge.

My name is Monica Scoggin, and I'm the Visitor Service Specialist at Crystal River National Wildlife Refuge.

Located about 90 minutes west of Orlando, and roughly the same distance north of Tampa,

the refuge protects a remarkable system of freshwater springs.

They all feed into the Crystal River, a calm waterway that's as clear as glass and flows seven miles to the Gulf Coast.

We have the largest congregation of Manatees in the US right here in Crystal River.

Crystal River is the only refuge dedicated specifically to safeguarding manatees.

And every winter huge numbers of the majestic sea cows gather here.

The best place to start your visit is at the celebrated Three Sister Spring.

So you can look down from the boardwalk at Three Sister Springs,

some places 20 feet deep and you can see hundreds of manatees just resting in the spring.

Every now and then you hear a little p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p m And it's really cool to see the young ones swimming around and they are actually really playful.

You can explore this exceptional wetland habitat on hiking and biking trails.

Or for a truly unique experience, rent a kayaker paddle board along with a mask and snorkel and glide along the river.

Then take a dip in the 72 degree water with a manatee. Just be sure that you're a passive observer

that you follow all the refugee's rules for respectful behavior around these incredible animals.

You're with this thousand pound creature swimming under the water and for somebody that's never experienced it before, this giant animal, a lot of people are scared at first but then they just

realize that the manatees are curious creatures and they just want to see

what you're doing there and they leave people alone.

But it's really magical.

...