Day 60 27/8 Monday Kayak and Air-boating at Crystal River and Homosassa

What an amazing day we had today, lots of action and beautiful scenery. Heather and I had done some reading and decided that we would like to go out kayaking this morning around Crystal River. The boys weren’t so keen. Heather and I rented 2 single kayaks for 2 hours and headed for the 3 Sisters Springs. It was an easy kayak to the small narrow entrance to the springs. You could only swim into it or take a kayak and the area around the springs is only open to the public from Nov. 15 to March 31. This area had 3 springs feeding into the water. It was crystal clear and absolutely stunning. We saw many fish and I decided to hop out of my kayak and have a swim. It was fantastic. It is in this small area that many manatees stay from Nov till late March. During that time you can only swim into the area at certain times. We were lucky enough to have a guide/ranger in the springs with us and he explained everything to us. After stopping in here for about 30 minutes or so we kayaked out into the canals and river area and then it was time to head back and meet the boys. From here we drove out to Homosassa. Here we boarded one of those cool Airboats. This was a wonderful experience. We were taken out through the river and wetlands to the Gulf of Mexico. Once we were in an area where the airboat could speed, our guide virtually drove the boat at break-neck speed over very shallow water, through saw-grass and finally out into the gulf. Once there we stopped and took time to observe dolphins, stingrays, fish, sharks etc. in the crystal clear waters of the gulf.  After this excellent experience we needed a swim and headed to a lovely beach. This beach was on the Gulf of Mexico and the water was very warm and pleasant.