Manatee & Eco River Tours

01/12/2026

Due to a health related situation, we will not be offering tours for the remainder of January and through the entire month of February. All tours previously scheduled have been cancelled and full refunds issued.

We apologize for the inconvenience and disappointment this has caused.

Thank you for understanding. We will be back on the water as soon as possible.

Kathy & Captain John

01/02/2026

Great manatee viewing today. We have openings for 9a tomorrow. Give us a call to schedule. 239.693.1434

12/31/2025

We are having technical difficulties with our website. Apparently the company who hosts it is also down. Our apologies for any inconvenience.

We are hopeful that the current cold weather we are having in southwest Florida will bring the manatee into our tour area.

The office will be closed December 31st and January 1st. However, call and leave a message if you are interested in learning more about tours. The number is 239.693.1434

Thank you and Happy New Year!!! from Captain John and Kathy!

11/28/2025

06/05/2025

Consider voting for us for the "Best Of Florida" contest. Visit guidetoflorida.com/best-of/vote/sports-fitness and then scroll down to RECREATION PLACES and click on Manatee & Eco River Tours! We'd appreciate your support.

Throughout the year, readers of The Guide to Florida vote for everything they love in the Best of Florida annual awards. The votes are tabulated and compiled along with our editor’s picks and, voilà! The result is a fabulous resource that showcases great businesses across our state.

03/11/2025

It is our pleasure to assist the Audubon's Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary in their efforts to keep an eye on the Wood Stork population.

This part of the Caloosahatchee is our favorite spot for sunset tours. Not only do our guests get to see a lovely sunset, but they also have a wonderful opportunity to see the variety of birds who come into the mangrove to rest for the night.

If you are looking for a worthwhile opportunity, consider visiting and even donating to the Audubon's Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary. https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1GpUHiFXKh/

For decades, Audubon has relied on a small plane and a camera to document the nesting activity of Wood Storks in Southwest Florida. While this method is effective in assessing the number of nests and documenting chicks in nests, it is expensive, and scheduling can be restrictive and weather-dependent. It is also difficult to follow the progress of individual nests over time.

Drones make it easier to access hard-to-reach areas, but pilots must still be close enough for the pilot to maintain a visual line of sight with the drone. To monitor a Wood Stork colony located on a small island in the middle of the Caloosahatchee River, the team was grateful to find support from John and Kathy Cookman of Manatee and Eco River Tours of Fort Myers. The Cookmans donated their boat and their time to ferry Zetzer to the perfect location to launch and fly the drone. That trial was a big success and Audubon is deeply grateful to the Cookmans for offering to continue to donate their services for the 2025 nesting season!

Learn more about Wood Stork monitoring: https://corkscrew.audubon.org/news/skies-audubon-brings-new-ideas-long-term-wood-stork-monitoring

02/23/2025

Lovely evening on the water with fabulous people. Sunset produced a brilliant pink sky even with clouds. Always a different painting. Thank you Dennis for sharing your friends and this evening with us.

02/18/2025

Well, the warm weather moved the manatees out of our tour area and into the surrounding estuaries in search of sea grass to eat. Our last manatee tour was February 1st. BUMMER!!! However, Captain John has been conducting Eco tours and we of course have Sunset Cruises to consider. If you don't see a cruise on the calendar, gather 6 people together and lets make it happen! Or, we can put a hold on a date for you and advertise it on the website in hopes that we have a minimum of six people sign up. visit www.manateeandecorivertours.com to book your tour!

Born in 1954, he grew up on the Ohio and Scioto River’s where he began boating at the age of 8 years old. Along with being an avid USCG Master Captain, he is also a design engineer, professional surveyor, Florida Master Naturalist and Calusa Waterkeeper Ranger. John has been on the water the large...

02/13/2025

Check out the "congregation" of alligators at Myaka...

02/09/2025

A beautiful picture from last night's sunset cruise on the Caloosahatchee.. thank you Bev Fox for sharing this picture with us! Our next available sunset cruise is on Valentine's Day!! Advanced reservations are required. Won't you join us? www.manateeandecorivertours.com

01/07/2025

Thank you Stephanie Adolf from Germany for sharing this great video she took while on one of our manatee tours. This big guy was having fun with our anchor line.