Stiffy’s Favorite Thing To Do On The Water In Tampa Bay
There are so many fun things to do in the Tampa Bay area. You can enjoy the day at Busch Gardens or cool off at Adventure Island. Check out the animals at ZooTampa. Catch a Bucs, Rays, Lightning or Rowdies game. Explore all of our museums on both sides of the Bay or just relax on all of our beautiful beaches. But one of my absolute favorite things to do is go scalloping!
You can scallop out of Homosassa, Crystal River or Weeki Wachee, but my family prefers Homosassa because of the different restaurants, Monkey Island (more on that later) and of course the spring. Now you’ll need a boat to cruise up & down and to get out to the scallop grounds. If you don’t own a boat, there’s a few places on the river you can rent a pontoon boat. The only other things you’ll need is a mask & snorkel, flippers, and a mesh bag to put your scallops in. Once you make it to the Gulf of Mexico, find some other boats (that’s the easy way to know where scallops might be) jump in and start your treasure hunt.
Homosassa River has so many restaurants you can get to via boat or car. Marguerita Grill, Florida Cracker Kitchen, MacRae’s, The Freezer (get the shrimp) and our favorite Crumps Landing. Homosassa is also home to Monkey Island. An island in the middle of the river that’s home to three or four monkeys. You can’t get on the island, but you can drive the boat around the island and see the monkeys swinging around on their playset or taking a nap in the shade. You’ll also have the chance to see other wildlife. On our last trip we saw a couple manatees, a gator, an otter, a huge sea turtle while scalloping and also had a once in a lifetime experience with a dolphin!
While we were swimming in the crystal clear water at the spring, everyone notice a dolphin chasing fish. I was in the water and the dolphin swam about two feet away from me, kind of did a little circle around me and then took off. It was the coolest things ever! I was bummed I didn’t have my GoPro on me at the time, but it was an experience I’ll never forget. So if your looking for something fun to do with family or friends, put scalloping on your list. – Stiffy
Scalloping in Homosassa