5 of the Best Places to See Wildlife near Daytona Beach, Florida in Winter

Winter is a great time to visit Florida to escape some of the colder weather but also to see unique wildlife. We recently took advantage of a cheap flight to Daytona Beach and discovered some really awesome wildlife viewing opportunities. Here are our recommendations for 5 places to see wildlife near Daytona.

Manatees at Blue Spring State Park

When the weather and rivers get cold, Manatees congregate in the warm spring waters here which are a steady 72 degrees. Hundreds come into the springs to rest and recover from the chilly waters. The water is crystal clear, with walkways and platforms that afford amazing views of the gentle, rotund creatures.

The park is only $4 to $6 per vehicle to enter, and we saw lots of birds and a gator or two, but the manatees were definitely the stars of the show! They gather here from November to March. You can also book a boat tour for about $30, or rent a kayak for a different perspective.

Crowds at the park sometimes mean a long wait. We had no wait and no trouble parking at about 9:30AM on a Friday morning, but we are told that colder weekends can be crowded with long lines, and we did see at least one group of local kids on a field trip.

Bioluminescent Comb Jellies at Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge

We took a tour with A Day Away Kayak Tours to see these cool creatures, and had a great time. There were about 15 or 20 people on the tour in one or two-person kayaks, with two excellent tour guides named Zoey and John. We headed out of the boat launch near Titusville at around 7:30 in the evening.

Merritt Island NWR is very large and somewhat remote – we could see the stars much more clearly and saw several shooting stars during our tour. It is also part of the “space coast,” as NASA owns a large portion of it, and rocket launches can be sometimes be seen on the tours or from the beach.

Soon after heading out on our tour, we heard manatees exhale near our boats, though we couldn’t see them. Farther along, mullets leapt out of the water across some of the kayaks. But the coolest part of the experience was seeing the bioluminescent creatures.

There were still some dinoflagellates (algae), although they are much more commonly seen in the summer. We could see their neon blue glow near the mangrove-shrouded shore of the estuary we were moving through, and also see their flashes from our oars striking the water at times, or when disturbing the water with our hands.

The best part were the comb jellies, which the guides identified and scooped up easily with their nets. We passed them around (they are not venomous) and admired their clear blue-green neon glow in the darkness before returning them to their homes.

The tour guides also pulled out some horseshoe crabs for us to admire, but we are used to seeing tons of these guys up in Delaware! The refuge is also a great place for wildlife during the day, including spoonbills and flamingos.

Dolphins at Ponce Inlet

We visited Ponce Inlet to see the Lighthouse on a rainy day. It is the tallest lighthouse in FL, and the second tallest in the US. You can climb the 203 steps to see an excellent view around the inlet, and also visit a number of well-preserved buildings around it where former keepers and their families used to live.

Across the street is a historic hotel which is also preserved and can be visited with a ticket (you can get a ticket to just the lighthouse or just the hotel for about $6 for adults and $2 for children, or get a combo ticket to see both.)

The best part of the hotel was the view of the inlet, where we were able to see dolphins extremely close to the dock, as well as pelicans and many other shore birds enjoying the fish.

Armadillos at Canaveral National Seashore

I know that these little creatures are common in the south, but I had never seen them in the wild so I was quite excited to come upon several armadillos munching in the grass along the roadways at Canaveral National Seashore.

We saw many birds and lizards as well, and enjoyed learning about the shell mounds made by the Timucua people between 800 and 1400 CE. We climbed Turtle Mound, which is the largest shell midden in the continental US. It is mostly grown over now and looks like a big hill with a raised board walk, but you can still see the oyster shells beneath the underbrush.

We also took a couple of other beautiful short trails out to the seashore and to see the Eldora State House. There were dozens of lovely butterflies in the vegetation near the house, and many different types of wildflowers and fruit throughout the park. The small Visitors Center had some very nice displays that we enjoyed.

Marine Discovery Center in New Smyrna Beach

We stopped here to look at the free exhibits and enjoyed the classroom and small animals. We enjoyed climbing the big hill behind the center to look at the huge whale skeleton that stands there.

The center offers lots of kids programs, so checking their website and signing up for a program is a great way for families to learn about the local wildlife.

Their ecotours led by certified naturalists are also highly rated, and commonly seen are osprey, pelicans, ibis, herons, roseate spoonbills, bald eagles, dolphins, manatees, and many types of fish.