Manatee Center in Fort Pierce
Manatees are frequent visitors of Fort Pierce and Florida's Treasure Coast!
Manatee Center in Fort Pierce is located along Florida’s Treasure Coast, a favorite spot for manatees! This center is for education and observation, and manatees are frequently spotted at the Fort Pierce City Marina where the Manatee Center is located.
This is a beautiful, relaxed spot for watching boats coming in and out, as well as looking out for manatees from the second story observation deck.
There’s a (very) small admission fee to go into the education center (your money directly benefits their manatee and environmental educational programs). This education and observation center is small but nice, with a huge beautiful centerpiece aquarium. There are some touch tanks and educational displays for kids.
Manatee Center is an Education Center
We suggest spending some time on the 2nd floor of the observation deck out back, because there are lots of manatee sightings on record!
And of course, visit the Vanishing Mermaid, their on-site gift shop. It’s filled (packed!) with tons of great manatee and Florida-themed goodness!
Plenty of easy, free parking
There is a large parking lot for the Manatee Center and Vanishing Mermaid Gift Shop, and it’s free and easy.
The gift shop is a great place to go shopping, it’s located next to the Manatee Center but not inside.
What a great local store to buy gifts, and support Fort Pierce and the environmental programs of the Manatee Center!
Visit the official Manatee Observation and Education Center website for hours of operation, current entrance fee and special events.
What else is in the area?
We spent 4 hours in this part of Fort Pierce recently, while driving along the Treasure Coast for a quick weekend getaway. In the four hours, we visited the Manatee Center PLUS:
- St. Lucie County Aquarium
- St. Lucie County Regional History Center
- Public Beach
This area is a very “coastal”, clean and pretty area of the east coast. It’s got a fantastic “small town” feel and we enjoyed visiting these four attractions. There are also lots of great seafood restauraunts and small town bars.
The public beaches are clean and beautiful, and there’s plenty of easy parking. Fort Pierce is growing and we plan to go back soon to find more fun spots to visit including the Downtown Farmer’s Market!