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MARION COUNTY, Fla. — For more than 10,000 years, humans have been drawn to the serene waters of the Silver River near Ocala — a place where Florida’s ancient past still lingers.
What You Need To Know
- 3 Brothers Boards offers guided paddleboard tours on the Silver River, showcasing its crystal-clear waters and abundant wildlife
- Visitors frequently encounter manatees and rhesus macaque monkeys, making it a unique eco-tourism destination in Florida
- The company was founded 17 years ago by Justin Murray and his brothers, who began building their own high-quality paddleboards
- Each board features the signature of their late brother Jason, honoring his memory and keeping him part of every journey
When mastodons and giant ground sloths roamed the peninsula, the river was already a source of life.
While those prehistoric giants have long disappeared, Silver River has become home to a new, unexpected variety of creatures that continue to awe visitors.
“This river just has a wow factor,” said Justin Murray of 3 Brothers Boards, a Daytona paddleboard outfitter and tour company.
The water is so clear that few of its aquatic inhabitants can remain hidden — including the gentle manatees often seen grazing beneath the surface.
“So, the manatees eat hundreds of pounds of grass every single day,” Murray explained.
Every week, Murray and his team guide guests through this pristine spring-fed waterway, using custom-made paddleboards — some with transparent bottoms offering an unmatched view of the river bottom below.
“Being able to see them on the paddleboard is definitely way easier than when you’re lower to the water in a kayak,” he said.
Murray and his brothers began their journey 17 years ago, inspired by the natural beauty surrounding them and a growing need for quality paddleboards.
That idea launched 3 Brothers Boards.
“This is the largest artesian spring in the state of Florida. We have over 550 million gallons of water come out of this spring — every single day,” Murray said.
Though his younger brother Jason has since passed, his legacy lives on in every board.
“If you look at the bottom of every board we’ve ever made, we have his handwritten signature that we got off his schoolwork just so he can be part of making the boards and part of that process. Like to think he’s with us every time we hit the water,” Murray said.
The wildlife visible along the trip on the river is abundant — including deer, birds and pigs.
In addition to manatees and birds, one unexpected group steals the spotlight: rhesus macaque monkeys. About 400 of them roam the area — descendants of monkeys accidentally released in the 1930s, contrary to the myth that they were part of Tarzan film productions.
“The monkeys that we have here are rhesus monkeys. And for many years, people believed that the monkeys were here from the Tarzan films,” Murray said. “However, after looking into every Tarzan film that was filmed here, there was never any rhesus monkeys used in those films.”
For Murray, the river is more than just a tour destination — it’s a sanctuary of natural wonder.
“Most people who even live in Florida (in) their entire lives have never seen such a diverse array of wildlife in one spot,” he said.
The 3 Brothers Boards store is located in Daytona Beach.
For more on its paddleboard adventures, visit 3 Brothers Boards.
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Randy Rauch
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