Air boat rides and boat tours


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THINGS TO DO/WHERE TO STAY

Activities:
• Hotels and motels
• Camping
• Hiking
• Canoeing
• Fishing
• Airboat rides
• Directions

Everglades Home

PHOTO

Airboats
Airboats
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Touring by water can be an ideal way to tour the Everglades. Options include boat tours of bays and estuaries, back-country waterways and swamp tours via airboat. Many of the tours only operate November through April.

Air boats. The mix of water and muck that is the Everglades is not great to navigate on foot, but it is perfect for an airboat ride.

With the wind whistling through your hair, the big sky overhead, and cotton balls in your ears (to help block the engine's loud noise), there is no better way to glimpse the majesty of the 'Glades.

Airboat rides are not permitted inside Everglades National Park, but many private companies offer rides just outside the park's perimeter. Excursions are safe for both adults and children.

Boat tours from Flamingo. A concessionaire provides several boating options at Flamingo. Prices range from $12 to $20. Reservations are recommended, 239-695-3101. Options include:

  • The Backcountry Cruise is a two-hour cruise deep into the mangrove forest aboard the Pelican. This year-round tour can provides glimpses of wildlife such as hawks, alligators, turtles, herons and manatees. Endangered crocodiles are often seen. Tours depart at 10:00 a.m., 1:00 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. Thursdays through Mondays. Tours are not available on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.

  • The Florida Bay Cruise is a 90-minute tour through the marine feeding and nursery grounds of Florida Bay aboard the Bald Eagle. You may encounter all types of wildlife, including birds, dolphins, sea turtles and sharks. A sunset cruise also is available seasonally.

  • A 50-foot schooner sailboat, Windfall, also tours Florida Bay. The Windfall runs from mid-December to spring. Sunset cruises are available.

    Boat tours from Everglades City. Park rangers or concession naturalists lead 90-minute tours through the 10,000 Islands National Wildlife Refuge. The boat navigates a maze of mangroves. Passengers often get glimpses of bald eagles, dolphins, roseate spoonbills and manatees. At the height of the season, tour boats run multiple times everyday for two-hour trips. Reservations are recommended for group boat tours. Call 239-695-2591, or (in Florida) 1-800-445-7724 for more information.