Spirit of the Swamp Airboat Tours

We’re getting Trip Advisor Reviews so fast, I hardly have time to post them for you before another one is posted… and that’s a good thing!  So here’s a new Trip Advisor Review:

Three of us took this tour in the middle of October and thoroughly enjoyed it; it was one of our favourite parts of the trip. I have been on a few of these types of tours but enjoyed this one because unlike some others there is a very natural and ‘unstaged’ approach to which is really what we wanted.

We wanted to see the Alligators and other wildlife in their natural habitat and wanted to get a more personal approach than to be just part of a large tour group, and this tour gave us exactly that. The Airboat was in very good condition and headphones and microphones were provided so we could all communicate to each other.

Our pilot was Captain Harold who was very pleasant and amiable and very easy to get along with. He was very knowledgeable about all the life (animal, bird and plant) within the swamp and although we were not able to take all of the tour we expected due to the weather, he still endeavored to take us out for as long as possible to all the areas that were still accessible. We got to see several Alligators (including a female of some 9ft guarding her babies), Bald Eagles, Vultures, many wading and marsh birds, and different plant life too. All in all a great trip that I would definitely recommend to anyone thinking about an Airboat tour in Florida.  Cayman Islands

Baby Gators - Look Close!!

I took my camera out on the airboat yesterday… and first of all, let me say I REALLY wish I had a better camera. Aside from my lack of photography skills, I think this photo is clear enough for you to see the baby gators. Little striped critters? Looks like snakes with yellow stripes? That’s baby gators! They are difficult to photograph, squirming all over the place, little cuties. But I managed to get one, just one, clear picture, so here you go (look close).

And just to say I’m happy that the gators are coming back out on the bank to sun with this cooler weather, here’s a big boy I photographed yesterday:

Gator Sunning on the Bank

Here are some answers to more of our most Frequently Asked Questions about taking an airboat ride:

Q.  Will we see alligators?  A.  We sure hope so!  We sure to try to find them, no matter what time of year or what the weather conditions are.  And our record’s pretty good – only 5 airboat trips without seeing a gator in the past two years, pretty good, huh?  We can’t guarantee gator sightings, it’s impossible to control any animal in the wild.  But we sure try!

Q.  When’s the best time to take an airboat ride?  A.  If you’re making an advance reservation, we’ll always recommend a morning start time, the wildlife just seems to be more active!  And we’ll usually recommend a weekday over a weekend… there’s less boat traffic on the water.

Q.  Will you match another airboat’s pricing?  A.  Yes, we do.  But you’ll have to tell me which airboat company and it has to be a PRIVATE Ride.  All of our airboat rides are private, in a small 6 passenger boat.  No one can beat our prices, even with coupons.  The reason?   We keep our prices low, so we don’t have to offer deep discounts or coupons to beat our competitor’s prices.  It just seems fairest to YOU, our passengers to do it that way.

We’ll answer some more FAQ in tomorrow’s blog….