These photos were taken earlier this month by Brian Haynes:

Firstly thank you for the excellent customer service, right from the initial booking we was kept well informed and really appreciated the route plan Debi sent to aid us in our trip to the boat.

As for the tour itself, Captain Harold was as informative as he was comical and didnt laugh at any of our silly questions, he showed us some amazing wildlife and the whole experience was something we will remember for the rest of our life, It was a real highlight of our trip. We have been to Florida 4 times and this is the first time we have been on a tour with Spirit of the Swamp, we have no intention of trying another tour company…

When we next book to go to Florida, (whenever that may be) Spirit of the Swamp is something we will definitely be booking as soon as we can…..

So again, Thank you to Captain Harold and Debi for an amazing experience, If you have clicked this website looking for a Airboat ride then look no further, youve found the experience you want right here

Paul & Becky…. All the way from Sunny  England 

I listened to her account of what happened and wanted to share it with you as well:

She took her nieces on an airboat ride last year when they were down in Florida for their annual summer visit. She was surprised and disappointed when they arrived for their airboat ride to see a large “barge-type” airboat. One of her nieces is only 4’2” and she had to sit in the middle of the boat and wasn’t able to see over the other passengers.

It gets worse – the boat was filled with people who screamed every time the Captain pointed out a gator, but the time she and her nieces could crane their necks to see over the crowd, the gator was gone because of all the screaming passengers.

To make matters worse, a few of the passengers monopolized the Captain the entire time, asking questions and focusing his attention solely on them. This made the trip run behind schedule and the ride back to the dock was made at top speed, eliminating the possibility of any further wildlife spotting.

This type of sad tale is why we decided to do things differently at Spirit of the Swamp, and why we are so proud of our raving fan testimonials. You know when you book with us you’re not going to get stuck in the middle – you’re going to be riding in a small airboat, even the tiniest tots will be able to see everything. There won’t be a crowd of strangers driving you crazy. And the Captain is all yours!

Dear Debi and Captain Harold,

Well, after booking months ago we finally had our trip today. I can’t speak for the kids, but I know for me and Kate this was the highlight of our trip so far. What a complete pleasure and priviledge it was to experience the ‘real’ Florida with you. As I mentioned to Captain Harold,
your are so fortunate to have this wonderful wilderness as your playground.

Captain Harold is the kind of guy I would like to have a beer or two with just to hear some of the stories that he couldn’t mention in front of the kids! He/you is/are everything we hoped a ‘real’ American would be!

I think Captain Harold has also accomplished one of his missions - to get the kids talking about fishing. Whilst I reckon Emma would have freaked if she had actually caught anything, I think George is disappointed in that he didn’t catch a ‘gator - never mind a fish! I think we are going to have to go sea fishing next year when we have our (usual) vacation in Cornwall, although I hope we will be back in a couple of years or so to see you again.

Thank you for a wonderful trip and the memories. I enjoyed it so much I had to pick flies out of my teeth afterwards I had been smiling so much!

Kind regards,

Mike Casartelli and on behalf of Kate, Emmma and George.

We get lots of birthday trips… and this week we had two in a row.  An airboat ride is perfect for a birthday celebration, or honeymoon, or anniversary, or girls day out… and the list goes on and on!!

So Happy Birthday to Tyler and Harry!!

 Tyler:

Harry

Just wanted to take the time and let you know how very wonderful our Spirit of The Swamp tour was.

Caption Harold was very informative, friendly, and great fun to the adults and especially the kids in our party.

We saw beautiful land, raced across the waterways at speeds that had my boys reeling with excitement, yet slowed down just enough to capture over 65 photos of alligators, other wildlife, the swamps natural beauty, and the boys fishing off of the side of the Air boat (Captain Harold even provided the poles and the bait for the boys).

Captain Harold made us feel like we were family and because we choose a weekday to tour, we were the only boat on the water so we felt as if we were touring a private waterway.

These are memories we will cherish forever.

Thanks again,

Shon from Texas

(just click on the photo to make it larger)

 

 

 

 

Hi Debi & Captain Harold,

The private airboat ride was of the best. It’s good for 1 to 6 passengers. The captain was good informed and told us a lot about the swamp over the private head sets.

If you want you can talk to him or ask him during the ride over the head set. He was very friendly.

The most easy way of booking is by telephone.  The meeting point will be send after the booking to you by e-mail from Debi and you will find it easy with the description.

The meeting point doesn’t have any signs but the boat ramp where the boat will pick you up is easy to find.  The captain was there 10 minutes before meeting time.

Juergen Schmalish, Leipzig, Deuthschland

I received this email from John late last month:

Harold and Debi,

We are home safe and sound and wanted to follow up on a couple of things.  As promised I posted a 5-dot recommendation on TripAdvisor.  So glad to see you are a so well liked.  More people should take the time to rate you.  Additionally, I posted my recommendation from TripAdvisor on my FaceBook page.  Next year we want to find a way to take up a whole day with Harold, at least the 5 hours his gas tank will permit.

See you in 2011.  As soon as we nail down our return dates we will contact you for reservations.  John Lowe

This is John’s Trip Advisor review:

Our family had the most enjoyable adventure of our Christmas holiday in Orlando with Capt Harold aboard the SPIRIT OF THE SWAMP. We can’t begin to say enough good things about Harold and the time on the water. First his boat: clean, solid, agile, easy to get in and out. Above all, safe.

The two-way communication system makes the experience so much more than a ride in the swamp. Second Capt Harold: His love of his boat and the swamp is infectious. When you leave your experience with him you can’t help but understand why he does this for a living.

Harold is a perfect delight to talk to and his knowledge of the swamp is first rate. I could go on and on about the quality of service, the fun, the delight my girls age 13 and 15 had from this experience.

IF I COULD GIVE HAROLD 10 STARS I WOULD.

I give Spirit of the Swamp Airboat Tours my very highest recommendations and would write daily recommendations if trip advisor would let me. Spend 90 minutes with Harold and you will have the best Orlando vacation of your life.

Here are a few of John’s Photos:

 

 

 

On behalf of my family I want to extend our appreciation to Harold for our wonderful Swamp Adventure.  Like so many before us this was clearly the best of our vacation, and yes, better than ANY of the Disney Parks.  Many thanks from the Lowes.

Hi Harold and Debbie, hope you had a nice Christmas we did here in Blackpool England, I would just like to thank you for an excellent time on the airboat ride, it was one of the best experiences and would do it again if we go to Florida. Thank you we hope you have a good 2011 and would recommend you to anyone coming over there.  The Cleaver Family.

Happy New Year Everyone!!  Stay safe.