Orlando Everglades: Small Airboat Tour & Gator Encounters

4.84

(1180 reviews)

What’s the experience like?

I’ll admit, I almost missed the turnoff — my phone glitched and I ended up at some fishing dock first. By the time I found the right spot for this Everglades airboat tour near Orlando, I was already laughing at myself. The captain (I think his name was Mike?) just grinned and said, “Happens every day.” No big crowds, just a handful of us climbing onto this small airboat that looked like something out of an old adventure movie.

We took off fast — the air felt sharp against my cheeks, and there was this green smell, like wet grass mixed with something older. Mike steered us into these narrow trails between tall cattails. He’d cut the engine sometimes so we could listen: frogs croaking somewhere close, a heron flapping up from the reeds. He pointed out a gator nest (“that’s Miss Suzie’s spot”) and sure enough, there she was with her babies half-hidden in the mud. Honestly, I didn’t expect to get that close — you could see her blinking at us, totally unfazed.

At one point I tried to ask about some weird-looking plant (“gator grass,” apparently), but probably butchered the pronunciation because Mike chuckled and told me to stick to “cattails.” The sun came out hard halfway through and everything went bright — water glittering, dragonflies zipping past our heads. It wasn’t quiet exactly, but it felt peaceful in a way you don’t get in cities. The ride back was slower; nobody really talked much. Maybe we were all just taking it in.