Take a thrilling adventure on an airboat and swamp buggy ride through the “river of grass” in Everglades National Park.
Everglades National Park
3-6 Hours
Any
$62-$72 per Adult
$42-$52 per Child
$16-$24 per Infant
Overview
When in the Everglades of South Florida, airboat rides are done as a private tour from one of the independent companies found along Highway 41 (Tamiami Trail) and Highway 29 near the Gulf Coast.
Booking through Wooten’s, we did the original tour which includes an airboat ride and a swamp buggy tour through the Big Cypress area. This is one of the top South Florida attractions for visitors, tourists, and locals and is a great way to see some of the unique environment, natural wildlife, and learn about the history of the area from a professional tour guide.
Airboat Ride and Swamp Buggy Tour Plan
In the summer of 2023, due to Hurricane Ian’s devastation, we weren’t able to go to our usual timeshare condo on Fort Myers Beach. Once we knew the condo wouldn’t be open, we started trying to find something else to do. Since we are working on visiting all of the national parks, we decided to go do an airboat tour in the Everglades. I had been down there many times since we would go camping down in the Florida Keys, but Justin, Tyler, and Ryan had never been.
I started looking up companies for a private airboat tour and we decided to book with Wooten’s for their Original Combo. My parents had gone before with my sister and her family and had so much fun on this tour.
Website: https://www.wootenseverglades.com/attractions/original-combo/
We booked the tour for one of the days we had in South Florida and counted down the days to our thrilling ride through the hardwood hammocks and narrow alleys of mangrove trees.
The combo package we chose is their shortest tour, which ended up being about a half day Everglades tour for us. Their website says to expect about 2-3 hours on location, but for us, it was almost an hour-and-a-half drive from my parent’s house in Fort Myers to get to Wootens. We did the airboat tour, swamp buggy tour, checked out the different animals in their safari, watched the wildlife show, and got to hold a baby gator.
The four of us in front of the airboat
Darrell, Beth, Ryan, and Tyler on the swamp buggy
Getting There
Location
Everglades National Park is a natural habitat for so many endangered animals including wild alligators and exotic birds in the southernmost part of Florida in the United States. You can access it from both sides of the state, but most of the airboat rides are on the Gulf Coast side of the state. The best way to get there is through Naples down either Highway 41 or Interstate 75 south into the Everglades. To fly into the area, the closest airport on that side of the state is Southwest International Airport (RSW) in Fort Myers.
There are also a few airboat tours that operate from the east side of the state. To get to these, you’ll want to start in either Miami, Fort Lauderdale, or through Homestead. Although these have airboat tours, and some have a wildlife show, none of the companies on the eastern side of the park have the added swamp buggy tour.
Best Time to Go
The incredible Florida Everglades airboat tour runs all year long. Summer is not a great time to go even though that’s when we went due to the high temperatures in Florida in the summer months. During the wet season, from May to November, is when the area gets the most rain and storms, so keep that in mind as you are booking your custom airboats tour.
They run their tours year-round, but the time of year would determine the experience you have. In the summer months, the water levels will typically be higher and the swamp buggy will be going through water. In the winter months, when it is dry season in South Florida, the water level will be lower and the land will be dry.
Historic Native American buildings seen during the swamp buggy tour
These grasshoppers are everywhere in the Everglades
Airboat Ride and Swamp Buggy Tour in Everglades National Park
Who Can Go?
The Everglades airboat ride is available to visitors of all ages and the price varies by age. Even though they allow infants, I wouldn’t suggest bringing very young children because of the noise of the airboat. They have noise-canceling headsets for everyone, but a small child may not keep them on.
What You'll See
The world-famous airboat ride includes 4 other attractions. After the airboat ride, you’re directed across the street to load up on a swamp buggy that will take you through the marshes and lush cypress forest. Upon returning to the main building, you can tour the animal sanctuary that includes otters, lions, turtles, crocodiles, and a lot of alligators. Make sure to stop by the live alligator show where an alligator handler teaches about the American alligator, its habitat, what it eats, and how to be careful around them. Finally, get in line to hold a baby alligator!
Taking an airboat tour is such a fun way to view the natural wildlife and unique ecosystem of the Everglades. The captain of the airboat will bring your group to specific places in the mangrove tunnels where they’ve spotted alligators and talk about the history of Florida, the wildlife, and the slow-running river of Everglades Park. On the swamp buggy tour, we went through the lush vegetation of Big Cypress and the knowledgeable guides talked about the history of the Calusa Natives who once called the acres of grasslands here home.
Huge alligator that came right up to our airboat
“River of Grass” on the swamp buggy tour
What to Bring & Wear
You’ll want to dress for the weather, meaning shorts and T-shirts or sleeveless shirts in the summer and long pants and sleeves in the winter months. You won’t get very wet but may get a splash or two while on the airboat tour. If you are going to wear a hat or sunglasses (highly recommended) bring a strap for them both so you don’t lose them on the airboat ride. Wear sneakers to protect your feet.
Bring water as there’s almost no shade when you are down in the Everglades and it gets warm, even if the temperature is cool. Make sure to also bring a camera and consider putting it in a waterproof case with a wrist strap for the airboat and buggy rides.
Where to Go
There are multiple companies that give a similar Everglades experience, but we decided to use Wooten’s for a few reasons. My family had done a tour with them before, so they knew that the professional tour guides were knowledgeable and made it a fun experience. The pricing was a great deal for the incredible three-hour experience we received. Their small gift shop had snacks, drinks, and the ever-important sunscreen and bug spray.
How Long Does it Take?
There are multiple options for tours ranging from about 3-6 hours. Plan for about half a day in the Everglades to do one of these tours including your time to get there and back to your lodging.
Justin and Ryan on the airboat at the dock
Tyler and Stephanie during the tour, ear protection is a must – they provide headphones for everyone
Cost
The tour that we did, with 5 attractions, has three price points based on age.
- Adults ages 11 and older are $62-$72 per person
- Kids ages 4-11 are $42-$52
- Infants up to age 3 are $16-$24
You won’t be going through any of the official National Park entrances if you come down Highway 41. But for those entering through one of the official park entrances, there are entrance fees that must be paid, based on the size of the vehicle and the type of pass you are purchasing.
A standard pass will gain entry into the park for up to 7 days from the date of purchase.
- Private Vehicle: $35 per vehicle
- Motorcycle: $30 per vehicle
- Pedestrian: $20 per person
An Everglades Annual Pass is available for $70 or the $80 America the Beautiful Pass also works here.
Tips for Airboat Ride and Swamp Buggy Tour in the Everglades
- Book your tour ahead of time to get the day and time you want. During the winter busy season, they will fill up quickly.
- Bring sunscreen and bug spray no matter what time of year you are taking your trip. There's no shade when you are on the airboat.
- If you are going to Wooten's, you will not pass the Entrance Sign for Everglades National Park. We drove down to the sign near the (currently closed) Gulf Coast Visitor Center. Since the visitor center is closed, we went to the Big Cypress Preserve Visitor Center and we were able to get the Passport Book stamp and Junior Ranger for both Big Cypress National Preserve and Everglades National Park.