sportymad

My husband and I are traveling to New Orleans the end of June to celebrate our anniversary. We would like to take the best available swamp tour or airboat tour by a knowledgeable guide. All the ads are very confusing. Does anyone have a terrific company to recommend?

ccolor

We used Cypress Swamp Tour and were very pleased with it. Whichever tour group you pick, just go on a half day tour - once you've seen a heron, nutria and gator you've seen them all. There's too much to do in New Orleans to spend much time out of the city. Most will pick up and deliver you to your hotel so you don't have to drive either.

sportymad

Thanks for the info. We plan on spending 4 nights in NO and are trying to decide on good tours to take. We figured the best advice would come from people who have already taken some of the tours.

Wayne

As a native of Louisiana, maybe I've seen more swamps than a lot of folks. For my money, I'd count on catching a Travel Channel video about swamp tours and instead spend all my time in and around N.O. As others have said, there is too much in N.O. to spend a lot of time away, and whether you like it or not, a swamp tour, even a half-day, will consume most of a day of your time. Good luck.

sportymad

Thanks again. Maybe we will have second thoughts about taking a swamp tour.

luvnyoung

Most of the tours are just north of New orleans ...Slidell area.

I highly recommend Dr Wagner.
This was a wonderful tour you will go down the pearl river and then
into the swamp. We saw some wonderful birds, flowers and gators.

Dr. Wagner's Honey Island Swamp Tours

http://www.honeyislandswamp.com/

sportymad

Thanks. I had been considering this one as it sounded as if they gave you quite a bit of information about the area.

Wayne

I'm sorry if I appeared earlier to demean the swamp tours in general...maybe I have just waded through too many to consider them special. For a new visitor with an interest in nature and a few more days in N.O., I would think a swamp tour would provide an insight you might not otherwise gain. But if you are in N.O. for only 4 days and you lose a day, that doesn't give you a whole lot of time for anything but a brush of the city and its features. Or it forces you to hurry through everything on your list and perhaps miss the enjoyment of it all. Either way, good luck on your decision.

El_Swainer

We took a half day swamp tour but I can't remember the company.

Hotel pickup was provided.

By all means take the tour. All the swamp tour companies are probably somewhat similar.

sportymad

I think we will schedule the Dr. Wagner's Honey Island Swamp Tour for early in the day. That way we will have the rest of the afternoon and evening for other tours. Thanks for all the help.

bkluvsNola

I think a swamp tour is a must, especially for four days in New Orleans. You can see a lot of the city in 3 days and take the last day to see the swamps, as that is an important part of what the region offers.

June is a good time to see alligators, and the greenery will be all lush. An airboat may be the way to go in June, as it's much cooler and mosquitoes can't bite you when you're moving that fast!

Also, morning is better than evening, as thunderstorms are more likely to hit in the evening, and it's cooler in the morning.

sportymad

Are the air boats so loud that you don't get much information from the guide? I'm really wanting a guide who can give me some good information on the swamp.

bkluvsNola

On the airboat tours, they will stop the airboat and the engine and point out various wildlife. Then they take off to another part of the swamp. They'll give you ear muffs for the journey, but they do stop many times to provide valuable information and like I said, the engine is totally off during those times.