Tours of Everglades from Key largo

Old Feb 2nd, 2007, 05:47 PM
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moo
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Tours of Everglades from Key largo

In Key Largo in March. Want to visit the Everglades and possible take an air boat tour. What is a good tour and what would be a good itinerary for a day trip to the area?
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Old Feb 3rd, 2007, 10:15 AM
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Best tour is to take a car and drive into the National Park to these places:
1) Ahienga Trail (seeing several alligators is almost guaranteed).
2) Flamingo, with stop-overs, hikes, and boat tours as desired.
3) Shark Valley, then take the tram or bike to the Observation Tower.

A day trip would be to combine (1) and (2), and do (3) if you decide you want to see still more.

The best days to go are cold, sunny days; when the gators want to use the asphalt to warm up, and are thus VERY visible.

There are no air boat tours within the National Park, for the simple reason that air boats are extremely noisy, and disruptive to the plant and animal life of the Everglades. They are only given on private land outside the NP.
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Old Feb 3rd, 2007, 02:03 PM
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The best day trip is to drive back to Florida City and take a left turn as US 1 turns into the turnpike. That's the road that leads to Robert is Here fruit stand (milk shakes!) and then the visitor center for the National Park. Spend some time at the Visitor Center to get an idea of what the Everglades are about. Buy one of the plastic cards that helps you identify the birds. Then head to the Royal Palm Visitor Center, just a few miles past the entrance. That's where you'll find the Anhinga Trial. It's a boardwalk that takes you past lots of gators and birds. There's usually a ranger walk around 10:00 (check the park service website). After Anhinga Trail, you can continue on towards Flamingo - - - there are several stop offs along the way with different habitats. The turnoff right after Royal Palm (Pine something) is where you can picnic. Bring your own food becuase there are no food concessions in the park. I don't think you need to go all the way to Flamingo to get a good Everglades experience.
If you want to go on an airboat, then you'll need to head up to the Tamiami Trail (maybe 1 hour or so from Key Largo). I don't like the boats becuase they are way too loud and you don't really see much. I would rather spend that money on a eco tour boat ride in the Keys. But if you've never been, then it is an experience.
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