Boat Tours

Many Everglades-area tours operate only in season, roughly November to April.

Coopertown Airboat Tours. Coopertown is the oldest airboat operator in the Everglades. The nearly 75-year-old business, which is attached to a restaurant with the same name, offers 35- to 40-minute tours that take you 9 miles into the fragile ecosystem to see hammocks and alligator holes, red-shouldered hawks, and turtles. You can also book longer private charters with the company. Coopertown is one of only three companies authorized by the National Park Service to give airboat tours inside Everglades National Park. 22700 S.W. 8th St., Miami, Florida, 33194. 305/226–6048; coopertownairboats.com. From $26.

Everglades Alligator Farm. More than 2,000 alligators live within the Everglades Alligator Farm. It's the oldest of its kind in South Florida and offers alligator shows, encounters, and airboat rides outside national park boundaries. It's a working farm, and feedings for 500 hungry gators are at noon and 3 pm. While this farm works with the FWC to ensure its animals are cared for, there are ethical concerns regarding alligator interactions. 40351 S.W. 192nd Ave., Homestead, Florida, 33034. 305/247–2628; www.everglades.com. $28, including airboat tour.

Wooten's Everglades Airboat Tours. Convenient for travelers coming from Southwest Florida, this classic Florida roadside attraction offers airboat tours and swamp buggy rides through private grasslands outside Big Cypress Swamp, educational sessions in the animal sanctuary, and live alligator shows. Some packages include an airboat ride, swamp buggy adventure, and sanctuary access. 32330 Tamiami Trail E, Ochopee, Florida, 34141. 239/695–2781; www.wootenseverglades.com. Tours from $33; alligator show from $9. Daily 8:30–5; last ride departs at 4:30.