paulo

was just wondering if there were good everglades tours without going all the way to the actual national park. we were thinking of some tours between miami and west palm beach. but we are a little hesistant that they might be cheesy and somewhat staged, meaning it is not truly representative of the everglades.

xxx

I don't get your question? So you want to go to a place between Palm Beach and Miami that is a better representation of the Everglades -- even though it isn't in or near the Everglades than going to a place that is actually in the Everglades, which wouldn't truly represent the Everglades? Is that it?
Sort of like going to a place in New Jersey that truly represents the Rocky Mountains rather than going to Colorado and seeing the real Rocky Mountains, because they might be too staged.
Look at a map. The Everglades aren't between Palm Beach and Miami, why would you go there to see them?

Brenda

I agree, just go to the Everglades. We went several years ago, Its really lovely just what we imagined, we went out on a `hover boat`, great way to actually get out on the `water`.

Larry

xxx is not quite correct. While the Everglades National Park is located southwest of Miami, the term "everglades" really refers to an ecosystem that once covered almost all of south Florida; large portions of that ecosystem still remain between Dade and Palm Beach counties. You can see the sawgrass ecosystem (which is probably what most people think of when they picture the 'glades), for example, on several airboat tours west of Fort Lauderdale just as well as any tour out of the actual National Park.
However, if you want to see all(or most all) of the various habitats that make up the everglades, a trip to the National Park is your best bet. You will start out in sawgrass, pass through upland pine/cypress, eventually arriving in the backcountry (mangroves). So, if all you want to do is take an airboat ride through the sawgrass and see alligators and some birds, no you do NOT have to go all the way to the National Park, and yes you can still say you visited the Everglades.

xxx

Larry, you also need to look at a map. Yes that area was once part of what could be called Everglades, but development has filled it in going west for miles. If you drew a straight line between the center of Palm Beach and Miami, you'd have to go west at least 25 or 30 miles to reach anything that even resembled the everglades today. Why not just go to the Everglades National Park which is closer than that to the center of Miami? "Chessy and somewhat staged" accurately describes those non-National park airboat rides you are mentioning west of Ft. Lauderdale.

Rosemary

Please go to the Everglades proper! Drive down to Flamingo from Homestead. Stop (at a minimum) at the Anhinga Trail and the Eco Pond at Flamingo. Then you will see what the Everglades are all about.

Also can I mention an amazing fruit stand - "Robert Is Here" - you can't miss it - it's where you turn off from Homestead to get on to the road to the Everglades and Flamingo. They do milk shakes to die for - we had Passion Fruit and Key Lime.

Larry

XXX- you make me laugh. I actually AM looking at two GIS ground cover maps of south Florida, taken two years ago, across my desk as I type this. There is, in particular, one very large sawgrass area in western Broward/Palm Beach. And it isn't a small little patch, either- it takes up a significant amount of the total area of both counties combined. I'm sure the maps I'm looking at are a little more descriptive than the road map you're looking at, xxx.

xxx

I must apologize, Larry, what you describe sounds just like what Paulo was looking for. Do you have handy the telephone number for the airboat tours in that patch of sawgrass? How about directions to the visitor center there so Paulo can explore and learn about that part of the Everglades?
By the way, I wasn't looking at a road map. I live in West Broward, due west of downtown Ft. Lauderdale in a rather large development that used to be part of the Everglades. Yes, there are even areas in my immediate area where one can see sawgrass, but I was unaware that was what Paulo was looking for. I thought he was looking for the Everglades -- with all it's unusual ecosystem, less affected by the manmade development that we have in the areas you are referring to, and still teeming with the full variety of Everglades wildlife that I thought he was expecting. You, of course, are right. Paulo you can pull your car over along I-95 and see some sawgrass. I'm sure that will satisfy you.

js

Poor Paulo,

All he wanted was some travel advice on visiting the Everglades. Will someone please give him some information?

Play nice in the sandbox.