bluesphee

Hello,

We are in Marco Island right now for 7 more days. We would like to do a 1/2 day tour of the everglades and maybe do a manatee tour.

Does anyone have any recommendations on everglades tours? I see a lot of them advertised but am not sure if there are big differences between them. We would like to do the fan boat ride and see some interesting wildlife (e.g. Alligators).

Also, what about the manatee tours. Any recommendations on that?

tchoiniere

The Airboat tours are on the outside of the Everglades but are definitely worth it. I did one a couple of years ago and loved it. This is the one that I did. We did the Jungle of Wilderness Tour. Saw deer, pigs, gators (obviously), a bunch of birds, panther tracks, a bobcat and thankfully no snakes (saw one when we got back to my parents house though)

http://www.evsafaripark.com/index.htm

Go early in the morning for the most activity.

bluesphee

Thanks for the response. Just thought I'd follow back up and let everyone know that I did the Marco Adventures 1 1/2 hour Manatee boat ride. It was pretty fun. It ended up being $85 between the two of us (including a $5 obligatory tip). The water is pretty dark but they come up to the surface well. We then did some bird watching and saw a few gators (which was very cool). All in all it was a good diversion from the beach and we had a good time! Also, make sure if you do this that you travel another few miles past the marina on the highway to do a boardwalk tour (it's free). It was very cool and definitely worth checking out!

lindamoe

Can you tell me what boardwalk tour? Where is it? Do you know where the boat took you to see manatee's? We're leaving Tue for Naples and have a little boat down there. I have never seen a manatee in 15 years, would love to see one this time. Thanks

bluesphee

The boardwalk tour is called the Big Cypress Bend Boardwalk. Here is a link to it on Google maps:
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=e...06&z=6&iwloc=A

Also, here is a link to the marina where we launched to do the manatee tour:
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=e...2&z=15&iwloc=A

The Manatee Tour can be found on:
http://www.marcoadventures.com

Today we did an everglades airboat tour and it was really great. We just picked a random one (Dave's Airboat tours right in Everglades City). We used a $5 off coupon we found in a local map of Marco Island and it was still about $75 for the two of us. It was 1 hour long. Both my wife and I loved it (we're 25 years old). Don't go on this tour expecting to see wildlife though. It's more for the thrill ride and to see the really cool scenery.

I think we got lucky by seeing a gator right off the bat, but the captain said there aren't many around there.

You go really fast through very tight quarters through the mangroves. It's like driving through a cave of trees. Our operator was Marty and he seemed to drive a little more crazy than the others, which we liked! Definitely worth a side trip!

GaryEichler

We did a 2-1/2 tour with Double R's Fishing and Tour Co. The trip started out viewing manatees, alligators and ospreys. The coolest part of the trip is traveling through the Ten Thousand Islands. This awesome area is the largest mangrove jungle in the US. Capt Jim took us out for a look at the Gulf of Mexico where we encountered a pod of dolphin that decided to play in the wake of the boat for about 10 minutes. We stopped on a deserted island for a few minutes to collect some shells before heading back to the marina. Awesome trip and well worth the 55.00 per adult.