We are going to New Orleans for 3 1/2 days in a couple of weeks and want to do an airboat tour of the swamps and a paddle boat ride. Has anyone any tips on good companies or good experiences? I have researched Louisiana Swamp Tour @ www.louisianaswamp.com and Airboat Adventure LLC @ www.airboatadventures.com so far. We would also like an experience on a Paddle Boat but not a dinner cruise. thanks....can't wait to experience the city for the first time.

If you do a search, you'll find that I've often recommended Honey Island Swamp Tours--we've taken their tour twice and loved it both times.

The NATCHEZ paddleboat is a nice one and you can do a daytime cruise (about 2 hours down the Mississippi and back) There are all kinds of brochures for it in the French Quarter and probably in your hotel as well. It docks there on the Mississippi boardwalk/riverwalk very near the IMAX theatre and Aquarium (the Aquarium is very nice, also) Enjoy your stay.

We were told by parks personell in the Everglades that airboats are very damaging to the ecology. Can anybody tell me if that is also true in the swamps around New Orleans--or do they only go on private property that is already damaged?
Vera

Whichever swamp tour you go with I suggest you stick to only a 1/2 day instead of full day trip - that's plenty long enough. As for the steamboats, we've gone on the Natchez more than once and had a great time (we heard the dinner kinda "sucked" so we skipped that part). Check the web for discounts, some places have coupon books for New Orleans that have 2-1 prices on the Natchez along with other specials you might be interested in. Enjoy the city!

Vera, I try to avoid the airboat tours, primarily because they scare away any wildlife you might see. Honey island and some other swamp tour companies use small--say, 10-person--boats with quiet outboard motors. You'll also find tours that use "party boats", those big, flat-bottomed raft-type things? Those are about drinking, not viewing the swamp.

Vera, there is an excellent swamp tour just outside of Baton Rouge at a swamp known as Alligator Bayou. Takes about an hour from New Orleans, but only about 30-45 minutes if you're already in that direction for plantation tours. At Alligator Bayou, they give you an excellent history and ecology lesson, as well as seeing all kinds of wildlife up close and personal. You can even hold a baby alligator, if you so desire!. The tour is not given daily, so you'd need to call for times and days. If possible, the sunset cruise is a nice one. The cost is $15 for adults. Also, the guys that give the tour are big comedians, and this makes it even more fun. Their phone number is 225-642-8297. On some weekend evenings, there is Cajun music and dancing on the covered dock after the tour.