Everglades National Park may be the state’s most famous wetlands preserve, but there are wetlands, shallow waterways and lakes up and down Florida’s interior; and speedy, noisy, breezy airboats are one of the most popular ways to experience them.
In extreme Southwest Florida, Captain Jack’s Airboat Tours (www.captainjacksairboattours.com) depart Everglades City for the grasslands, swamps and mangrove shorelines of the southern Everglades, with live alligator shows and an animal sanctuary to enjoy afterward.
Heading north along the Gulf coast, airboat tours with Peace River Charters zoom up the Peace River, which snakes inland from shimmering Charlotte Harbor.
“We’re just far enough inland to make it more of a river experience versus seeing mangroves at the shore,” says owner Nicki Varner. “We also offer fishing charters and swamp buggy tours.”
In the western reaches of Fort Lauderdale, Sawgrass Recreation Park offers group programs from 2.5 to 4.5 hours including airboat rides, wildlife presentations, shopping time and catered picnics, if desired.
Central Florida Everglades lands are the setting for tours with Boggy Creek Airboat Rides, offering 30- to 60-minute wetlands excursions as well as night expeditions that glide through trails of tall grass, searching for alligators, whose eyes glow red at night.