Everglades Airboat Tours from Miami: Timings and What You'll See

The Everglades is the second-most visited natural attraction in the United States, and the reason is the same as the reason people drive two hours to look at a big empty wetland: there is nowhere else like it. An airboat tour is the standard way in, and this is what the trip is actually like before you book it.

What the tour is, hour by hour

So: a four-hour commitment for about an hour of it on the water and on the boardwalk, and a long and genuinely beautiful drive back. The drive is not a bonus. Halfway across the Tamiami Trail you are in the middle of a million acres of grass and it is one of the great drives in North America.

The ride itself

An airboat is a flat-bottomed aluminium hull with a propeller mounted high behind the engine on a protective cage, so the blades cannot cut the water or the sawgrass. It is loud, fast, and it slides rather than plows. The engine noise means the guide usually speaks through a headset microphone, and it is genuinely loud enough that you will not hear much without one.

The route is a loop out across the open sawgrass and back along a channel. What you are looking for is birds, principally, and the odds are very good of seeing several species in one ride: roseate spoonbills, white ibis, anhinga, brown pelicans and, in the shallows, turtles and the occasional otter.

Ages, comfort and access

• Minimum age is five on our airboat. The ride involves a high-revving propeller behind your head and a lot of noise, and some younger children find it unpleasant.
• There is no hearing protection. If your child is sensitive to noise, ear defenders for adults work well enough for children.
• It is bumpy, not rough. The ride is generally smooth; the drone of the engine is the thing people notice.
• Getting on and off involves a step down to the dock and a step back up, so closed shoes are better than sandals.
• The boardwalk is flat and paved and the viewing tower has a ramp, so the second half of the trip is fully accessible.

The boardwalk and the tower

The second half of the trip is often the better half for people who are not into boats. The boardwalk is a raised wooden path running out into the sawgrass, and the viewing tower is 60 feet up with an open platform on four sides looking across a completely flat, empty, silver-green plain to the horizon.

It is the closest thing to the game's Grassrivers region that you will actually stand in: a primordial expanse, gators in the water, mangroves at the edges, and nothing else for miles in any direction.

Which tour to pick

The van tour is a real option and not a consolation prize: it stops at two out-of-the-way boardwalks and a small marina, and it is the version to pick if you get seasick, if you are over 70, or if you simply would rather not spend 30 minutes behind a propeller at 70 decibels.

Best time of year

From December to March, and it is not close. The weather is at its best, the gators are out basking on the banks, the birdlife is heaviest and the boat is comfortable. In summer it is hot, humid, and the gators are harder to see, though the storms over the sawgrass are spectacular.

For wildlife specifically, the spring is marginally better than the winter because the water is shallower and the birds come north. For comfort and value, the winter wins.

What to bring

• Sunscreen and a hat. There is no shade on the sawgrass and you are exposed for four hours.
• Insect repellent, with DEET or picaridin, not citronella.
• A refillable water bottle; the heat is the thing that catches people out.
• Sunglasses, and a camera that is sealed against dust and spray.
• A light long-sleeve for the boardwalk, which is exposed even when the boat is not.

Do not wear anything white you care about, and expect to see mosquitoes in the mangrove areas at dusk. That is the trade for the wildlife.