swamp tours florida

Florida Swamp Tours

Florida Swamp Tours

The Everglades is a unique and fascinating wilderness located in South Florida. It is home to a diverse array of wildlife and plants, and offers visitors the opportunity to experience the wetlands in a truly unforgettable way. One of the best ways to explore the Everglades is through an Everglades swamp tour.

Everglades swamp tours are conducted on airboats, which are fast-moving boats propelled by powerful fans. These boats are specially designed to navigate the shallow waters of the Everglades, providing visitors with an exciting and thrilling ride.

One of the biggest draws of Everglades swamp tours is the chance to see a wide variety of wildlife up close. The Everglades is home to alligators, crocodiles, snakes, birds, and many other species, and an airboat tour is the perfect way to see them in their natural habitat. Visitors can also spot rare and endangered species such as the Florida panther and the West Indian manatee.

In addition to the wildlife, Everglades swamp tours offer stunning views of the surrounding landscape. The Everglades is a vast and beautiful wilderness, and an airboat tour is the perfect way to take it all in. From the comfort of your boat, you can gaze out at the shimmering sawgrass and the distant tree-covered islands.

Another great aspect of Everglades swamp tours is the opportunity to learn about the history and culture of the area. Many tours are led by knowledgeable guides who can provide insight into the history of the Everglades and the people who have lived there for generations. Visitors will learn about the Seminole tribe, who still lives in the area and their historic and current way of life. They will also learn about the importance of the Everglades to the ecosystem, and how the area is being protected and restored.

If you’re looking to experience the Everglades in a unique and exciting way, an Everglades swamp tour is a must-do. Whether you’re a nature lover, an adrenaline junkie, or just looking for a memorable adventure, an Everglades swamp tour is sure to be a highlight of your trip. So don’t wait, book your tour today and get ready for an unforgettable experience!

When searching for an Everglades swamp tour, it’s important to choose a reputable tour company that has experience and knowledgeable guides. Look for reviews and testimonials from previous customers to ensure that you’re getting a quality experience. You may also want to consider the duration of the tour and the specific locations that will be visited, to make sure it aligns with your interests.

Overall, an Everglades swamp tour is an incredible opportunity to experience the natural beauty and rich wildlife of the Florida Everglades. It’s an exciting and unforgettable adventure that should not be missed by anyone visiting South Florida.

florida airboat tours

Things to do in the Everglades: Airboat Tours

Things to do in the Everglades: Airboat Tours

Airboat tours in the Everglades are a unique and exciting way to experience the wetlands of South Florida. These fast-moving boats, propelled by powerful fans, offer a thrilling ride as they glide over the shallow waters of the Everglades.

One of the best things about Everglades airboat tours is the opportunity to see a wide variety of wildlife. The Everglades is home to alligators, crocodiles, snakes, birds, and many other species, and an airboat tour is a great way to see them up close. Many tours offer the chance to spot rare and endangered species, such as the Florida panther and the West Indian manatee. You might also see some of the other inhabitants of the Everglades such as the Florida black bear, white-tailed deer, otters and spoonbills.

swamp tours In addition to the wildlife, Everglades airboat tours offer breathtaking views of the surrounding landscape. The Everglades is a vast and beautiful wilderness, and an airboat tour is the perfect way to take it all in. From the comfort of your boat, you can gaze out at the shimmering sawgrass and the distant tree-covered islands. The area is also home to a number of unique plants and flowers that you might be able to spot during your tour.

Another great aspect of Everglades airboat tours is the opportunity to learn about the history and culture of the area. Many tours are led by knowledgeable guides who can provide insight into the history of the Everglades and the people who have lived there for generations. You will also learn about the importance of the Everglades to the ecosystem, and how the area is being protected and restored.

If you’re planning a visit to the Everglades, an airboat tour is an experience you won’t want to miss. Whether you’re a nature lover, or just looking for a unique and memorable adventure, an Everglades airboat tour is sure to be a highlight of your trip. So don’t wait, book your tour today and get ready for an unforgettable experience! With the beautiful scenery, diverse wildlife and rich history, an airboat tour in the Everglades is a must-do for any traveler to South Florida. Don’t forget to bring your camera, you’ll want to capture all the stunning views and interesting creatures you will see on your tour.

Everglades Airboat Tours

Everglades Airboat Tours

Everglades Airboat Tours

An airboat (also known as a planeboat, swamp boat, bayou boat, or fanboat) is a flat-bottomed watercraft propelled by an aircraft-type propeller and powered by either an aircraft or automotive engine. They are commonly used for fishing, recreation, and ecotourism.

Airboats are a common means of transportation in marshy and/or shallow areas where a standard inboard or outboard engine with a submerged propeller would be impractical, most notably in the Florida Everglades but also in the Kissimmee and St. Johns rivers, and the Mekong River and Delta, as well as the Louisiana bayous.

The characteristic flat-bottomed design of the airboat, in conjunction with the fact that there are no operating parts below the waterline, allows for easy navigation through shallow swamps and marshes; in canals, rivers, and lakes; and on ice and frozen lakes. This design also makes it ideal for flood and ice rescue operations.

The airboat is pushed forward by the propeller, which produces a rearward column of air behind it. The resulting prop wash averages 150 miles per hour (241 km/h). Steering is accomplished by diverting that column of air left or right as it passes across the rudders, which the pilot controls via a “stick” located on the operator’s left side. Overall steering and control is a function of water current, wind, water depth, and propeller thrust. Airboats are very fast compared to comparably-sized motorboats: commercial airboats generally sail at speeds of around 35 miles per hour (30 kn) and modified airboats can go as fast as 135 miles per hour (117 kn)

Stopping and reversing direction are dependent upon high operator skill, since airboats, like most boats, do not have brakes. They are incapable of traveling in reverse, unless equipped with a reversible propeller. Some designs use a clam shell reversing device intended for braking or backing up very short distances but these systems are not commonly used.

The operator and passengers, are typically seated in elevated seats that allow visibility over swamp vegetation. High visibility lets the operator and passengers see floating objects, stumps and other submerged obstacles, and animals in the boat’s path.

Glenn Curtiss is credited with building an early type of airboat in 1920 to help facilitate his hobby of bow and arrow hunting in the Florida backwoods. The millionaire, who later went on to develop the cities of Hialeah and Miami, combined his talents in the fields of aviation and design to facilitate his hobby, and the end result was Scooter, a 6-passenger, closed-cabin, propeller-driven boat powered by an aircraft engine that allowed it to slip through wetlands at 50 miles per hour (43 kn).

Airboats began to become popular in the United States in the 1930s, when they were independently invented and used by a number of Floridians, most living in or around the Everglades. Some Floridians who invented their own airboats include frog hunter Johnny Lamb, who built a 75-horsepower airboat in 1933 he called the “whooshmobile” and Chokoloskee Gladesmen Ernest and Willard Yates, who built an airboat in 1935 they steered via reins attached to a crude wooden rudder. Yates holds the ignominious honor of being the first person to die in an airboating accident, when the engine dislodged and sent the spinning propeller into him.

An improved airboat was invented in Utah in 1943 by Cecil Williams, Leo Young, and G. Hortin Jensen. Their airboat, developed and used near Brigham City, Utah, is sometimes erroneously called the first airboat. At the Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge in northern Utah, Cecil S. Williams and G. Hortin Jensen sought a solution to the problem of conducting avian botulism studies in the shallow, marshy hinterlands. By installing a 40-horsepower Continental aircraft engine, purchased for $99.50, on a flat-bottomed 12-foot long aluminum boat, they built one of the first modern airboats. Their airboat had no seat, so the skipper was forced to kneel in the boat. They dubbed it the Alligator I as a response to a joking comment from US Fish and Wildlife Service headquarters that they should “get an alligator from Louisiana, saddle up and ride the critter during their botulism studies.” Their airboat was the first to use an air rudder (a rudder directing the propeller exhaust rather than the water), a major improvement in modern airboat design.

The purpose of Williams, Young, and Jensen’s airboat was to help preserve and protect bird populations and animal life at the world’s largest migratory game bird refuge. The Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge near Brigham City, Utah is a wetlands oasis amid the Great Basin Desert and an essential stopping point for birds migrating across North America. The need for a practical way to navigate a challenging environment of wetlands, shallow water, and thick mud helped inspire Williams, Young, and Jensen to create the flat-bottom airboat, which they initially called an “air thrust boat.” Designs and subsequent improvements and practical use of the air thrust boats appears to have been a collaborative effort. LeeRue Allen, who worked at the Refuge since 1936 appears to have also been involved and helped to document a history of the events.

Many of the early airboats built at the refuge in Utah were shipped to Florida. Early records show it cost roughly $1,600 to build a boat, including the engine.

Over the years, the standard design evolved through trial-and-error: an open, flat bottom boat with an engine mounted on the back, the driver sitting in an elevated position, and a cage to protect the propeller from objects flying into them.

from Wikipedia

Everglades City Airboat Tours offer the quietest, nicest, safest, and the most knowledgeable tours of the Florida Everglades. Click here to see what makes us the best airboat tours.

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