Everglades Wild: Biologist-Led Cruise, Hike & Airboat Safari

Enoch introduced us to the Everglades, he shared a lot of great deal of information about the ecology, fauna and flora of the area, highly recommended activities that included a nature hike and two boat excursions including to the thousand islands.

My husband and I had a great time! Lindsey was an excellent guide. We really enjoyed learning about the ecology of the Everglades and the history of the region. The airboat ride, boat tour in the Thousand Islands region, short dry hike, and stop at a visitor center would be good adventures for anyone, including kids or older folks. It was a long day, but a good one.

The tour was great. Used local providers for the 2 boat rides and lunch. Ryan was great and very knowledgeable.

The Wild Lime Adventure tour of the Everglades and Big Cypress was a wonderful experience. It includes a hike, two boat rides (motorboat through the mangroves and airboat through sawgrass wetlands), lunch and several other short stops. We saw quite a bit of wildlife including numerous alligators, a crocodile, herons, osprey, ibis, egrets, storks and pelicans. Our guide Ryan was excellent and possessed considerable knowledge and a true passion for the area and its natural and human histories. He is also quite entertaining and made the day enjoyable. I came away with a deeper appreciation and knowledge of the area, ecosystem and the abundant wildlife that it supports. The only negative comment I have is with regards to the information provided by the pilot of our mangrove boat. He told our group that the mangrove trees were introduced by the Spanish and that the trees had a detrimental effect on the ecosystem because the leaves, which are periodically shed, acidify the water causing the underlying limestone to dissolve, decimating bird habitat. I'm not sure if he was simply misinformed or had some sort of agenda, but none of this is true. The reality - Mangroves are indigenous to southern Florida and are crucial to the health of the ecosystem. Great tour otherwise and we got to hold a baby alligator!

We were not sure what to expect on a full day tour. Ryan our tour guide was extremely engaging as well as knowledgeable in not only what we were seeing but the history of the area. Highly recommend!!!

If you’re on the fence about this excursion, just do it! This is the best way to experience the Everglades, imo. It is a perfect blend of adventure, relaxation, and learning. Our guide Lindsey was awesome! She is extremely accommodating and knowledgeable. She goes out of her way to keep everyone safe and will make sure you have fun. She’s a huge science nerd, and I mean that in the best way! She was extremely knowledgeable about everything we saw and her excitement about animals is contagious! The tour itself is very well paced. We never found ourselves waiting for anything nor did anything feel rushed. The dolphin viewing was our favorite part! This is the best way to see the real South Florida. You won’t regret it! Ask Lindsey!!

We had a great time in the airboat through the river of grasses in the Everglades seeing lots of gators and many birds. We then traveled to the 10000 islands near the Gulf of Mexico and saw porpoises and lots of birds. We also did a hike along a boardwalk back to a cypress grove. Lindsay, our biologist was great and very informative throughout the day. We also had a good lunch included.

My group had a great time on the 2 boat rides. We also did a small hike in Big Cypress Preserve. We saw many alligators, birds and even a dolphin. You do have to travel some in a van, but the guide tried to inform us about the history of the area during the ride. The lunch was also good.

Whether it was experiencing the park and the wildlife via a hike, bus, flat bottom boat or an airboat, we did just that experience the Everglades National Park from many vantage points. Our guide Enoch was super informative and passionate about his backyard park. Although the weather turned cool and windy on us, the fauna was still found and the flora's usage by natives was super informative. Many birds were added to my life list during the trip. We had to meet the tour near the park because our stay was outside the pickup area. The guide and tour van were late arriving by about a half hour at the starting point. However, there wasn't any communication from the tour company informing us of the delay nor of expected arrival. We had to make the call and find this information when a simple text or call from them would have sufficed. The lack of communication about the delay is the reason for the 4-star review.

This tour exceeded my expectations. Ryan was an excellent guide who was very knowledgeable about the area historically, nature, and geology wise. The day was filled with exiting wildlife (alligators, crocodiles, birds, dolphins, manatees), boat ride within the mangrove islands, airboat ride and a walk within the Cypress Preserve. Lunch was at a quaint cafe with fresh made sandwiches and salads. Try the homemade Key Lime pie.