Spirit of the swamp tour

s l rowe · 9 Apr 10, 01:20 AM

Hi All,
We are out here at the moment and yesterday we went on an airboat tour, booked with Spirit of the Swamp. I just wanted to tell you all that it was brilliant and if you were looking to book a tour I can highly recommend this company. Its a 1 man band and the boat takes 6 passengers at a time but the 'captain' was great, really informative and chatty. We saw at least 7 gators and he really knew his stuff and knew where to find them. There are other companies that use the same lake are much bigger and therefore take more people, to me this makes it a lot less personal and sadly they are not as 'eco friendly'.
If you book a tour I would say go with this company, they were great. Even when we were half an hour late it was not a problem and we still got our full hour, which was great.
Having a lovely time out here, speak soon!
Sarah x

buffalo · 9 Apr 10, 07:29 AM

Thanks for the recommendation as we are looking to go on a airboat ride this year. Despite this being our 10th visit we have never done one

PPM · 9 Apr 10, 07:36 AM

I totally agree with OP. We had a trip with them last Oct and Captain Harold and his wife gave an excellent morning experience. Having the boat for yourselves and having headphones and voice activated Mics made the experience really personal, as you could all talk with each other and the Capt over the noise of the big V8 engine.
Harolds knowledge of the area is fantastic, and he shows you all sorts of wildlife not just Gators. Also with the boat being smaller that the competitors, he takes you up small channels and cuts that others couldn't do.

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It is a "must do" for our next trip in June.

buffalo · 9 Apr 10, 07:38 AM

Can I ask you both which package did you book?

PPM · 9 Apr 10, 07:46 AM

Booked the 1 hr trip last year. Had about 1hr 20min duration.

This June, I've booked for 2 hrs as it was so enjoyable.

I'd say if you book, take their advice and choose an early start. It's cooler and their are more Gators about

Debi (Harold's wife) will keep you right if you call her.

mrsj · 9 Apr 10, 08:47 AM

Hi

Thanks for this. I've booked a trip on Spirit of the Swamp for our holiday and got excellent service via email and phone when arranging it. Thanks for confirming what I hoped for on the actual trip.

Enjoy the rest of your holiday.

bevc · 9 Apr 10, 08:47 AM

I am SOOO glad you posted Sarah because I spent hours looking for the right airboat tour a few weeks ago and eventually booked Spirit of the Swamp for August. This year we are taking people with us who have never done an airboat tour before so I wanted it to be special. Your post makes me think that I definitely made the right choice!

Bev

buffalo · 9 Apr 10, 10:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PPM

Booked the 1 hr trip last year. Had about 1hr 20min duration.

This June, I've booked for 2 hrs as it was so enjoyable.

I'd say if you book, take their advice and choose an early start. It's cooler and their are more Gators about

Debi (Harold's wife) will keep you right if you call her.

Thanks very much. We are thinking of doing it on our first morning as we are all up so early and we can take it easy for the rest of the day.

s l rowe · 10 Apr 10, 03:01 AM

Hi,
We did the 1 hour trip too and as I said we were half an hour late getting there so expected our trip to be cut short but they didn't at all and certainly did not rush us either. We did our trip at midday and still were able to see a lot. The other 'dibber' was right in saying that as they have a smaller boat they are able to manouver it around more and the captain really knows his stuff and so is able to go in search of the alligators, he will also tell you and show you a lot about the other wildlife and fauna. He was able to spot a bald eagle in the trees to which was great to see and he stopped and took a photo of us all as well. Although I was concerned when he took a step back to get us all in the shot!!!!! He is obviously too experienced to fall in!!!!
Sarah x

PS, We booked a 1 hour trip thinking that would be enough for the kids (ranging from 6 to 12) but all 4 of them were enthralled and would have stayed on the boat for a longer trip.

So well worth it.
xx

Ramsay · 10 Apr 10, 03:34 AM

This looks excellent ..Think i will give it a go

Disney junky · 11 Apr 10, 09:47 PM

Another huge vote for Spirit of the Swamp. We did our trip in March 2009. (3 adults and 2 kids)

We saw lots of gators, eagles etc and even cows which pleased my 7 year old!

We did the 2 hour tour but we were out at least 2 and half hours. They provide drinks, crisps and biscuits and the whole experience, from booking to finishing the tour was fantastic. They even let our kids sit in the driving seat for a photo.

Would difinately do it again.

susieb · 12 Apr 10, 01:03 PM

another MASSIVE vote for Spirit of the Swamp, we got back Friday and the trip with these guys was, apart from Discovery Cove, the best day of the whole 14 days. Capt harold is brilliant, our kids loved him, he was really clever, knowledgable, and having done Boggy Creek last year, there is no comparison! The big boats are just too big to see anything properly.

We saw a LOT more on SOTW and got a more personal service, loved, loved, loved it.

Definately go with them guys!! My kids are still saying "cool deal!" which was Capt Harolds catchphrase!!

getreadyalso · 13 Apr 10, 08:51 AM

I sent them an email via their website 3 days ago - still no reply. Is anyone else waiting for a reply from them?

Chris106 · 13 Apr 10, 10:04 AM

I filled in the form yesterday evening and got a reply a few hours later.

spendleb · 16 Apr 10, 01:59 PM

Got a reply within a day even though not going until next May, they seem very friendly so will give them a go this next trip (Boggy Creek has been disappointing last 2 trips), heard there are no toilets though which might be a problem with my 4 year old who doesn't stop going from morning until night !!!