Spirit of the Swamp Airboat Tours

Many people don’t realize how many of Florida’s beautiful and rare birds they’ll see on an airboat ride!  Michael and his family took an airboat ride with us, and here’s what he had to say: 

I’ve made an Excel spreadsheet of the birds I saw either from the boat, or on land near your boat launch. Considering the trip was in the heat of the day, and in the middle of summer, it isn’t a bad list for a trip that is NOT focused on birds.  

Here’s Michael’s list of birds:  Wild Turkey, Double-Crested Cormorant, Anhinga, Green Heron, Great Egret, Great Blue Heron, Snowy Egret, Cattle Egret, Tricolored Heron, Little Blue Heron, Wood Stork, Turkey Vulture, Black Vulture, Osprey, Bald Eagle, Crested Caracara, Limpkin, Purple Gallinule, Common Moorhen, American Coot, Sandhill Crane, Rock Pigeon, Mourning Dove, Belted Kingfisher, Florida Scrub-Jay, American Crow, Common Grackle, Osceola Turkey and Boat-tailed Grackle.

By the way, Linda, our son Brandt, and I all had a wonderful time.   We loved it and have no regrets at having chosen the 2-hour trip.   It seems that the short trips couldn’t possibly get one back into the more remote sections of the county as you were able to do with the longer trip.   Thanks again.  Michael Hay

I bet you think that you’ll pick the best airboat ride in the Orlando and Kissimmee area by asking at the Guest Services desk at your hotel, resort, or timeshare… right?  Or by stopping at a Tourist Information Booth?  Well not exactly…

Many times these representatives are receiving a kickback for referring you to the airboat ride company.  A lot of times the information booth or guest services desk is actually there to convince you to go to a timeshare presentation, but we bet you’ve already figured that out!   What you probably didn’t know is that the timeshare also buys attraction tickets (like airboat rides) at a wholesale rate and then marks them up and sells them to you at retail.  The representative is going to steer you to the attraction that pays the highest commission – every single time – they are NOT being paid to recommend the best!

We know of one Airboat Company that has a very poor location, the ride is not scenic in any way.  Obviously they’re not going to get high ratings from their passengers, so you know what they did to get business?  They raised their rates by $10, so they could in turn kickback $10 to the guest services representative and/or information booth.   So for a family of four, that means you’re paying $40 more than you should so that the guest services representative can pocket $40.

At Spirit of the Swamp, we don’t play those games.  We the top rated airboat company in Florida for one reason – because our passengers think so!!  Make sure to check us out on Trip Advisor, and I hope you’ve learned just a few insider secrets that will help you get an airboat ride of a lifetime!

We got a phone call from some passengers requesting a reservation for the first airboat ride of the day tomorrow morning… now that’s what we’re talking about!  If you’re making a reservation in advance, we’ll always recommend the best starting time – early in the morning – on the first airboat ride of the day.

Maybe they read our blog and know that we’ve often said that booking an early trip is the most optimum time to see wildlife, especially in the summertime.  It’s also cooler than later on, in the heat of the day, a much more pleasant tour experience.   Whether they read the blog or not, they’re in for a wonderful experience early tomorrow morning!

Here’s an email I received from another happy passenger:

This is the 7th time I’ve been to Florida and have done a few airboat rides. Found this one on trip advisor and gave them a call.

What a great trip. The hour tour we took shot by. Captain Harold is a top bloke, mixes up the wildlife with a bit of adventure and humour. My 2 teenage boys thought it was fantastic and would have gone again the next day given the chance.

The best thing though is that the boat is for 7 passengers max and he keeps you in your own group not mixing you up with strangers as some of the others do.

Next time we go we will see Captain Harold again and this time take a longer tour!

Thanks again,   Scott  Harris, UK