Twister Airboat Rides — Local services in Cocoa

What a cool experience! I highly recommend it. Having always wanted to experience an airboat ride, I decided to try this one right off State Road 520 (a.k.a. West King Street) between State Road 528 and Interstate 95. It is on the south side of the road. There is a gravel parking lot for about 30 cars. The airboat company is located at the Lone Cabbage fish camp. There is a coupon that you print out a bring with you for $2/person off. No reservation is required for the larger airboats. The cost is about $30/per person for 30 minutes. You enter, pay, fill out a waiver, grab a pair of ear protectors and wait for the boat. I would recommend bringing a jacket as it can get a little chilly with the wind as you are moving across the water. If you wear a ballcap you will be told to turn it back due to the strong winds as you fly across the water. Our guide drove us farther up to the north of the St Johns River to get us some views of alligators. When we got to our destination he stopped the motor and let us drift so we could ask questions and get pictures The alligators have been very hard to find due to all the current boat activity at the time of our visit. The experience was a lot of fun. It is not like a normal boat in that it is moving across the top of the water so turns are very different and fun and there are a good amount of turns. There is plenty of animal life to see from birds to cattle to alligators. This was a great experience that I would recommend if you are in the area and want a...

Awesome airboat ride!!!! It is hard to find, not well marked. You purchase the airboat ride inside Lone Cabbage Restaurant and then wait to be called. We arrived late in the day, walked right up and were able to get the 4 of us on the next boat (2 adults, 2 kids ages 4 and 7). There were 3 other people on the boat with us. Captain Gil called us over and got us right on the boat (BTW, when you pay, the kids are handed life vests for safety). Upon boarding, we are given hearing protection.

Captain Gil was awesome! He gave us a great tour, explaining the landscape, the river habitats, the animals, etc. We saw many gators on the banks, cranes, egrets, and a bald eagle. The kids greatly enjoyed the ride. Captain Gil pulled the boat close (but not too close) to the gators on the banks for pictures and to let the kids see the gators up close.

The experience is a little pricey, I think we paid $82 for the 4 of us. But it was an experience that we can't get in Ohio and the kids LOVED it! I highly recommend this experience!

Afterwards, we ate dinner at the Lone Cabbage and it was delicious! We tried the fried...

OMGosh! I’ve always wanted to go for a ride on an airboat! As a relatively-recent Floridian, “seeing” an alligator doesn’t really “trip my trigger” - but it did our family (and 7-yo grandson’s) - so as we were together and visiting the Space Coast, our son found this gem of an airboat location - Twister Airboat Rides! 30 minutes was the perfect length of time - and our capitan was terrific in pointing out what we were seeing. Yes, we saw alligators! WHO knew they had hider-holes along the banks! But my most favorite part was seeing all sorts of cattle almost blocking the boat channel! WHO knew birds would sit on the backs of the black cattle??! And what could be more beautiful than the clear blue skies, the tall green grasses waving, the head-waters of the St. John’s River near Melbourne and Lake Okeechobee with black-backed cattle and the whitest of egrets! We slip-slides across the channel and it was as close to flying as could be! MANY thanks to our captain for introducing and showing us a part of Florida I’d never...