Everglades Day Safari — Local services in Davie

In short, a low-risk, yet somewhat rewarding trip into the everglades. I had a good time. Would I do it again? Probably not.

If you decide to book with this company, I would probably steer you toward the all-day (9-hour) version of the trip and NOT the shorter "4-hour" version. The 4 hour trip involves a barely 40-minute airboat ride, a 10-minute alligator show/exhibit, a 15 minute nature walk, and a brisk run through gift shop before loading back into the shuttle for the 75-minute trip back to Ft Lauderdale. We easily spent 70% of the day just riding in the shuttle, and that's without traffic or other delays.

The boat was cool, but not exactly thrilling. The basic trip is Great for small kids or people skiddish around boats and water. We saw exactly one alligator during the trip.

Despite it being sunny, humid and the middle of the day, the ride itself was very pleasant. Pack sunscreen and polarized sunglasses. Earplugs are provided, but you won't really need them - the motors don't go hard enough to generate the massive noise you'd expect from an airboat. You might want your own muffs for small children.

Now, the BEST part of the trip was our guide, Marc. He picked us up, gave us the nature tour, and drove us back. He has the gift for gab, and really knows his stuff. You can tell he loves his job and will entertain you with tons of information and jokes and short stories, sharing his love of the everglades with you on the trip out and back. He thrives on questions and conversation, so if you're fortunate enough to have him as your guide, be sure to engage with him. You'll have a better trip for it. I gave this review 2 extra stars just for him.

The gift shop does not carry any Everglades National Park merch, so you'll have to find it elsewhere if you hunt for that kind of thing.

You'll also want to bring CASH to spend in the restaurant and for tips. I made the mistake of not bringing any. It's pretty basic, but they stock bottled drinks, fried foods (including alligator) and other grilled items and ice cream. They take cards, but there's a minimum and a surcharge. You can also bring a backpack and load it with your own snacks and drinks to save money.

To have a perfect (exciting) trip out here, drive your own vehicle, arrive first thing in the morning, and do the long trip with a private guide. This probably goes for all the tour boat companies...

Our family of 8 decided to go on this tour. We had Zak as our guide and we had a fantastic time. I cannot recommend this enough and you must ask for Zak if you can, he really made the tour so much more amazing. At first, it does seem expensive but I promise you will not be disappointed with the experience. On the way to every destination, Zak will point out wildlife, will pull over to see something and educate you about that species and habitat, and has such a passion and enthusiasm for nature and wildlife it is contagious. After about a 45 min drive, we took an air boat tour in the everglades preserve. It was about an hour and was a blast. Our captain was personable and had a lot of details about the area and the wildlife. We saw gators, birds, lilies, and lots and lots of dragon flies and butterflies. After the air boat we got back into the van and headed to the nature walk through the cypress trees. Again, along the way Zak told us stories and pointed out lots of wildlife to us and really made it a fun and enjoyable ride. The nature walk was a raised pathway and was really nice. Most of us wore sandals and were perfectly fine. After the walk we drive out to the boat tour and had lunch along the way. The food was really good, you won't be disappointed. The boat tour was amazing as well. I know I am using that word a lot, but it really was. The boat held 6 people and there was shade under a cover for everyone. We twisted and turned through the islands of mangroves and saw dolphins! The captain made sure to take his time and follow the dolphins and even create a wake so they would jump up and follow us as well. We even stopped at a small island with a sand bar and got to go explore for a short time and we saw crabs, birds, and horseshoe crabs. If you are considering this tour I would highly highly recommend it, even with the price. It will take you to parts of Florida you probably have never been to or thought to go to, and they have the best operators around for...

This was just a great day. I don't know how else to put it. Our tour was toward the end of March. It was our family of four on the bus tour, air boat ride, nature hike, boat ride in the mangroves. Our tour guide, Marc, was awesome. The only way to describe him would be "Above and Beyond." He came off as just a sincerely nice/patient guy who definitely knows his stuff. We felt safe the whole trip. He picked us up at our hotel, took our temperatures, we all wore masks when needed. He safely drove us around making sure to be courteous to other drivers as he stopped or slowed down to point out the beautiful wildlife. He made sure our kids had life jackets for the boat rides as well. We have an 8-year-old son diagnosed with ADHD/ODD who is very inquisitive and easily comes off as annoying with all of his questions/talking. Marc was so very patient with him and took time to show him things and discuss things the whole trip. Our other son (6-year-old) forgot his sunglasses in the vehicle for one of the boat rides and Marc, without skipping a beat, asked us permission to let our son use the sunglasses off his own head. During the trip, we stopped off at a nice little restaurant in the Everglades (where we were able to eat some fried alligator) and Marc slipped away and told the staff it was our son's 6th birthday. He had them bring him a dessert and sing. He also had them bring dessert for our older son so that he would not feel left out. This was all on his own. Just an overall nice guy who obviously is passionate about his job/wildlife. He knew every plant, every animal, geology, history, etc. On the way back to our hotel, he gave us quiet time but my wife and I were both in agreement that we could listen to Marc talk all day. We drove down the Keys to Key West a couple days later and kept mentioning to each other how we wish Marc were with us showing us around. Above and beyond. You...