Down South Airboat tours — Local services in Everglades City

This was our first airboat ride and we will definitely be back! I emailed for a last minute booking, just a few days after Christmas 2021 and they were super responsive and accommodating!

Covid was surging again, so a private airboat tour just for my family was a top priority! I found this company on TripAdvisor and saw they got great reviews on both that platform and here on Google. I give this company and our tour guide Alex five stars. They were excellent and I highly recommend them!

The tour will depart from Tamiami Trail 40 mile bend primitive public boat ramp (at the red shack that has TILLYS written on it). We got there a few minutes early and met with a representative from the company who told us our guide would be there soon. There were 3 other families waiting with us. Each guide came in and off loaded a group and a new group would hop on. We noticed the head sets being used were not wiped down between each guest so I had some Clorox wipes that we used before we put on our headsets.

Since there were 3 of us, I sat up front by myself and my husband and son were in the second row. The headsets were a great touch. We were able to talk to one another and the guide was able to tell us all kinds of information throughout the tour. Without the headsets, we would have had to stop each time he wanted to tell us something.

We did stop to look at some things- alligators, an Indian island, and fish camps! I cannot believe I am a Floridian and have never been on an airboat before now. I now want to buy one it was so much fun! The hour and a half went by so quickly. I wish we had more time but the son was setting and it was getting cold. We had a lot of locals loading up their personal airboats at the docks to take out to their fish camps for the weekend. It was so neat to see the camaraderie among the air boaters too. They were all helping each other and seemed to know each other.

I would definitely recommend you give this company a try and it is totally worth the money! We will be coming back and booking another tour! Thank you Down South for a wonderful first...

I was staying in Everglades City on the western edge of the Everglades. I booked a morning tour with Deep South Airboats which is a 40 minute ride east on Hwy 41, the Tamiami Trail, so that I could see the difference between the the eastern, freshwater, part of the Everglades and the western saltwater area. It was worth the trip. It was an unusually chilly morning when we started at 10:00 and it turned out I wound up with a private tour. The chilly temperatures and higher than normal water level reduced the number of alligators we encountered I saw several as well as a variety of birds. My guide, Scott, is a local resident whose family has been in the area for generations. Scott was very knowledgeable and he provided great information about the history and different ecosystems different in parts of Everglades. I learned a lot of new information and a changed my understanding of what I thought I knew. The tour was well worth the trip and the ride back to Everglades City gave me a chance to take advantage of different attractions along the Tamiami trail on the way back to Everglades City. I highly recommend Deep South Airboats Tours, whether you start from te Eastern side or western side of...

My husband and I went with my parents on the Down South Airboat Tour for my birthday! Not knowing what to expect, we were a tiny bit skeptical at first from the directions, and lack of knowledge that we had of the area. However - just as described, we met our tour guide right on schedule at the assigned location. Donny was our tour guide and could not have been more exceptional! We had a BLAST. We passed a few other airboat tour companies on the way, and they looked very “touristy”. Aka - jam packed with people, not private, and definitely not a unique experience. We had a private boat with the 5 of us (including Donny!), and must have seen 50+ gators (and TONS of other local wildlife). It was such a fun and memorable experience, Donny was so knowledgeable about the area, and such a genuine & personable guide, we couldn’t have had a better experience!! I would highly recommend to anyone looking to explore and experience the Everglades - look no further than Down South Tours (and...