5 Popular Questions People Always Have About the Everglades

The main purpose of Airboat Tours Fort Lauderdale is to spread awareness and teach people about the Everglades and how important preservation of this unique habitat is.

Many people don’t know much about the Everglades because they are accessible only with special vehicles such as airboats. The most popular and comfortable way to discover the Everglades closely is on an airboat ride. Airboat Tours Fort Lauderdale can help you with that as we are the premier company in the private airboat tour industry with the best captains and state of the art boats.

Come and enjoy the Everglades personally and privately but before riding with us you should know about the 5 most frequently asked questions about the Everglades.

1- How Old Are the Everglades?

This Everglades have been around for approximately 5,000 years! The original Everglades used were big wilderness of wetlands containing sawgrass marshes, freshwater sloughs, mangrove swamps, pine rock-lands and hardwood hammocks. But due to civilization, agriculture and land development by humans they have been reduced in size. Native American tribes settled there in the last 2000 years.

2- How Big Are the Everglades?

The Everglades are a vast wetland encompassing 1.5 million acres of wetlands, swamp and forest from Orlando to the Keys. Everglades have a vast and diverse ecosystem.

You can’t see the entire Everglades in a single tour with us on an airboat but it makes every tour more exciting as you can see new things with every tour. The Everglades stretch about 240 miles long to 80 miles wide at the their wides point.

3- Will We See Any alligators?

Depending on the air temperature, heat, humidity and season will usually determine if you see more or less alligators. On a private airboat ride you will see real wild alligators. Alligators tend to be solitary creatures that may stay underwater up to two hours.

Hot sunny days will usually keep alligators more in the water making it more challenging to see them. During summer and fall early morning and late afternoon are best times to see alligators. During winter and spring which are the heights of the mating season alligators tend to be more active and can be seen in good numbers all day.

They are wild animals and so there are no guarantees to seeing them. However, it is quite rare that you will not see a few alligators on a private airboat tour.

4- What is the Difference Between A Private Everglades Airboat Tour and Shared Everglades Airboat Tours?

Private airboat rides are the safest and most enjoyable way for friends and family to enjoy the beauty of Everglades. On a private tour you will not deal with any strangers and attention is personal. Private airboat tour boats are smaller so they can travel down the narrow paths and without getting stuck.

The shared pubic tour may be cheaper but you have safety concerns especially exposure to more people in times of Covid19 as boats often carry 20 to 40 people. Large shared boats are slow, where they can go is very limited and most tours are 30 to 45 minutes down a canal. The shared boat rides follow the same path every time so, there is no need to go the second time.

Private airboat rides will take you deeper into the Everglades and the paths tend to change from time to time depending on depth of water. On private rides you get to see the real Everglades and not keep you on the man-made canals.

5- The Everglades Will Be Around Forever?

Conservation has come a long way in the last 20 years. There are many restoration projects and drainage and development has stopped for the most part. The Everglades have shrunk to almost half their original size.

Population growth, invasive species and loss of habitat are just some of the more severe problems. Since 1992 there has been a greater effort to keep the Everglades as they are. When you take a private airboat ride you are contributing to their preservation.