Gator Park Airboat Tours
Gator Park, a short distance from Miami, is a place for tourists and city-dwellers to walk around and experience the natural beauty and abundant wildlife of the Florida Everglades. This is home to more than 200,000 alligators, 28 different species of snakes, including the Blackpine, Brooks King snake, Florida King snake, and the Red Rat snake, as well as the American crocodile and numerous turtles. Gator Park, however, is not entirely a home for reptiles, as there are hundreds of wild birds here, many of which are on the endangered list such as snowy egrets, blue herons, white ibis, and roseate spoonbills. The trees surrounding the Park are filled with colorful peacocks, macaws, and other tropical birds.
Airboat tours through Gator Park are 45-minute entertaining and educational trips through part of the dense swamps of the Everglades. Similar in appearance to barges, these flat-bottomed airboats can seat up to 18 people, safely and well above the waterline. Propelled by airplane or automobile engines, these somewhat clumsy-looking craft move along through the path of huge alligators with clever names such as Sue, Bob, and Big Boy. Thousands of fish also thrive in these waters including large mouth bass, catfish, redfish, and snapper. As your driver and guide explains the remarkable ecology of the area, the airboat moves past a replica of a Seminole Indian fishing camp of palmetto and cypress huts, or chickees. Powerful enough to plow through the dense sawgrass, the airboat moves at incredible speed past places where land completely disappears, except for numerous, scattered hammocks and clumps of hardwood trees. These small islands are cohabited by various animals such as raccoons, wild boar, and whitetail deer, and an occasional rare Florida panther.
Gator Park is a fascinating attraction in the Miami area for photographers, nature lovers, biologists, and visitors of all ages.
Hours: Open 365 days a year, 9:00 a.m. – 6:30 p.m., last show at 5:00 p.m.
Tickets: Adults – $20.00, children – $10.00 (Includes park admission, the wildlife show, and a 45-minute airboat ride.)
Restaurant, Souvenir and Indian Crafts store on premises. Partially wheelchair accessible. Free parking.
Note: Insect repellent advisable.