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Honey Island Swamp Tour with Pickup from New Orleans

Honey Island Swamp Tour with Pickup from New Orleans

Overview

Venture into the interior of one of the wildest swamps in America on this guided, half-day tour of Honey Island, Louisiana near New Orleans. Join a professional wetland ecologist on a personalized, narrated tour. This protected nature reserve hosts an abundance of wildlife, from egrets and herons, to otters and alligators. The boats are covered to provide shade from the hot Louisiana sun, and cover when the skies open up. A New Orleans French Quarter hotel pickup and drop-off is included. Note: this tour only offers pick up and drop off from the French Quarter.

City: New Orleans

Wed 26 Feb

Other dates

You can choose the date already on the booking website

Starting at $58.00

Make a reservation

Wed 26 Feb

Starting at $58.00

Make a reservation

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What's Included

Professional local guide

Hotel pickup and drop-off

Round-trip shared transfer

Live commentary on board

Additional Info

Service animals allowed
Public transportation options are available nearby
Infants are required to sit on an adult’s lap
Suitable for all physical fitness levels
PLEASE PROVIDE THE HOTEL NAME AND ADDRESS IN THE “SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS.” RESERVATIONS WITHOUT HOTEL NAME AND ADDRESS CANNOT BE CONFIRMED
Operates in all weather conditions, please dress appropriately
No heaith restrictions, all can enjoy experence.
Hand sanitiser available to travellers and staff
Regularly sanitised high-traffic areas
Gear/equipment sanitised between use
Transportation vehicles regularly sanitised
Guides required to regularly wash hands
Regular temperature checks for staff
Paid stay-at-home policy for staff with symptoms
Face masks required for travellers in public areas
Face masks required for guides in public areas

What To Expect

Lake Pontchartrain

Your tour begins with pickup from your New Orleans French Quarter hotel, and includes a narrated scenic tour as you ride along Lake Pontchartrain and the countryside to the swamp.

Dr. Wagner's Honey Island Swamp Tours

Enjoy this Louisiana Swamp experience — a unique outdoor adventure that is safe, organized, fun, and educational. After a New Orleans French Quarter hotel pickup, travel to the starting location on the West Pearl River, in Slidell, Louisiana. Venture into the gift shop overlooking the Tupelo and Cypress swamp and check in for the tour. Be sure to take a look out of the back window to see if any backyard guests are lurking in the murky waters below. Don’t forget to use the restrooms before embarking on this 2-hour tour throughout nearly 70,000 acres of the Honey Island Swamp, a permanently protected wildlife preserve. While walking down the dock, embrace the excitement of seeing the moss hanging from the gnarled cypress trees and the sweet smell of wild azaleas in the air. There's an undeniable eagerness to explore. Listen intently to the captain’s tales of pirates, Bigfoot, and prehistoric creatures roaming the region while entering the primitive beauty of the Honey Island Swamp. Keep an eye out for alligators, herons, egrets, deer, feral hogs, nutria, raccoons, otters, turtles, and frogs — an abundance of wildlife along the banks and the in the murky waters. Or look up and out for bald eagles, owls, osprey, and other water fowl soaring through the skies. They could be visible one second and gone the next. Those touring Honey Island can easily see why Louisiana is known as the Fisherman’s Paradise. Passing through the Cajun village, where local fisherman reside, see them catching bluegill, redear sunfish, largemouth bass, and warmth. Thousands of pounds of crawfish are caught in these waters every season as well. All the tour boats are inspected and approved by the US Coast Guard. These small, custom-built, flat-bottom boats transport approximately 20-24 individuals each. They are operated by experienced local guides who interact with the guests and make the trip both enjoyable and exciting. With the journey back up the river, the captain leads the way to the original departure location. A New Orleans hotel drop-off closes the tour. Note: this tour only offers pick up and drop off from the French Quarter.

Cancellation Policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

Traveler Photos

Reviews (199)

cathy_c

Jun 2018

We had a great afternoon so ton of gators, birds, racoon and of course, the wild hogs. Can go wrong with this tour. Cathy

pjohns2002

May 2018

Pickup at hotel was great. Area was breathtaking. I only wish we could have gone deeper into the bayou. Great tour

Sarah S

Apr 2018

I purposely selected a smaller company for our swamp visit and was happy with the results. This is not a fancy outfit - they take reservations by phone and write your info down on a piece of paper. They do not email you a confirmation, so be prepared to write down or remember your pickup location and time. They take credit card info by phone to hold your reservation, but you have to pay in full in cash or check. (who travels with a checkbook?) We were picked up at the Hilton on Canal St in a 15 passenger van. The driver gave information about Hurricane Katrina damage and recovery on the drive out of town. Dry delivery, but interesting. When you arrive there's a little building with some shirts and snacks for sale, and indoor bathrooms. After you pay (in cash) they load you on a boat - 22 people max. TIP: sit on the starboard side if you can (righthand side as you face the bow). They go down one side of the river and back on the other, and the starboard side is closer to the bank so you can see more. Our guide did a pretty good job of turning the boat around if we were looking at a snake or gator so both sides got to see, but being starboard was definitely better. About half of the tour is along a river - wide and fast. Our guide did a nice job of calling out "Here we go!" everytime he sped up. It was windy at full speed, so TIP: a light jacket was helpful. You spend about an hour going slowly through a more swampy section, which was peaceful and really pretty. We saw alligators, a couple snakes, several types of birds, a raccoon, and two feral pigs. The guide tosses marshmallows to the animals, so if you're very "nature should be left untouched" in attitude this is not the tour for you. (Go to the boardwalk at the Jean Lafitte National Park instead.) In mid-April, it was still too cold for the larger alligators to be active, so the ones we saw were 3-7 feet. TIP: you have a better chance of seeing larger gators later in the day. Upon our return to dock, there was time to visit the bathroom before the van brought us back to town. Our driver was very nice about changing our drop off location to be at the opposite end of the French Quarter from where we were picked up.