An epic 8-hour adventure in Everglades National Park! My mom, my sister, and I have a yearly tradition that every Thanksgiving we visit a new National Park. This year, we chose the Everglades. This was the optimal tour to take (and I believe one of the only ones there is like this!) where you can really delve deep (literally...) in the flora, fauna, and natural history of the park.
BUT...This tour is not for the faint of heart... please read below!
The tour consisted of:
+45 minutes of driving each way into the park
+A 45-minute "slog" through 3 ft+ of water to an Alligator Hole / Cyprus Dome. Be ready to get wet!
+A 2 hour strenuous kayak in the Flamingo Bay
+A 45 minute additional kayak in a fresh water lake
Here were trip highlights!
HIGHLIGHTS...
+You are given head-to-toe fishing/water gear to wear and at first you're like, wait WHY? And then you're like OMG! Because they actually take you on a hike in 3 ft + of water into a Cyprus Dome / Alligator Hole (yes, you heard right), and it's just like JURASSIC PARK! So much fun. This was the best part of the adventure by far. It felt like we had gone back in time. We even saw a huge alligator at the beginning of the hike who was living in a pipe in the side of the road.
+WE SAW LIVE MANATEES at Flamingo Bay marina!!!! This has been a life-long dream for our family and for the first time, we saw these adorable creatures frolicking and playing in the wild.
+The freshwater paddle at dusk with the stars and moon shining above!
SUGGESTIONS...
We had a lot of fun today with our jovial and very intelligent guide (Eric), but definitely have some ideas for how to make the tours even better!
+It would have been nice for our guide to gather all eight of us together BEFORE getting into the vehicle for a nice orientation to (1) ask if anyone had any medical conditions (my mom is a diabetic) and (2) to introduce ourselves to each other (!) and (3) to give us a run down of the timing and activities of the day. While we got information about what we would be doing in our initial trip booking, there wasn't a good rundown of how much TIME and how intense each activity was going to be. We were all slightly surprised at each part of the trip. Thankfully, we had an athletic and jovial group. But, for example, on hour 2 of our STRENUOUS kayak in the Flamingo Bay (that we honestly weren't mentally prepared for), we were all rather grumpy that it was taking so long... as we were kayaking against the current and we hadn't had lunch.
+The guides need to understand that with the AC blasting in the back of the van, they need to SPEAK UP :) so that the passengers in the back can hear them when they're talking about important information about the park on the car ride to the park.
+We would have liked more stories about the park mixed in with the natural history.
+It would have been nice to get an orientation about our gear / water / what we needed, etc.
+More warning about how high the water was going to be for the slog
+PLEASE HAVE GROUP EAT LUNCH BEFORE THE SALT WATER KAYAK. We needed the energy and when we didn't eat -- afterwards, we were all really depleted and with low blood sugar. In general, please re-evaluate the timing/schedule of the trip to be more realistic for all age groups.
+Guides need to be better about gathering group on the kayaks to communicate information - oftentimes, people would miss out on key facts and stories...
+It would be nice if you guys provided a nice lunch for the group. I honestly would have paid more, and would have appreciated this nice detail/customer service.
+I don't think that the fresh water paddle was necessary - all the taking down and packing up of the kayaks was exhausting?
+For the toast at the end of the trip, please include sparkling cider for non-alcohol drinkers (like our fam!)
FINAL THOUGHTS...
This is a great tour, but please train guides to do a better orientation for the group, set better expectations, and create a more realistic and less strenuous schedule that leaves your customers elated vs. exhausted.
Thank you!!
Kate
Réponse de l'hôte
Feb 2018
Wow that is a very complete review, thanks for taking the time! It's impossible to respond point by point but I appreciate the time you took to post, and I think others will as well. We have been doing the trip for a decade and a half and don't really hear issues with elated vs exhausted often. We do our best to describe the tour accurately and let people know that at least a moderate level of fitness is required. We don't provide lunches because of food allergies and people like to bring their own food. Most people let us know if they have a special need or medical condition. We are a laid back and friendly crew, very approachable, so any concerns can certainly be addressed with the guide. Whether we stop and sit to eat or eat on the go depends on the day and activities going on- everyone is welcome to eat whenever they like throughout the day. The freshwater kayak is one of the highlights of our trip, as said by many prior reviewers. Everyone has their favorite part! Some people would do cypress domes all day, some people love the mangrove tunnels and others can't get enough of the saltwater. That's why we offer so many activities. You get a full range of what the Everglades has to offer.