Itinerary took all day and more than 1/3 of it was spent driving. Managed to minimally encounter about 3-4 alligators. Tour around the Everglades was okay. Airboat experience was fine, driver was good. Part that didn’t appeal to me much was driving thru tall blades of grass (causing all the bugs/mosquitoes to swarm over all of us) and stopping over it. Yeah that was no fun. I highly recommend that you wear long sleeves, hat/visor, and looser pants of some sort. Mosquitoes can still bit thru leggings/skin tight clothing.
The lunch spot/menu was good. It was good they offered to take our order in advance to avoid waiting. Blackened fish sandwich was yummy.
Part of the tour I least enjoyed was the walk thru the forest. It was hot and we just became an open buffet for mosquitoes. Long sleeves/pants highly recommended + spray bug spray even over your clothes to deter bugs from even coming close to you.
We closed off the tour with a boat ride to spot dolphins and manatees. Didn’t see any manatees but spotted the fin of a dolphin. The boat ride/driver itself was good, smooth, and the highlight of that leg. Boat Guide knew that part of the Everglades like the back of his hand and knew practically where all the sandbars were and avoided getting trapped.
Our primary tour guide was very knowledgeable about the Everglades, the different animals that inhabited the area. Pointed out so many different animals (many of which he did while he was driving at least 40-50 mph). By the time we tried to spot the animal - we passed it already so didn’t spot many of the ones he pointed out. He had alot of humor so it kept the chit chat more lighthearted during the drives.