We were so glad we took this boat rather than one of the fast ones where you have to wear noise cancelling earphones. We got to see and feed alligators, and our tour guide was awesome.
A few years back, our three daughters went on a swamp tour while visiting New Orleans and recommended that we do the same. The tour they took went into a very rural, backwoods sort of swamp, passing a number of houses and stopping to talk with some of the locals. It was rather cool November weather when they went , so they only saw one or two small alligators and some raccoons, which they fed from the boat.
Our tour was much different. Our weather was also cool, so we didn't expect to see much wildlife. However, we did see about a dozen alligators, the largest maybe 6 ft. long. Beside that, we saw a couple of turtles. Of course, no one can blame a tour operator if the animals don't cooperate, so I'm not complaining about that just an observation. The boat captain was entertaining and informative, but the area we were brought to was really just a series of canals cut through the swamp with gas wells along the way. The same tour operator also did air boat tours in the same canals at the same time. If you've never seen or heard an air boat, I'll tell you they are very loud and kind of obnoxious, spewing thick smoke and churning up a lot of mud from the swamp bottom. Not exactly conducive to viewing wildlife...
Someone on the boat asked if we were going to see any swamp people not exactly politically correct, but I got the point and wondered the same thing. The captain just kind of made a joke and laughed it off, saying that nobody really lives in the swamps, which I know to be not true. The reality is that we were not touring a bayou, but rather a commercial swamp and canals. Although we liked the captain and the views were pretty, all in all, we were disappointed and felt the tour was misrepresented. I would not recommend a tour from this local tour operator. There are many other choices for swamp/bayou tours in N.O. Ask questions before choosing one. I wish I had.
Great tour! I was fortunate enough to see some alligators. Not many, but each of them is very memorable. I was scared of the alligators before the tour, but after that, I start loving them!! The volume of alligators that would appear really depends on whether they show up or not, but this is not a zoo!! Alternatively, please also enjoy the boat ride and the breeze of nature!