I see a lot of disappointed people on here, complaining that they didn't get to see gators. Before I start my review, let me say this as a native Floridian (who also used to have an alligator that hung out in his front yard).
You cannot expect wild alligators to be hanging out in the water for you to see. They're not tame; they're not trained. They prefer not to be seen. If you go on an airboat tour for the sole reason of seeing gators in the wild, you're likely to be disappointed. If all you want is to see gators, you'd be better off going to Circle B Ranch up in Central Florida; they're the place that has those monster gators you see being shared on Facebook. In the water, though....far more unlikely. They're nocturnal animals, and like to sleep during the day.
Okay, rant over. Time for the review.
We arrived around 11 am and bought our tickets. For 3 adults (one a 14 year old boy), we paid $101 and change for our tickets. We were told there would be about a 20 minute wait until they called our tour number, which was right on the money. They took our photo (which was included in the cost), and we gathered to chat with our airboat captain while we waited to board the airboat.
The airboat is covered AND has a windshield, so we were in the shade for the entire 60 minute ride.
Climbing in and out of the airboat was a little tricky for me. I am one of those "giraffe" people, and this boat was not built for people my height and taller. (I'm 6'5".) I had to bend way over to climb into the boat, and with my bad knee, it was a bit of a challenge to step over the short wall of the boat. The floor is not smooth; there are multiple "rails" running along it, so it was also challenging to walk. The bench seats are wooden planks with small metal backs; not the most comfortable seating for an hour, but not as bad as I had expected, either. My knees did just barely fit without pressing into the bench in front of me, so those of you who are taller than I am might want to angle yourselves.
Our captain (Casey or KC; not sure how she spells it) was awesome. Very knowledgeable about the local Everglades ecosystem. (It's called the "river of grass" for a reason!) She was funny, and cheerfully answered questions on the few times she descended from her seat and into the boat.
Most of the trip involved the boat moving at low speeds as the captain tried to find wildlife for us, but there were 3 "speed trials", as she called them, when she opened the throttle up and we flew across the water. I'd guess we were only going 40-50 mph, so if you're looking for a speedboat tour, go take the one in Miami. It felt plenty fast to me, and the kids in the boat, including the teenagers, had huge grins on their faces each time she announced, "And we're off in 3..2..1".
Each time she spotted something, she made sure to turn the boat around so both sides could see whatever it was, so don't worry about being stuck on one side. You will get to see.
We only spotted two smaller alligators, but that was still cool. As a native who used to mow the lawn while a 3 foot gator chilled out a few feet away, it's not quite as thrilling to me, but the others in the boat were ecstatic.
Captain did her best to find gators and other critters, and shared the history of the Everglades with us while she drove. I didn't know about the connections with Native American tribes, so that was interesting.
The gator "show" afterwards was pretty standard stuff, but the host, Chris, was hilarious and very informative. (Our son declared Chris's horrible jokes the best part of the day.) He did his very best to impress on us how powerful and dangerous alligators can be, while also showing that they're not the aggressive predators some people believe them to be.
After the show, there was a photo op with a baby gator, which was also free. So, for that admission, you get the 1 hour airboat tour (many in the area are only 20-30 minutes), the gator show, and TWO free souvenir photos. The pictures are great quality.
As others have said, both the captain and Chris mentioned how appreciative they would be for any tips. It wasn't a "constant" thing, though. They each mentioned it once.
Both the captain and the photo op people mentioned the local residents' pass to us, but we forgot to check into it. We only live 25 minutes or so away. Overall, it was a great experience, and I'm sure we'll go back.