Everglades Day Safari

Visit Everglades National Park & Big Cypress National Preserve

Experience two of South Florida’s most iconic wild places in one unforgettable day — combining airboats, wildlife drives, nature walks, a small-boat mangrove cruise, cultural history, and great food.

What’s Included:

• Round-trip transportation from the greater Fort Lauderdale area to the Everglades in an air-conditioned custom tour van.
• A well-educated, highly-trained naturalist guide.
• A spectacular airboat ride through sawgrass prairies and pond apple forests.
• A nature walk in Big Cypress National Preserve.
• A wildlife drive through the sawgrass savannas and cypress forests of Big Cypress National Preserve.
• A delicious riverside lunch in the heart of the Everglades.
• A visit to the Historic Smallwood’s Store Museum.
• A scenic boat cruise into the Ten Thousand Islands mangrove forest in Everglades National Park

Airboat Ride

Glide deep into the legendary “River of Grass” on an exhilarating airboat ride through vast sawgrass prairies and winding pond-apple sloughs. This iconic Everglades experience offers front-row views of Florida’s wild heart, where alligators bask along the water’s edge and the skies come alive with a dazzling array of birdlife — including the rare Wood Stork, Great Egrets, Great Blue Herons and many more.

Wildlife Drive

Journey deep into the heart of Big Cypress National Preserve on a narrated wildlife drive along the legendary Tamiami Trail. This 720,000-acre, primarily freshwater wilderness harbors an extraordinary diversity of life, from sunning alligators and ancient turtles to dozens of species of resident and migratory birds. As your guide interprets the landscape, you’ll travel through sweeping sawgrass prairies and shadowy cypress swamps in search of the seasonal wildlife that thrives in this rugged and ever-changing ecosystem.

Nature Walk

Our nature walk offers a relaxed exploration into the ancient cypress swamp forests of the Everglades, with possible stops at the Clyde Butcher Art Gallery and the Oasis Visitor Center area. These pristine freshwater wetlands are home to towering old-growth bald cypress that shelter owls, woodpeckers, bats, and raccoons high in their branches. Along the trail, orchids, bromeliads, ferns, and climbing vines form a lush subtropical tapestry found nowhere else in North America. Alligators and turtles nest nearby, while a wide variety of bird species forage and rest beneath the shade of the cypress canopy.Walking routes and distances vary based on current conditions and access.

Southern Lunch

Our midday meal is served in the tiny town of Everglades City, renowned for its amazing seafood. Enjoy the relaxed ambiance as well as a delicious lunch with the following choices and more:

• Fried chicken strip basket
• Fried mahi basket
• Grilled or fried chicken sandwich
• Charbroiled cheeseburger
• Mahi sandwich (blackened, broiled, or fried)
• Veggie wrap
• Cheese quesadilla
• Mixed green salad topped with choice of grilled chicken, grilled mahi.
• All meals include a non-alcoholic drink

Historic Smallwood’s Store Museum

Step back more than a century and experience life in America’s southernmost frontier at the Historic Smallwood’s Store Museum. Established in 1906 by Ted Smallwood, this remarkable wooden structure is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and has endured countless storms and hurricanes, standing as a true survivor of Old Florida history. Inside, you’ll explore the store just as it appeared when it closed as a trading post over 40 years ago — complete with original artifacts, photographs, and supplies that tell the story of the early settlers, fishermen, and Native peoples who shaped this remote corner of the Everglades. Admission is included for guests who wish to visit and explore this fascinating living time capsule.

Boat Cruise in Everglades National Park

Explore the Everglades aboard a small, 6-passenger Carolina Skiff designed to slip quietly through shallow mangrove waterways that larger boats can’t reach. This intimate boat cruise winds through the maze-like mangrove estuary of the legendary Ten Thousand Islands, deep inside Everglades National Park. As you glide through hidden back bays and winding channels, keep watch for playful dolphins, gentle manatees, and an impressive variety of shorebirds and wading birds. With fewer passengers and unobstructed views, this low-impact cruise offers a personal, immersive look at Florida’s wild southern frontier.