Explore the Everglades during a scenic airboat ride that includes the chance to see local wildlife like alligators. Take off down the canal and enjoy opportunities to photograph wildlife in their natural habitat including soft-shelled turtles, birds, and both large and small alligators. Learn how these reptiles live in the swamps and the recovery they've made from the endangered species list.

Explore the Everglades by airboat adventure
See alligators up close in the Everglades
Learn about alligators from your guide
Keep your eyes peeled for other wildlife

What's Included

Air-conditioned vehicle
Airboat Ride
Bus Transfer to Everglades National Park
Bayside Marketplace Departure: 9:00AM and 2:30 PM ONLY (401 Biscayne Blvd. Miami Fl 33132)
Miami Beach Departure: - Soundscape Park: 8:30AM and 2:00 PM Only (1680 Washington Ave, Miami Beach)

Meeting and Pickup

Meeting points

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End point

This activity ends back at the meeting point.

What To Expect

Everglades

4 hours • Admission Ticket Free

Additional Info

Confirmation will be received at time of booking
Wheelchair accessible
Stroller accessible
Near public transportation
Infants must sit on laps

Most travelers can participate
Please arrive 15 minutes in advance of your chosen departure time.
The journey to the Everglades Holiday Park takes between 45-60 minutes. Total tour duration is approximately 4 hours.
Please inform us in advance if you have accessibility requirements (e.g. if you are a wheelchair user) so we are able to make arrangements to accommodate you comfortably.
This tour/activity will have a maximum of 400 travelers

Cancellation Policy

You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.

For a full refund, you must cancel at least 24 hours before the experience’s start time.
If you cancel less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time, the amount you paid will not be refunded.

Any changes made less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time will not be accepted.
Cut-off times are based on the experience’s local time.

Frequently Asked Questions

The answers provided below are based on answers previously given by the tour provider to customers’ questions.

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Q:How far away is the Everglades from Miami?

A:The Everglades Natural Park is approximately 50 mins. drive away from Miami in each direction.

Mar 2021

Q:Will I have the opportunity to take photos with an alligator during the Big Bus Everglades Experience?

A:Yes! At the end of your tour, you will have the opportunity to hold and have your picture taken with a real baby alligator.

Mar 2021

Q:Will I have any free time in the Everglades during the Big Bus Everglades Experience?

A:Yes - You will have some free time to eat, explore the souvenir shop, or relax by the water before boarding the bus back to Miami.

Mar 2021

Q:Where does the Big Bus Everglades Experience depart from?

A:The Everglades Experience tour departs at 1:00 pm from Miami Beach (Soundscape Park, Washington Ave & 17th St), or at 1:30 pm from Downtown Miami (Bayside Marketplace). Please arrive 15 minutes in advance of your chosen departure time.

Mar 2021

Traveler Photos

Featured review

neil_h

Marcela the guide was fantastic knowledgable and fun and the food and drink spots were well chosen and authentic

Reviews

4.5

585 reviews

Total review count and overall rating based on Viator and Tripadvisor reviews

Reviews by Viator travelers.

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Showing 1-10 of 585 reviews

Not the best experience

Melodie_M, Apr 2024

I visited the Everglades years ago. It was wild and great. this had man-made canals, telephone poles, and looked like drugged alligators. It took all day for a wet half-hour ride.

Awesome

Wendy_G, Apr 2024

Captain Jo was phenomenal! She made the trip very entertaining. We saw 4 alligators & agreat blue heron!

Disappointed

Catherine_B, Apr 2024

I am responding to your request for an evaluation of our February 26 Everglades tour. We enjoyed the Everglades tour but were not satisfied with the pre-tour information and pick up details. The paperwork said the Start Time was 9 am. Even though the paperwork encourages us to get there early, it said 15 minutes early. When the Uber didn’t show, we didn’t worry because we thought we had another ½ hour. Viator’s confirmation was confusing with the various times shown. We were not sure which pickup point was for our reservation. Although it showed Washington Ave, the 9 am start time matched Bayside Marketplace. We were late for the Washington Ave pickup – which was hard to find even for our Miami taxi driver. We asked a man on the sidewalk if he could help and were fortunate to find he was the “tour operator” but unfortunate because he said the bus left 15 minutes prior to our getting there. There were 2 other couples with the same issue, so we took an Uber to Bayside Marketplace. We missed every Everglades tour offered in the morning but were able to exchange our tickets for the 2:30 departure. We had a 4.5 hour wait! The bus had a ‘wrap’ on the outside back half of the bus which made looking out the windows fuzzy – similar to looking through a microwave door. How disappointing to not be able to see the scenery on the drive to the Everglades! This experience was a poor introduction to Viator. I will not recommend Viator.

average tour, the driver is not engaging

Julius_A, Apr 2024

It was an average experience. The driver is not engaging. he keeps on emphasizing on tip ($$$) if we have fun experience but he did not really do a good job. The airboat was boring... it did not really go so far. not so informative

Be carefull: bus can be overbooked

Tatiana_A, Mar 2024

The bus driver refused to take us from Miami Beach stating that the bus was full. We where at the pick up point 15 minutes prior to departure. Neither the viator helpline nor the bus operator were able to resolve the situation. Bus left without us. We scheduled our day around this trip. The whole thing was an unorganized mess.

Delicious and informative

neil_h, Mar 2024

Marcela the guide was fantastic knowledgable and fun and the food and drink spots were well chosen and authentic

No wild alligator other that the sedated ones from the "show*

Cami_E, Mar 2024

The bus transfer was the only 5-star part of the experience- our bus guide was super funny and energetic. The rest of the experience was a waste of money: -the gator show with the very obviously sedated gators -not in the Everglades national park at all -the area is basically a highway of very loud boats, way too many to see wildlife -boats at all one level with roofs so unless you're on one of the end spots don't expect to see much -we didn't see any alligator on the boat tour and it was very obvious from what they kept saying that most tours don't see any -at the very end of the tour our boat guide had the nerve to basically pretend to see a "baby alligator right over there on the rocks" which not one person on our tour saw, even later looking at photos and zooming in. Literally none of us believed that. She kept saying "don't feel bad if you didn't see it, it was tiny" but somehow supposedly didn't move through her attempts to maneuver the abnoxiously loud boat

Everglades

Bryan_B, Mar 2024

Our family enjoyed the air boat tour of the Everglades. The guide shared information about the Everglades and we were able to see alligators in the nature. The whole experience was great!

Never showed up to pick us up:(

Sarah_A, Feb 2024

Never showed up to pick our family up basically ruined an entire day of our vacation. Would not recommend this company. You can’t even contact them. The phone number is from out of the country and Vítor doesn’t do much to help but give you a refund on what you paid however, that doesn’t make up for the loss of the entire day planned that we had on our vacation Shame on Viator the companies they sell tickets for.

A complete disappointment

Andrew_S, Feb 2024

This trip was a total shambles.Told to be at the meet point 15mins before pickup time at 2pm.The bus finally arrived at 3.30pm!!!Took 2hours to get to the there for a 20min. boat ride and a 20 min show spent about 1 hour at park.This tour is a total rip off Viator should be ashamed of selling this trip.Ive used Viator for 10 years but never again after this shambolic trip.

Too commercial, not much "everglade park" experience.

Susan_S, Feb 2024

I would not recommend it as it was very commercial not at all what I expected from a trip to the "everglades". Also it was not well planned out. Waiting and then rushed equally. The air boat ride was fun but except for the scenery not much else to see. I would recommend a true Everglade Park experience rather than this.

Unresponsive

Alex_R, Feb 2024

Wasn’t able to attend this as was unwell on the day. Tried to contact the tour operator 3 times throughout the day about whether I could reschedule but nobody replied.

Horrible

Kristin_G, Jan 2024

Horrible! The bus was not marked at all. I messaged the tour operator at 8:15 asking what bus we were supposed to take. Never heard anything back. Waited until 9 and still no response. Missed the entire event. Maybe mark the bus!

Everglades Holiday Park, Good value for money if you like nature

Gergely_F, Jan 2024

It was a great experience. Taking up 2 hours of transfer and 3 hours of programmes and some waiting around. Overall was a great value for money. This is not the Everglades National Park though.

Wrong information

M_M, Jan 2024

Viator shows incorrect pick up times - ordered 2.00h Bayside tickets. Then the lady told me 2.00h is only south beach pick up and 2.30h Bayside was full. Total mess. Aldo only 1 crocodile was seen.

Misleading tour

Heinrich_H, Dec 2023

The tour seems unorganised and chaotic. The bus driver from Miami to the park spoke no English, so we were reliant on a fellow tourist to help guide us and tell us what to do. When you arrive at the park you stand around waiting uncertainly - we did for over 1.5 hours until you get on the airboat. The airboat is marketed as 1 hour but it was more like 45 mins. There are numerous other airboats on the river at the same time so it’s noisy and busy. The only thing that made up for this was the alligator show but that is not everyone’s cup of tea. All in all the tour was almost 6 hours long although it’s marketed as 4.

4 hours in a bus for a 1 hour tour

Bryan_K, Dec 2023

Holiday park was fine. The bus transfer was unorganized and uninformative. Overall took 6 hours 4 hours of which was sitting in a bus.

Everglades

Sameer_P, Dec 2023

It was terrible and our bus didn’t take us to the Everglades on time, we reached there around 5.15 instead of 3.30. Even the Everglades boat operator mentioned that it was the bus operator fault and due to that we were not able to even see the gators and that was the whole purpose. They even overbooked the bus and we had to wait for the second bus for more than 45 minutes. Overall absolutely horrible experience.

The bus never showed up...

Nikhil_M, Dec 2023

The bus never showed up in the scheduled stop and place. They refunded the tickets but it waisted my time more than the money.

Misleading location details caused us to miss the pickup

Ritesh_P, Dec 2023

Never book with Viator. Their app had incorrect information which caused us to miss the pick up and we had to spend extra to take own transport. No acknowledgement of the mistake and hassle caused. Worst booking. Better book with tour organizer directly.

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