If you've never taken an airboat ride through the Everglades in Florida, this is your sign to add it to your list of things to do in this lifetime. This is such a unique landscape with a lot of rich history. A great place to experience this at is Corey Billie's Airboat Rides in Naples, Florida. Your tour will take place in their 200-acre Everglades Preserve, and you might see wildlife, including alligators, turtles, osprey, roseate spoonbills, eagles, egrets, blue heron, and more!
First, if you’re worried about the noise because these boats can be quite loud, they do provide you with ear protection to wear during your tour, so you do not need to bring your own.
Our airboat tour was approximately 40 minutes long, and we learned so much during our short time there. This was back in September of 2022, so I am going more off of notes I jotted down quickly and less from memory. Corey Billie’s airboats can reach up to 40 m.p.h. and can seat 10 people comfortably. Airboats are uniquely designed to navigate shallow waters that allow preservation of the environments they glide through. To protect and preserve, they have flat bottoms and an above-water operating system, which consists of an automotive engine that is enclosed in a metal cage.
The season runs from December through April, so we visited during what is considered the “off season,” which meant we didn’t see that many gators. September also falls during their rainy season, and it’s still quite hot for gators during that month, so they tend to stay under the water. Here, dry season is in the Winter. We were 3 1/2 miles from the Gulf of Mexico in an area with no tide flow. The water consists of 80% fresh water and 20% salt water.
A lot of the vegetation you will see is protected by state and city laws. Most being red mangroves with sacrificial leaves, meaning these leaves secrete all of the salt from the tree, which eventually causes the leaves to die and fall off but in turn keeps the mangroves alive. Red mangroves also have propagules that hang down from the leaves, eventually become too heavy, drop into the water, find a place to take root, and then reproduce. Red mangroves are vital to the ecosystem that is found in the Everglades mostly due to their above-ground prop roots that can help to reduce erosion since they can handle rising tides, as well as protect land from storms, high winds, floods, etc. The prop roots also filter water to their water-logged roots below the surface. Their water filtration system is also beneficial to the entire ecosystem. The Everglades are home to the largest mangrove forest in North America - super cool!
You will also find black and white mangroves; these are less common sightings in the Everglades because they sit at higher elevations than red mangroves, and these two species of mangroves do have different characteristics from red mangroves, including their root systems and leaf colors.
You will pass a replica Seminole Village during your tour that is modeled after Corey Billie’s childhood home - he was raised in Ochopee, Florida in a traditional Seminole camp for 18 years.
After your airboat ride, you will learn some more about gators! You’ll also have the opportunity to hold one if you’d like. A gator trainer at Corey Billie’s trains young gators until they are 4 feet long or 4 years old. If you are ever bitten by a gator, do NOT pour hydrogen peroxide on the bite. There are 300 different types of bacteria in a gator’s mouth, so you will need to go and get a tetanus shot to prevent gangrene from setting in. We also learned how to measure gators. If the space from the bump on their snout to their eyes is 6 inches, the gator is 6 feet long.
These are just a few fun facts I learned about the Everglades during our airboat tour! We had such a fun day out here, and it was awesome to see a different type of landscape and ecosystem than we are used to. Happy touring!
Corey Billie's Airboat Rides is located at 20610 Tamiami Trail East, Naples, FL 34114. They are open every day from 9 AM to 5 PM with the exception of Easter, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. You can call them at (239) 389-7433 to make a reservation, which is highly recommended during season (December through April). If you'll be with more than 10 people, reservations are required.
Cost: Ages 13+ -- $45/person; children 4-12 -- $30/person; children 3 and under ride for free; and you will receive discount of $5.00 with military ID. They do have group rates available as well, and you can find out more information about that on their website.
It's just so hard to get past the beauty of the clouds reflecting in the water while y'all were cruising. Also, if I ever get close enough to an alligator to measure its snout, I might be too close - LOL!