Everyone’s experience on an airboat is a little bit different, but many people say they find themselves thrilled and eager one minute, then humbled by the beauty of the Everglades, totally relaxed the next. Here are the factors that come into play...
Speed of the airboat. When you’re looking out onto the lake from the dock, the airboats look like they’re flying through the air, and when you’re on an airboat ride, it’s hard to believe it can even slow down without breaks! Airboats aren’t known to be speedy boats; even though some racing airboats can reach speeds up to 130 miles an hour, it’s not recommended to go over 40. Here at Wild Florida, we like to play it safe, so we stay under the required limits, but it still feels like a roller coaster ride! The thrill of the ride is so exhilarating.
An airboat lets you coast through the peaceful water channels. Although it may seem like you’ll never slow down while on your Florida airboat ride, it’s easy to forget about the movement of the boat and get lost in the peaceful, quiet waters. Airboats don’t have windows, so looking out into the swamp, you really get to experience it all – the natural music of the birds chirping, the sun shining down on you, and the wind blowing reminds you how still and serene nature is when it’s undisturbed.
An airboat lets you explore places a motorboat wouldn’t be able to take you. The best part about an airboat ride is discovering a side of nature you can’t experience on a motorboat. The swamp is different from a regular lake or the ocean due to its marshy, shallow waters and vegetation, and a motorboat doesn’t operate as well as an airboat does out on the swamp. An airboat is a flat-bottomed vessel boat powered by an aircraft-type propeller which sits on top of the water in order to avoid disturbing the animals or getting caught in the vegetation. This allows the boat to go through the tall, grassy areas of the swamp where the alligators like to hide. Sometimes when the boat is off, animals get pretty close, and because an airboat only has railings and no windows (like we mentioned earlier), our guests get a great view of the wildlife.
An airboat ride brings you right up to the wildlife. Meeting Fluffy in our Gator and Wildlife Park, or even taking a #slothie with George or Ana, is nothing compared to spotting an alligator out on the swamp. It’s so riveting to see alligators slowly moving through the waters or even interacting with one another. It’s almost like a game of hide and seek to see who can discover the most alligators on an airboat ride!
An airboat ride lets you enjoy the calmness of being outdoors, surrounded by nature. This is the relaxing part of an airboat ride that can almost put you to sleep. Staring out into Lake Cypress, it’s so easy to get lost in how simple and placid the outdoors are – it’s like you’re looking at a photo in an art gallery. This part of Florida is completely untouched by humans – no street lights, no city noises, and no large crowds, just nature at its finest. If you get the chance to experience an airboat ride at night, you’ll really find a new meaning to relaxation, too.
So whether you have the whole week off or just the day, an airboat ride lets you experience all the fun while still getting time to sit back and unwind.
