Everglades Mangrove Wilderness Boat Tour

This was an awesome adventure! Our guide Lyle was very knowledgeable about the wildlife and history of the area. We were able to see many species of birds and fish, the dolphins swam and interacted with us, and we even saw a baby crocodile! A great time for the whole family!

This is the 4th tour we have taken with Everglades Florida Adventures. While we loved the larger boat tour, this adventure ws really special. Our Captain Lyle was incredible, and knowledgeable about the area. The fact that the boat was smaller and we could go through the Mangroves and learn more about that ecosystem and habitat was really wonderful. we saw lots of different birds, Blue Heron, Ibis, Snowey Egrets, Pelicans, Osprey, Rosiette Spoonbill, and Tern. We had a pod of Dolphins follow us in our wake for a nice long ride. My Sister and Brother in Lae were here from Colorado and loved every second of it. Its amaxing to have som much land preserved as Everglades National Park. Will bring guests again on this tour of the 10,000 Islands. Highly Recomend doing this tour or any of their tours.

Great experience. Six seater boat offers an intimate environment to engage with Lyle. He was very knowledgeable and thoughtful in how he presents information. Great experience. Would recommend to anyone interested in touring 10,000 Islands

The best tour and guide. Informative and humorous. Would do again in a heartbeat!

Great experience. Our tour guide was very informative and looked for wildlife for us too see. He found dolphins and they swam alongside the boat. It was so much fun.

This was such a fantastic experience! We were only six people on the boat (plus the captain), so there were tons of opportunities to ask questions etc. The captain was extremely knowledgeable and made the tour super fun. We ended up seeing multiple dolphins that followed our boat for a while, jumping again and again, which was just incredible to see. Also lots of birds and just overall a beautiful landscape. It was a great afternoon on the water and I'll remember seeing the dolphins forever!

Very educational information about the mangroves. Toured through beautiful mangrove canals, up close and personal. Great guide who knew where he was going and what we should see!! Very knowledgeable and answered all questions with great knowledge of all we saw! Enjoyed a great dolphin show as the dolphins followed the boat and put in a show for us for an unusually long time. It was all amazing!!

Absolutely one of the best days spent after moving to the area. Captain Lyle was very knowledgeable and had interesting information and stories of the area. Amazing experience we will do again when family and friends come to visit us. Just a short drive from Marco Island. The dolphins swimming with the boat and jumping and playing was the highlight. The mangroves and other birds and wildlife were also spectacular to see. Private island stop and open waters. This trip had it all. Very highly recommend!! My husband has a bad back and was very comfortable on the ride.

Lyle and Nicole made sure to make this boat tour a wonderful experience. The route we took was carefully selected: we saw a misting bird of prey, in a bay, we went around and between some of the many islands, we drove through a mangrove tunnel, saw turtles, talked about the early indigenous people who settled in the Everglades and we observed dolphins, playing in the wake of our boat. We had a great time and plan to return to do another tour with Lyle again next year. The tour was 1 hr 45 min and exactly as described

Captain Lyle provided lots of local history and worked hard to seek out wildlife. Mangrove tunnels were cool.

Exceptional experience. Lyle was a wonderful, knowledgeable and experienced guide. We went with two small children and everyone enjoyed the tour a lot! It was very informative and our guide even made it fun for the little ones! We've seen dolphins, rays, many different birds. The mangroves are stunning. Everyone is welcoming and friendly. Very well organized tour and super clean, comfy boat (6 passengers max). We booked the tour in advance, no wait time at all. The ticket also allows you access to the observation tower. All in all we spend about 3h there. Cute little souvenir shop is worth checking out! Thank you so much

Our time with Captain Lyle was quite enjoyable! He is able to provide great information regarding various wildlife and other facts about the Everglades. The weather was beautiful and great time to visit the Everglades.

Captain Lyle was absolutely phenomenal! My 16 yr old son and I had such a great time. He was very friendly and informative, and we had an amazing experience. Although we have gone on an airboat tour before, we would definitely choose this boat tour over an airboat tour any day. We highly recommend this for anyone interested in an authentic Everglades experience!!

Lyle was the perfect guide, patient with our kids and very nice!

Captain Lyle was great. He did an amazing job of talking about the history, animals, and experiences of the Everglades. Made sure my kids were enjoying the tour.

The best wildlife tour we've ever had. Completely private, just for the four of us, with interesting explanations and lots of animals, dolphins, manatees, and many birds.

We absolutely loved our mangroves tour with Captain Lyle. Very comfortable boat that seats up to 6 so, since we had 5, we had our own unexpected private tour. Lyle was kind and patient with our young kids (6 and 5) and adapted the tour appropriately. Example: he showed the kids a cool tree crab but still had great education for the adults. I loved learning about the Calusa Native Americans and the native animals. Riding through a twisty, turny, vine-y, peaceful mangrove tunnel was my favorite part. Just SO SO beautiful and I’m very thankful for Lyle and all the other locals for sharing their part of the world with us.

Captain Lyle was an awesome boat captain! He was very knowledgeable on the history of the area, wildlife, explaining what we were seeing and was really entertaining too! We also had a very special treat on our tour when we saw dolphins, manatees, different birds and more. Highly recommend! ❤️🙌🏼☀️🌟

We unintentionally had a private tour with Captain Lyle. We really enjoyed our outing so much. Lyle was super knowledgeable, professional and friendly. He is a hard working man who really wanted to give us a great experience.

Fun and informative boat ride through the mangroves. Captain Kyle pointed out various wildlife along the way that we otherwise would have missed. He also informed us of the history of the area and shared interesting facts about the wildlife we encountered. The boat ride itself was a treat. The dolphins made it extra special!

Exceptional Trip & thank you Captain Lyle for pointing to the various Bird species. I was so exited and emotionally touched to have Dolphins close to the boat , playing with the waves. I had decided for the 10000 Islands Tour which is a combination of Mangrove exploration and boating towards the open sea. Loved it !

The Mangrove Wilderness Boat Tour with Capt. Lyle was the highlight of our quick trip to Everglades City and 10,000 Islands. From the mangrove tunnel to a 2000 year old Caloosa Indian midden, we experienced a well narrated tour and a glimpse of a mama and baby dolphin popping up to taking a peak at us!

Great ride, interesting sights and dolphins!! Really nice trip.

We had an absolutely beautiful mangrove tour and can highly recommend it! The scenery was simply breathtaking – seeing the mangroves from the boat was a very special experience. During the tour we learned a lot and received many interesting insights about the nature and ecosystem of the area. One absolute highlight was spotting dolphins along the way. That was truly an unforgettable moment!

Highly recommend this serene experience of the Everglades Mangrove waterways. Our guide was friendly, very knowledgeable and knew his way through these cavelike passages. The lookout tower is quite a climb, but well worth it. This would be a great experience for families with young children. We’re very happy we could check this off our bucket list!!

Excellent time from start to finish. Loved it

Captain Lloyd was great! Very knowledgeable and informative, great captain. Boat tour of the 10,000 islands and mangroves. Lots of dolphins!

Captain Lyle was awesome. Very knowledgeable about the local waters, wildlife, and area. Wonderful time through the mangrove tunnel, saw dolphins, birds and beautiful views!

There were four of us who had a boat all to ourselves with Captain Lyle. He was so friendly and informative, always stopped to point out different species of birds, and was very informative about the history and ecosystem of the islands and mangroves. He even coaxed a small group of dolphins to follow along in the wake of our boat, which was the highlight of our trip. It was a perfect morning and so much fun!

What a great day. At one point we had a dolphin swimming in our wake. We saw a flock of white pelicans, osprey nests and drifted under mangroves.

Lovely boat ride across water and through mangroves. Lyle was full of information which he gladly shared with us. Dolphins swam alongside our boat and it was so much fun to watch them enjoying their time with us.

Fantastic small tour - max 6 ppl. Captain Lyle was very knowledgeable - a true local. We saw several species of birds, learned about the mangroves, native American history and even enjoyed dolphins playing in the wake.

Our guide knew the groves well and could spot changes in water, etc to help us see sea life. He was friendly and personable as well. He had good knowledge of the wildlife and taught us a lot. The tour lasted the full 2 hours.

We had a great trip. Nicole and Captain Lyle contacted us multiple times to keep us informed of the expected conditions for when we were scheduled. We actually changed our date/time on their recommendation to have a better experience. The highlight of the trip was a juvenile dolphin that had fun jumping in the wakes behind our boat. We also saw lots of birds including a large Heron nest and we learned a lot about Chokoskees- the Native American settlers of the region.

Our tour guide captain Lyle was amazing. Knowledgeable professional and friendly. Comfortable boat. Great experience to learn and experience the Everglades

Our mangrove and 10,000 island tour with Lyle was fabulous. Lyle knows the area like the back of his hand -- grew up right there and his family has been there for generations. He was incredibly knowledgeable, fun and interesting. It was fabulous to get out to see some of the islands in the 10,000 islands, but also motor through the mangroves. It's a small 6-seat boat and the seats are comfortable and everyone has a good view. We were in excellent hands with Lyle and I'd highly recommend this tour.

This boat tour was not only exciting, but it was also very peaceful and serene. Captain Lyle explained the 3 types of mangrove species and pointed out and explained the behavior of many of the wildlife and bird species. A mother dolphin and her calf followed us for quite some time splashing around in the pressure wake. After the tour, we walked up to the Observation Tower and enjoyed the view. We found Captain Lyle to be extremely knowledgeable, excellent at storytelling, and he had a great personality!

We had a great time. The boat ride was fantastic even though it was a cool day. Loved the speed and turns. Riding through the mangroves was magical and seeing the white pelicans napping on the little island was worth every penny we spent!! Thanks so much for a super ride in the 10,000 islands!!

I like this tour. It’s a motorboat tour (different from many other airboat tours) with at most 6 persons. The tour is in 10 thousand islands (not quite in the NP). We saw many different birds. Tour guide is very nice to explain details of those birds. We also had a chance to see a dolphin and the dolphin followed our boat for a couple hundred feet - very special experience. Also, winding through the mangrove tunnels is quit special. It’s a great tour!

The dolphins played with us!! What a pleasant and beautiful surprise. We were a party of 6, of all ages. The whole excursion through the mangroves was so enjoyable. Learned so much too. Shout out to our terrific guide Lyle!

Fun trip with nice guide. The boat was quiet and the area is beautiful. We would recommend this for those who want to see the Mangroves and 10000 islands.

We really enjoyed the trip and highly recommend it, very knowledgeable captain, the scenery and the wildlife was amazing, will be happy to come back and do it again

They went above & beyond showing us as much as possible. We looked for manatees, looked for saw nose fish in their breeding area. We went to turtle island, went to a rookery & saw Indian shell mounds. Not to mention our experience with dolphins! Our guide was very knowledgable. 10/10 would reccomend!!

This trip exceeded our expectations. Lyle was knowledgeable and friendly. Watching the dolphins following the boat was a delight! I would definitely recommend.

I was originally torn between taking an airboat tour or the Everglades Mangrove Wilderness Boat Tour—and I'm so glad I chose the latter! Friends of ours did an airboat tour the day before and, while they enjoyed parts of it, they found it extremely noisy and noted that it didn’t actually go through Everglades National Park. By contrast, this Mangrove Wilderness tour was a peaceful and immersive journey into the actual park. Our guide was outstanding—knowledgeable, engaging, and full of fascinating stories about the region’s history and ecology. One of the most memorable parts of the tour was learning about how early inhabitants built up islands using generations of oyster and clam shells. Seeing those shell layers in person gave a real sense of the human history here. The tour culminated in a serene ride through a mangrove canal, where the guide explained how water flows from northern Florida down through the state, shaping Florida’s distinct ecosystems and feeding the Everglades. Along the way, we were lucky enough to spot dolphins, manatees, and a variety of nesting birds. If you want to truly experience the Everglades—quietly, respectfully, and educationally—this is the tour to take. Highly recommended!

A great way to see the Mangroves. Needed a break from the beach so decided to take an Everglades City excursion. It was last minute and affordable so took a chance. We were 2 of only 6 people. Love the smaller group, the stability and comfort of the boat made it ideal. Unlike the air boats that are loud and fast, this was a wuiet very peaceful ride in to the mangrove tunnel. Saw dolphins and manatees as well as many birds nesting their young. Very relaxing way to get on the water and see wildlife.

The experience was nice. A boat trip in the sea shore around the mangrove islands. We saw some dolphins that were following us surfing the waves made by the boat: it was incredible! Unfortunately, that day, no manatees, and it seems crocodiles are not on this part of the mangrove. We saw different birds (pelicans, herons, ...) and passed a narrow channel (tunnel of mangrove); it was very nice.

I chose this tour over an airboat because it was longer than most airboat tours and because it seemed more educational. We were afraid that it was going to be super hot on the tour because the temperature was so horribly high. The boat moves along at a good speed, though, giving you a nice breeze. Like other tours in this area, you spend a fair amount of time in open water as you travel between the islands. This wasn't exactly what we were expecting, but we saw dolphins in the open water! The boat pilot is trained to steer the boat to encourage the dolphins to follow. The dolphins like to use the boat's wake as a transit system to get them where they want to go faster. We saw several kinds of birds and a bird rookery. All during the tour you can see many mangrove roots along the banks. The part of the tour during which you go through the mangrove tunnel is a closer view of the mangroves. The pilot tells you about different types of mangrove trees. Although the mangrove tunnel is advertised as one of the highlights of the tour, it didn't seem all that exciting to me. I think I had incorrect expectations for the tour. I thought that in the Everglades we would be boating past numerous alligators and other wildlife. There wasn't an alligator in sight! As I mentioned, a lot of the tour was on open water. I was expecting a more dense, jungle-like experience. I did really enjoy the boat ride, though. The boat was usually in 2-3 feet of water, with the deepest water being 5-6 feet. We had no problems with bugs at all--we didn't even need bug spray! Once you got off the boat, it was back to the oppressive Florida heat. The pilot recommended a local restaurant for lunch, Camellia Street Grill. It's pricey, but the food was excellent. We had been wanting to eat at a restaurant where local fresh fish is served, and that's what we got at Camellia's.

Great experience and learned so much. Wonder seeing the dolphins swimming behind the boat. The mangroves were awesome and we enjoyed all the birds we saw. Our captain did a great job and taught us so much.