bayou black airboat swamp tours

We wanted our boys (8 & 6) to experience the backcountry of the Louisiana bayou. We struggled, because we really didn't want a "tour" boat. We really scored when we found this place! It is a couple hours west of New Orleans and definitely worth it if you want to see the real thing! We weren't crammed on a boat with tons of other tourists. Our guide (Junior) was amazing. He has tons of knowledge and is great at spotting wildlife. We were surprised he was able to find an alligator sunning on a beautiful day in the winter! He will talk as much or as little as you prefer. We had a great time talking with him. There is nothing he doesn't know about the area. We were also very impressed with his boating skills and how he handled our boys. This is one of the best experiences we have ever had! I can't say enough great things!Like others have mentioned, the best way to reach him is text. We confirmed with him again as we were driving there. We never had an issue with communication. This operation is very authentic and does not accept credit cards. Just an FYI. ;)

Thanks Wayne, booked our air boat tour and guess who decided not to show up. What a waste of our time. Was told by the marina staff that he is always late and well, "who knows if he'll show". Well he didn't, no reply. Hit the road and went to White Castle where we were able to make connections with a highly motivated tour guide who was happy to take us out on the bayou.

This was a really exciting airboat ride with lots to see, including the serenity of the swamp. We saw at lease 10 alligators (unusual in November), with the largest about 10 ft long. We also saw a bald eagle. Wayne (junior) our tour guide, was funny and informative, and gave us 2 hours for the price of a 1.5 hour tour. I would suggest, however, that you reconfirm your reservation a day or two in advance, as telephone communication can be difficult to establish. But definitely worth the effort, would do again.

Great guide , he showed us a variety of swamp and marsh locations. We saw many animals and birds. He gave us a lot of history and current information on the area.

Got there for a tour at ten in the morning and we weren't disappointed we woke up early in our holidays. It was so good to navigate in the bayou and to feed some alligator on the way.

Reservations were easy - not email but text. Always answered immediately. Easy to contact by phone. Saw more wildlife than could be imagined. Air boat ride was awesome. Guide had wicked sense of humor. Major fun. Would do it again in a heartbeat.

We took the trip on a Saturday morning with Wayne as our driver. There were 13 of us on the boat. All but 2 were from south Louisiana but had never been on one of the many swamp tours we have down here. It was exquisite! Wayne was very knowledgeable about the environment, the animals and the history of the area. We went through some of the most beautiful Cyprus swamps and swamp prairies. Saw alligators and nutria and lots of beautiful herons, egrets, ducks and even eagles and roseate spoonbills. Wayne would slow down and even stop and let us see things like alligator and eagle nests. All in all it was far more than I expected and well worth the money! Thanks Wayne for a great ride!

The Bayou is such a diverse ecosystem. There is so much to see, and within the length of our tour, we came away feeling like we had seen it all. From the hundreds of bird species to the wildlife that teems from the black water, our tour guide (Wayne) made sure to fit it all in and made us feel like we were part of those sacred waters, part of the history and fullness of all that we were witness to. It was like we were dropped into another time, a time that history forgot and for a moment we were watching the creation and recreation of life itself.I would take that tour again in a heartbeat. Don't miss out.

Lots of wildlife that you could get a fleeting glimpse of if your were lucky. The tour guide just kept driving, people were pointing out wildlife and he would just drive on by. He stopped twice in what I guess is a predetermined location with nothing to see. Not much teaching about the environment. When questioned his answer was he didn't know. Would not recommend this tour. There is also no office staff, you have to email or leave a message to make a reservation. Way to much work for what you got in return.

Airboat tour was definitely the highlight of our week-long trip to New Orleans! For the 4 of us, it was better than Mardi Gras in the French Quarter and all the action surrounding the NBA All Star Game. Junior was our guide :) Quite the wealth of information about the area, history, preservation, ecology as well as industry. I'm sure we could have spent all week there and kept on learning new things. Junior offered up as much or as little information as we wanted, very personable and professional. It was well worth the trip out. Highly recommend this tour, especially if you want to see the real swamp and not one of those cookie-cutter tours that chums in the alligators with marshmallows for a photo-op. I would definitely do this tour again if ever in the New Orleans area!!

4 of us hired a car and had the best tour. I think this rates as 1 of my best tours ever taken. I felt like I was in a nature show. Junior has to be the best story teller, respects nature and he has a great sense of humor. Saw a lot of wildlife from huge swamp rats to alligators. Many different birds, my favorite was the big birds that dove in front of the boat because they got scared.I would recommend you to take more time to explore the surrounding area. Wish we thought of staying overnight as there is so much to see and do in this area but not enough time for us!! Thanks for everything Junior..

After much research on line I decide that his was where I wanted to tour the bayou. We drove to Gibson from NOLA and it took about 75 minutes and well were the ride. Wayne (senior) was our guide and he made the trip very informative and fun. He answered all of our questions and shared his background with us. It was very interesting considering we come from NJBecause there were just two of us the tour started when we arrived so we did not have to wait for any late comers. We did pay an up charge because the minimum is 3 people for the tour but it was well worth it. What the heck we are on vacation and spent more than that on hurricanes at Pat O'Briens!This is a must do for any NOLA trip. The flora changes with the season so it is worth visiting and revisiting Take the airboat ride over the others. You will get into the real bayou up close and personal. The others with bigger boats will give you a nice ride but you won't get into the real "back woods" of the bayou. Keep in mind this is a family run operation so no toll free number or website. If you want the insider's tour then this is the one to visit. Keep trying to call. They will call back. Remember this is a family business. They don't have an office staff!

I am from Wisconsin and I enjoyed the tour so much. We pulled right up next to the alligator nests and the gators hissed at us. We saw a lot of migrating ibus. We went all around the bayou. It was so cool seeing all of the alligators and different swamp creatures. Wane was a very nice person and lets kids go in the front of the boat. This is probably the best swamp tour you can get in the bayou.

This was the first thing we did when we arrived in Lousianna. Booked the trip through the web site. Jr. was a little late but the tour was well worth the wait. He is very knowlageable about the area and the swamp. We saw an alligator up close and close to her nest. He explained the ecosystem and the importance of the swamp and marshes to Louisianna and the rest of the world. This is the tour to take if you want a true experience of the Louisianna swamp. The tour lasted about two hours.

The airboat ride is a way to see things that you'd just couldn't see any other way. Weave in and out of trees standing in a foot and a half of murky, moss-covered water. Glide right over the top of floating pieces of land. At points it's like being in a hovercraft. "Junior" (the boat operator and guide) stops about 6-7 times along the way to point out facts aout local wildlife. We saw three small alligators, an alligator nest, a fish hawk, a huge eagle's nest, and some beaver-like animals whose name I can't remember. But the best part is the exploration of the strange landscape. Cost: we paid $140 (you have to pay in cash) for three adults and our 3-year-old daughter. The boat fits 10 people comfortably. You sit on two cushioned benches facing the front of the boat. There was another group of three along with us. You pay $2.00 to park at the marina. Just make sure you go into the marina store and pay the clerk $2.00 before you get on the boat, because they're sticklers about that. The people are rather hard to get a hold of to set up the tour. The phone number we used was 985-665-8571. It seems they get stood up a lot because they kept texting us to ask if we were still coming. So if you schedule a tour, you might want to set their mind at ease about that upfront. To find the place, type "Marina Drive, Gibson, LA" into your GPS. That will take you right there. It's just past Linda's Camping and RV, which you can see on Google Maps. There's a convenience store at the marina where you can pick up snacks/drinks and use the restroom before departing. One thing to bear in mind is that airboats are very loud. Junior will hand out noise-protection headphones to everyone before departing, and there's no way you won't want to wear them. Junior himself wears ear plugs. It struck me that if you're doing this alone or with one other person, the idea thing might be to bring along your own noise-canceling headphones, cue up some appropriate music on your phone or mp3 player, and listen to that while you're gliding along---because that's much better than the muted roar of the airboat. Use a headphone splitter and you and your companion can listen to the same music. If you're hungry when you hungry when you get done with the tour, all I can say is do NOT eat dinner at the nearby (8 miles east) Bayou Delight Restaurant. We went there hoping to get some authentic cajun cuisine. It's well attended (lots of old people who get up and dance), but the food is both expensive and utterly bland--just a typical country restaurant. It's like eating at Golden Corral or Cracker Barrel.