A-Awesome Airboat Ride

My sister and I were down at WDW for a convention and wanted to do a airboat ride nearby. After much detailed research, we chose A-Awesome Airboat Ride with Captn. Bruce. While Bruce may seem very business casual over the phone, he was right on time, directed us to the exact place to meet him for launching and we had a fantastic 90-minute jet boat ride I believe anyone could have. He has more than one boat and we were on his 4 seater which had 450 engine and could really fly out on the open water, yet calmly glide through the mud and narrow water ways into areas the bigger jet boats can't. Bruce has been on these waters for 17 years and counting and gave a great history on the plants, trees, marsh beef cows, birds, alligators (we saw lots, even a group of babies). When he found out we liked to shoot photos, He took us to great photo spots. He was truly a professional in all ways and definitely knew this huge St. John's river area well, along with its history. The price was right and it was only 1 hour from Walk Disney World (drive). more

Best Airboat Tour I've ever done. Capt Bruce got us so close to the gators, it was incredible. Saw more gators than I could count, 6 Bald Eagles, 3 Deer, 2 Hogs, a bunch of Turkeys and 100s of other exotic looking birds. He took us so far back into the swamp I wasn't sure if we would ever find our way out. I am definitely doing this again, once is not enough!!!!!!!!!! more

after reviewing the review before this i must say there must have been a serious miscommunication and this person must not have done the tour having done the tour today i must say myself and my family had an absolutly wonderful time capt gator bruce is a us coast guard certified captain and operates a real airboat unlike the competitors from ""across the street"" who use big monster boats that wont get back into the sticks like capt bruces boat will definatly worth your time and money and i highly recommend anyone that comes to the orlando area give it a try YOU WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED Absolutly Awesome more

This place is HORRIBLE! ""Captain Gator Bruce"" is a JOKE, he is extremely unfriendly and nothing but a ignorant redneck! I booked a airboat ride for my boyfriends parents and he instantly let me feel how inconvenient my translating was (WTF?) Then when attempting to give it another try with a friend of mine all over the sudden a group of 2 is to small for his boat which only seats 4, give me a BREAK! It's not hard to show Florida's true beauty, do yourself a favor and pull up across the street at the actual licensed Air Boat Tour Guide!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! SCREW YOU BRUCE! more

We had a wonderful time on our tour of the St. John's River with Capt Gator Bruce. Saw _so_ many alligators, but also turtles (some huge soft shells) and many, many birds including herons (two species), egrets, geese, moor hens and two bald eagles. The river does run through a number of ranches so you see cattle and horses but no barns or houses. We were on the river for well over an hour and agree that it was better than the amusement parks. If you are staying in the resort area (we were near Lake Buena Vista), do not take Interstate 4 to Highway 408 if you are going in the morning. The traffic going into downtown Orlando on 4 was _very_ heavy and it took us over an hour to get to Christmas - we almost missed our boat ride. It would be better to take the Beachline Expressway (528) which eventually intersects with 408. It is definitely worth the drive! It is pretty close to Kennedy Space Center, so you could combine those two if you go out on the boat early (I think the first time is 8:30 a.m. - you probably would also see more alligators out earlier in the day - our ride was at 10 a.m. and most were in the water, out of the heat). more

We tried to book with an airboat tour close to Kissimmee where we were staying but they were full for the day, so we looked online and found Captain Gator Bruce. Read some of the reviews and decided to drive the 45 minutes to go with him. Best decision we made on our whole trip. The drive there was nice and the airboat tour was phenomenol. He described his tour as the Florida Outback and he was exactly right. Saw hundreds of gators, bald eagles, cattle, and horses. The trip down through the Bald Cypress trees was worth it in itself. This isn't just an airboat ride on a lake. It is truly an adventure. more

We went after looking a few reviews, when we got to the small town of Christmas we pulled in to circle k and asked a few of the locals there and they said he was defiantly the best boat captain ride around. I must admit they were right we must have saw close to 1000 gators and several other types of animals. The views are absolutely amazing, you will not see any homes or signs of Civilization any ware on the ride once you leave. It was truly gorgeous. My wife could not believe how great it was, we thought it was the best thing we did while in Florida, much better than the amusement parks. Pros: Truely and amazing ride Cons: Little hard to find more

During our visit to Florida we took our 5 year old grandson on an airboat ride with Gator Bruce - I don't know who had a better time him or us. The ride itself is AWESOME - being that upclose to the wildlife is truely amazing - but Gator Bruce is so knowledgeable about the area and the wildlife it truely is an adventure you'll never forget. We tell everyone that will listen about our experience - we think that everyone should advantage of this opportunity if you are in the area!!! Pros: inexpensive, exciting, educational, fun, life changing more

Captain Gator is the best! I schedule an airboat ride with him each time I have company in town! He takes you on a 1 1/2 hour private tour of the St. John's River. You'll see bald eagles, cattle grazing, gators, gators and more gators, blue herons -- tons of birds. You'll go back into the bald cypress swamp! I love it! This is the part of Florida that most people don't get to see. I've used a couple of other companies and they were fine, but Captain Gator truly gives you a great ride that you'll never forget! It is beautiful out there! Pros: Unparalleled Scenery, Private, Very Accommodating more