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Old fashioned airboat Rides
Old Fashioned Airboat Rides
We phoned Captain John to book an airboat ride on the St John’s river as it seemed better value for money compared to Boggy Creek airboat rides which we did a few years ago. We were attracted by their advert and testimonials by others who had taken the ride, $45 per person for 90 minutes, with guaranteed sightings of alligators. We originally wanted an 11am booking but Captain John told us that we wouldn’t see to many “critters” at that time, but we could do that slot if we wanted to. Apparently, the 5pm slot was better and that is what we booked, it was a wise move as the day had cooled slightly by that time and he was right, we did see lots of animals.
Because the meeting place is about an hour away from our villa, we decided to make the day of it and go to Cocoa Beach which is close to the rendezvous point. We had a leisurely drive up to Cocoa, getting lost on the way, but eventually arrived at the beach after an hour and a half drive due to getting lost. Had a great day on the beach, lovely sand and a really warm Atlantic Ocean and we were rewarded by a pod of dolphins breaching just over the breakers. Finally had a decent late lunch at a beach snack bar and soon it was time to go to the rendezvous point at Highway 50 boat ramp which is close to the town of Christmas. We then met Captain John at 5pm as arranged.
What a fantastic trip - 90 minutes of skimming effortlessly over water and grass, we must have seen 40 alligators in the water, one had just caught a fish, some were sunning on the banks and others just swimming close to the boat. But it was not all just alligators, we had a couple of breaks where Captain John passed on some of his knowledge about the locality and it’s animals, well, he has been doing airboat rides for 27 years !
There were all types of birdlife and the picture opportunities of both wildlife and scenery were fantastic. Between us and our friends who were with us, we must have taken a couple of hundred. Finally, a sixty mile per hour skim back to the start of the tour was a fitting close to what was a thrilling and informative and very worthwhile experience.
In our opinion, a very worthwhile experience, well worth the $45 cost, and one which will give you lots of photos to remember your adventure.
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