As you’ve seen on the news in recent months and years, our precious parks, forests, waters and other natural habitats are in danger. From fires and deforestation to algae buildup and flooding, there’s a lot of destruction (natural and manmade) occurring.

Unfortunately, the Everglades has its share of problems as well including unprescribed fires, flooding, storm damage, too much/too little water, invasive species, and more. The Everglades is a 1.5 million-mile-acre wetland preserve, it has a fragile ecosystem, and it is filled with thousands of creatures and plant life.

With that said, it is essential as humans and visitors to this Park that we treat this area with respect and follow the Park’s rules and regulations when exploring this beautiful place.

The Everglades provides both shelter to many species, and water to southern Florida, so it is important for visitors to respect this environment. If you’re planning a trip to the Everglades, the follow rules and regulations should be kept in mind.

• It is prohibited to collect or disturb animals, plants, artifacts, seashells or anything else that is naturally occurring in the Park.
• Pets are not allowed on backcountry campsites, beaches or in the wilderness of the Everglades.
• Feeding animals is not allowed.
• All trash must be taken out of the Park with you or placed in Park’s trash cans.
• You must bring your own drinking water; it is not available everywhere in the Park.
• Fires are only allowed at designated beach sites.
• Firearms and fireworks are prohibited.
• If you are aboard a vessel in the Everglades, you must abide by the U.S. Coast Guard’s regulations.
• Personal watercraft, like jet skis, are not allowed in the Park’s waters.
• If you need tide information, it is available at the Flamingo and Gulf Coast visitor centers, or online.
• Be extra cautious if your boating by any manatee signs.
• Generators and other portable motors are not allowed in backcountry campsites.
• If you need to use a bathroom and are not near any facilities, it is asked that you dig a hole in the ground at least 6 inches deep; the hole should be covered when you’re done. If you’re near a coastal ground site or at a beach, you can urinate directly into the water.
• Wash dishes and your body away from waterways.

These are just some of the Park’s regulations. To view more of the Park’s regulations, visit www.nps.gov.

Want to safely explore the Everglades? There’s so many different ways to explore it, including an airboat tour. A ride on an airboat gives you an up-close-and-personal view of the Everglades; it’s a trip you’ll never forget.

To book an airboat trip, call 800-368-0065  or visit our Everglades Airboat Tours page. We are open seven days a week 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. If paying by cash, adults cost $40 (plus tax) and children 12 and under cost $20 (plus tax. If paying by credit card, adults cost $45 (plus tax) and children cost $25 (plus tax).

There are many ways to explore a park, but in the Everglades, you can explore a park in a way like no other on an airboat. As most people know, airboats are pretty iconic in the Everglades. Airboats are great way to travel in the Park that allow guests access to areas that are not accessible by foot. On an airboat tour, you will learn facts about the Park, while seeing birds, animals, reptiles, sea life, and plant life.

For this article, we wanted to share with you the many reasons of going on an airboat tour in the Everglades.

• Airboats are considered safe for riders, wildlife, and plant life.
• Airboats don’t redirect natural water currents or alter surface hydrology as much as regular boats.
• Airboats, unlike regular boats, don’t cause soil and organic particles in the water to rise up and affect plants, fish, and other wildlife in the water.
• An airboat can go anywhere, whether its shallow or deeper waters.
• Airboats do not have any moving parts under the water, which makes it safer in the water for fish and plants nearby.
• If there is a collision with plants or animals, an airboat will cause far less damage than an average boat because it does not have a propeller.
• Airboats are stable, so you can move without risking the vessel tipping over.
• On an airboat, you get a great view of your surroundings because of the raised seating.
• Airboats can travel at different speeds to handle different situations. They can easily handle dense vegetation, sandbanks, dam walls, floating grass islands, and rocks in the water.
• An airboat is easy to launch. In fact, only one person is needed to get the trip started.
• An airboat doesn’t need a slip or ramp to be launched into the water.

Captain Mitch has been guiding airboat tours through the Everglades since he was a little tike. He followed in his family’s footsteps and began his own airboat touring company more than 30 years ago.

Come explore the Everglades safely in an airboat. It’s a truly unique experience.

It can be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for you. Captain Mitch’s Airboat Tours give you a glimpse of the Everglades like no other. To book an airboat ride, call 800-368-0065  or visit our Everglades Private Airboat Tours page. We are open seven days a week 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Click our airboat ride rates to view our prices.

October is the “spooky” month filled with costumes, tv specials, ghost tours, and more. With Halloween right around the corner, we wanted to share some spooky stories of the  Everglades region.

–The Ghost Ship of the Everglades has been haunting Florida’s south coast since the days of pirating marauders — its phantom crew is cursed to sail the seas for all eternity, after giving chase to a merchant ship and getting lost in the twisting channels of the Everglades’ swamplands. The story has been for hundreds of years.

–The story of Edgar Watson. No one knew where he came from, but he built a cabin in the Everglades over 100 years ago and largely kept to himself, until a fisherman found the gutted body of a woman floating in the Chatham River. Authorities eventually found dozens of human bodies buried on Edgar Watson’s farm, and a former farmhand reported seeing him take lives ritualistically. The property is thought to be haunted to this day.

— The Calusa. It’s not clear what happened to the Calusa, an ancient tribe of Native Americans that resisted incursion by the Spanish and fatally injured explorer Juan Ponce de Leon in 1521. The Calusa practiced human sacrifice and believed their leaders had supernatural powers. The mass remains of their civilization were found hundreds of years later in the form of human skulls.

–Missing planes. Numerous planes have disappeared in the Everglades over the years, never to be seen again. In December 1972, Eastern Air Lines Flight 401 was headed to Miami from New York, but due to an electronic failure and pilot error, it crashed in the Everglades, killing 96 of 163 people onboard. Paranormal events were soon experienced on other Eastern Air Lines planes that used parts cannibalized from the wreckage of Flight 401. The odd occurrences were documented in the 1976 book “The Ghost of Flight 401,” and the airline eventually replaced all the parts salvaged from the doomed flight.In May 1996, a fire broke out on ValuJet Flight 592 shortly after takeoff from Miami. The plane plunged into the alligator-infested water and very little of it was ever found; all 105 passengers were killed. Some think it to be one of the most baffling airplane mysteries in modern aviation history.

No one knows the Everglades like Captain Mitch’s Airboat Tours in Everglades City, Florida. To book an airboat tour, call 800-368-0065  or visit our Everglades Private Airboat Tours page. We are open seven days a week 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Click our airboat ride rates to view our prices.

It’s currently hurricane season, so we wanted to discuss how the Everglades hold up in hurricanes. In short, the Everglades is resilient.

Florida, including the Everglades, has experienced its share of devastating hurricanes, including Hurricane Irma, which passed through in September 2017. Although the Everglades is comprised of water in many forms, it can be negatively impacted by the heavy winds and excessive rain. But, how do hurricanes truly affect a place like the Everglades?

First off, wildlife is heavily affected. Whether it’s birds or fish, they all feel the effects of a major storm. During a major hurricane, the rough seas can wash ashore many fish and mammals, including dolphins and manatees. Bird can also be blown extremely far away from their homes and flight paths. Strong winds and storm surges can cause trees to collapse, land to wash away, and habitats to disappear. Even food sources (berries, fruits, nuts) get washed away and ripped off plants.

In the Everglades, there are fresh and saltwater sources, but a hurricane and throw off their balance and mix the two. Many fish, and other marine life, depend on the ideal salinity in the water to survive. When this balance is thrown off, many creatures can die or are forced to thrive in a very different environment. In these storms, the saltwater pushes up into the freshwater inland rivers and lakes of the Everglades, while heavy rains overflow all water sources, so fresh water enters the ocean. The excessive rain and run-off can also pollute the ocean and the streams and other water sources in the Everglades.

The strong forces of the winds of a hurricane can also harm and kill wildlife. For example, 180 million fish were killed in the Everglades during Hurricane Andrew in 1992.

When Hurricane Wilma came through in 2015, it toppled thousands of threes, and wiped out campsites in the Park. Florida Bay was flooded, employee houses were wrecked, and algae was left on roads. Even the surviving trees became bare. However, on the plus side (if there is one), storms can wipe out harmful exotic species and plants, which can help the native species a chance to grow and thrive again.

After a major hurricane, the Park certainly will look different, but it will restore itself. With the help of Park employees and volunteers, the Park can be up and running again despite damages and repairs.

Looking to explore the Everglades? Not in a storm, of course! A great way to get around the everglades is on an airboat ride. Captain Mitch’s Airboat Tours will bring you in and out of all the wetland’s beautiful waterways where you can see a variety of plant and animal life. To book an airboat tour, call 800-368-0065  or visit our Everglades Private Airboat Tours page. We are open seven days a week 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Click our airboat ride rates to view our prices.