At this time the Everglades and Captain Mitch’s Airboat Tours are both opened during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Everglades is open with modifications in place for COVID-19. The access to the park is continuing to increase in a phased approach, but all areas are open. Some concession-operated tours and services have modifications in place.

As for us here at Captain Mitch’s Airboat Tours, we will be returning to our roots and offering private tours as a result of COVID-19. We are now offering our usual standard tours, as well. 

We are continuing to monitor COVID-19 and we want you to know we are committed to helping stop the spread of this virus. We are a family owned business, for your safety and the safety of our employees we are diligently sanitizing our facility and equipment.  

We will offer private group tours at $450, plus tax. Reservations are suggested and coupons are NOT valid on a private tour. 

Going on a private airboat tour is a great way to get outside while social distancing and having fun.  It’s an experience that you’ll never forget.  

Here are some great tips before coming to the Everglades or for a ride on an airboat tour?

• The Everglades’ weather can be erratic and unpredictable. It can be extremely hot and humid. It also could be stormy. It is always advised you pay attention to the forecast before visiting.
• Always bring water.
• Bring insect repellent, especially in the summer.
• Wear sunscreen.
• Wear the appropriate clothing for whatever Everglades activity you choose to do.
• Keep an eye on your children.
• Pets are NOT allowed on most trails.
• Keep your pets on a leash in parking lots.
• Do not feed or touch the wildlife.
• Wear long sleeves and pants if you want to better avoid mosquito bites.
• Stay at least 15 feet away from an alligator or crocodile.
• Try not to touch plants, especially if you don’t know the species – it could be poisonous.

Explore the Everglades by Private Airboat Tour

The Everglades is a fun place to be, but remember to always be prepared and do things to stay safe.

Ready to explores the Everglades?  If you want to truly experience the Everglades, we suggest an airboat tour. You’ll get to see so much of Everglades on this vessel. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime experience that you’ll never forget.

To book an airboat tour, call Captain Mitch’s Airboat Tours at 800-368-0065 or click our  Everglades Private Airboat Tours page.

October is a “spirited” month filled with scary costumes, TV specials, ghost tours, haunted houses, and lots of frights. Being such a spooky season,  we wanted to share some creepy stories that have come out of the Everglades region.

–The Ghost Ship of the Everglades has been haunting Florida’s south coast since the days of pirating marauders. The ship’s 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 passed down for hundreds of years. Do you know anyone who has seen this ship?

–The story of Edgar Watson. No one knew where Edgar Watson came from, but he built a cabin in the Everglades over 100 years ago and largely kept to himself. One day, a fisherman found the gutted body of a woman floating in the Chatham River. Eventually, authorities 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. The Calusa are an ancient tribe of Native Americans that resisted incursion by the Spanish and fatally injured explorer Juan Ponce de Leon in 1521. It is not clear what happened to the Calusa, 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. Over the years, 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 Everglade. Ninety six of 163 people onboard were killed 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.

Spooked out? For more fascinating, educational and fun stories about the Everglades, jump on an airboat tour with us!

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.