30 to 45 minutes from Miami, depending on traffic. Everglades Holiday Park in Fort Lauderdale is the closest airboat dock to Miami.
Most of Miami to Everglades Holiday Park is 30 to 45 minutes by car, depending on traffic. Book the 60-minute airboat tour online and pick your boat time before you leave.
There is so much to see and do in Everglades Park that you won’t be sad you set aside a day to visit. You can partake in wildlife tours and airboat tours that are led by professionals. You go biking, hiking, camping, or birding, to name just a few things.
The Everglades are in South Florida and are a World Heritage Site, an International Biosphere Reserve, and a Wetland of International Importance. This is because the Everglades are home to a very diverse range of wildlife. There are endangered species, such as the American crocodile, the Florida panther, and the manatee, and then there are more common but still striking species, such as eagles, foxes, egrets, and flamingos. The beauty of the Everglades can’t truly be matched by any other place in the world. It is wild and delicate, maintaining an ecosystem balance that is important to the entire planet.
The exact distance and time will differ depending on your departure point within Miami, but from most of Miami it is a 30 to 45 minute drive to Everglades Holiday Park in Fort Lauderdale, depending on traffic.
Buy airboat tour tickets online and pick your boat time before you leave Miami.
No car? The VIP tour with round-trip transportation picks up at hotels and stops across Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach and brings you to the park and back the same day.
There are entrances to the national park, such as the Homestead entrance and the Shark Valley entrance (both of which have visitor centers), but Everglades Holiday Park borders Everglades National Park and is one of the closest experiences to Miami.
When you want to visit depends on a few things, such as your personal temperature preference, your tolerance for bugs, your endurance, and your dislike/like of crowds.
When planning your trip to the Everglades, it’s important to consider which of the seasons you’ll want to hit. The Everglades have two seasons: Wet and Dry.
The dry season is from November to April. It’s called “dry” because there is very little rainfall during that time of the year. Usually, it won’t surpass a quarter of an inch.
The dry season is the busiest tourist season for the Everglades. This is due to the cooler temperatures, the less oppressive bug population, and a high concentration of wildlife around the available water sources. Wildlife viewing is simple and comfortable.
Despite the higher concentration of people, the explosion of wildlife and vegetation along the numerous hiking trails makes a Dry Season visit well worth it!
The Everglades’ wet season is from April to November, during which time the Everglades experience intense rainfall and many storms. The Everglades receive around 60 inches of rain per year, and you already know that doesn’t happen during the dry season.
Planning your trip to Everglades Park during the wet season may not seem as appealing because of the warmer temperatures, consistent rain, and somewhat oppressive bug count, but a visit during this time will show the Everglades in their full beauty. The vegetation is lush with sprawling, green vistas, full trees, flowers in bloom, and wildlife if you know how to find them. You get all that and more without the troublesome hoards of people.
Because there are fewer people, it’s easier to secure reservations for an airboat tour or rentals for things such as kayaks and bikes.
It absolutely is! There is so much to do in the Everglades, especially if you’re making the short trip out to Everglades Holiday Park.
You can start off your time at Everglades Holiday Park with some time walking around, seeing the sights, and spotting wildlife on your own, and then, when you’re ready for a break, you can hop on an airboat and speed over the water on a guided tour that reveals levels of wildlife and beauty that you didn’t know were accessible to you. The captains of the boats have years of experience and they know the best spots to find and photograph wild animals.
You see the world-famous Gator Boys wrestle an alligator and mix thrilling adventure with education for all ages. After that, why not enjoy a private animal encounter and hold a baby alligator? That’s right. You can go home with photographic proof that you held a baby alligator in your hands.
At the end of your fun-filled day, there’s a great gift shop waiting for you with all sorts of incredible souvenirs to remember your trip by.
Since there’s so much to do and see, you will want something available to you throughout the day. We have a full-service café and deli with food for every age and temperament. The concessions store is available for food and drinks on the go in case you don’t want to pause your fun!
The Everglades are full of things that you can’t see anywhere else. There are numerous trails that are just begging to be walked or biked. If you don’t have your own bike, you can visit one of the stands for bike rentals. Similarly, you can bring or rent a jon boat and float down the River of Grass at your leisure. You can set up for a week at the Flamingo Campground, or simply enjoy our cool, covered pavilions at lunchtime.
We offer some different tours that you can enjoy. The guided tour in a covered boat is a thrilling way to see the Everglades in all their natural glory. The wind blowing in your hair, animals around every corner, and a captain who knows enough about the Everglades to keep you entertained for hours! The tour is approximately 60 minutes long, however, so you can be sure that each minute will be action packed!
The Gator Boys had their own show on Animal Planet and their show is exciting as well as educational. The 20-minute presentation is full of stunts and laughter that will live in your memory forever.
The real question we should be asking is, “Why not visit the Everglades?” There is so much to see and do that you could spend weeks in the depths of the Everglades just soaking in the sights and sounds
This visitor center is named for two estuaries: Shark River and Little Shark River. The visitor center is at the center of Everglades National Park which is about an hour’s drive from Downtown Miami, and you’ll get there by taking the Tamiami Trail.
At the visitor center, you’ll see lot’s of wildlife such as alligators, egrets, herons, turtles, and snail kites.
The Shark Valley Tram will take you around Shark Valley Loop Road and up to the famous observation tower, where you can see the Everglades for miles.
The Gulf Coast Visitor Center is the gateway for exploring the Ten Thousand Islands, which is a maze of waterways and mangrove islands that extend the Flamingo Center and all the way to Florida Bay. They’re accessible only via boat in that region.
There are kayak launching and renting spaces to make your expedition as easy and smooth as possible.
You can! It’s a fairly easy drive that won’t take you more than a couple of hours, even with heavy traffic. You can enjoy the saltwater beaches in the morning, spend the heat of the day exploring the Everglades, and be home in time for a sunset stroll along the beach.
Animal Encounters & Everglades VIP Tour Pick-up service:
Open 9 AM - 4:00 PM daily. Park hours are subject to unpredictable weather.
7 Days a week: 7:00 AM – 6:30 PM Eastern Time
Open daily 9:00 AM. Last full 60-minute tour 4:00 PM. Last boat 4:30 PM (30-minute ride). Arrive 30 minutes before the tour you want.
**All prices are subject to change without notice at our discretion. Please call our office directly for the most up-to-date pricing information.
