Airboat rides are very
popular in the Florida Everglades, and unless you have your own approved
watercraft, it is likely the only way a tourist will get into interior of the National
Park. We opted to take a tour with Coopertown Airboat, a company in business since
1945, and run by the Kennon family, direct descendants of the Coopers. The town
of Coopertown has a population of 8 and consists of a restaurant and an educational
center, and who advertise themselves as the entry point into the “real” Florida
Everglades. The fleet consists of seven airboats, the largest one with seating
capacity for 24 people.
An airboat is also
known as a fanboat, planeboat, or swamp boat, and is a flat-bottomed watercraft
propelled by an aircraft-type propeller and powered by either an aircraft or
automotive engine. They are LOUD. Upon boarding the boat for our tour, a bag of
cotton balls was passed around and we were instructed to use them to plug our
ears. Airboats are a very popular means
of transportation in marshy and/or shallow areas where a standard inboard or
outboard engine with a submerged propeller would be impractical, most notably
in the Florida Everglades.
Having heard stories about
the mostly unregulated airboat industry, some including accounts of serious
accidents, I was a little nervous, and wasn’t sure exactly what to expect. Naturally,
the airboat operator wanted to make the ride as entertaining as possible for
the customers, so this sometimes included stunts like accelerating on open
stretches of water causing the boat to hydroplane, leaning the boat over on its
side, and giving us the feeling of things being just a tiny bit out of control.
Of course, this did nothing to calm my already jagged nerves, but the stunts
were just that, and never lasted very long.
The ride really did
turn out quite enjoyable (and short). As we skated over the waterlily-covered
shallow waters, we saw alligators, as promised, water fowl, and indigenous plants
and trees. Our guide gave us a history of the area, and even introduced us to one
of the local birds, a heron who apparently liked hanging out with the tourists.
All in all, I ended up enjoying the ride, learning a little more about the
area, and seeing parts of the Everglades I would otherwise never get to.
