A swamp tour is a safe, quiet and educational way to view, enjoy and learn about nature and the wildlife. Alligators, turtles, birds, and other wildlife are pointed out by guides. While all swamp tours view the wildlife, only eco-tours follow leave no trace ethics, like not feeding the wildlife.
Old swamp boats are usually called Pirogues and are very close in design, (flat bottom) and use to the kayaks that we use on our swamp tours in New Orleans. The same way that pirogues were used to get back into narrow and shallow areas that big noisy motorized boats cannot reach. Sadly, these small man-powered vessels are quickly becoming a relic.
Alligators are very common in Louisiana. Being cold blooded, they tend to slow down when temperatures dip below 60 degrees but are in abundance and visible during our tour for most of the year!
As long as the temperature is above 70 degrees during the winter, there is a good chance you will find an alligator come out and sun themselves. There are a lot of days when this happens, if the temperature is below 70 degrees, this is not likely to happen. Although there are a lot of great sights to view in the swamp nonetheless.
So, now that you are ready for your New Orleans swamp tour, you need to know what essentials to bring! We recommend that to feel prepared, you bring:
No! In fact, we only use insect repellent perhaps once a year. The whirligigs, dragonflies and other predaceous insects do a great job of keeping the mosquito population down. Sometimes during dusk, they can come out for a few minutes, but on our other tours, they are non-existent.
Most swamp tours are on the water for about 1.5-2 hours. Our kayak swamp tours run about 2-2.5 hours on the water. It is about as much as most people would like to be on the water. If you want to be on the water for a longer time, then consider hiring us with a private swamp tour.
We generally return to the New Orleans approximately 3.5-4 hours following the scheduled tour time. Of course traffic and other factors can come into play.
Gulf weather is notoriously hard to predict and impossible to forecast. A light rain is usually a cool welcome in the spring and the summer months. If the weather is potentially a danger to our customers, we will be in touch ahead of time to reschedule. If we call off a tour due to severe weather/cold and you are not able to reschedule, we do offer a full refund.
Dress for the weather and wear light layered breathable, synthetic clothing/swimsuits during the warm months and a warm thermal cover in the winter for your swamp tour. Better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it. Sandals or athletic shoes you don’t mind getting wet or dirty.
Bayou is the Choctaw word for river. This term is properly used in describing a slow-moving, meandering, connective passage between two waterways. A swamp on the other hand is, by definition, a flooded forest, and has no movement to its water.
We start our tour from a roadside boat launch along the edge of the Maurepas Wildlife Management Area 30 miles to the west of New Orleans. We send the exact coordinates and detailed directions with pictures in a confirmation email upon making a booking.
Please arrive 10-15 minutes before tour. If you arrive any earlier, there is a chance our trailer and van wont yet be there to use as a visual marker, but we should be arriving shortly.
$59/person(Manchac) $59/person(Honey Island) without transportation OR $79/person including our round trip shuttle to and from the French Quarter. DO NOT RELY ON UBER. Our 1/2 Day Tours are $199 and our combo tour is $175
PLEASE do not use Uber. Not only is it much more costly, but our tour leaves from a roadside boat launch with no physical address. Also, rural Louisiana doesn’t always have the best Uber service. If you need a ride, USE OUR SHUTTLE SERVICE that you can add during booking.
Again, there’s no bad time to go. Our favorite times are April, late October and early November. Winter can be a great because the summer grass that is typically six feet tall is now only inches high. This means you’ll see more nutria and deer, and the migratory birds such as waterfowl and the bald eagles. Alligators are tough to find when temps drop below 70 degrees, no matter what time of year, but they can be found throughout the winter on warmer days. Plus, there is so much more to the tour than just seeing alligators, that any time of year is a great time to visit.
405 Frenchmen Street
Private pickups are reserved for private tours and groups of 10+ only.
Our most popular kayak trip is the Manchac Wildlife tour. It provides the most opportunities for viewing wildlife and has some of the best swampy landscape scenes in the country.
It all depends on what your desire is. . If you want to see the swamp at the prettiest time of day, we recommend the 9:45 AM tour or the early evening tour. The early morning and evening light has warmer tones than midday. Also, these times don’t have the harsh, full sun or full shade contrast of midday, so it’s much better for photography.
Wintertime and early spring can bring temps from 30 degrees (rare) to 75 degrees, with an average high temp of about 64 degrees, so our winter and spring airboat tours can be quite pleasant indeed. If it’s sunny and the temperatures reach into the high 60’s, alligators will come out on logs to sun.
We would advise against it.
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We do our best to make our tours as inclusive as possible. As long as you are comfortable trying…so are we.
Our kayaks have a max load of 400 pounds.
6+ Anyone under the age of 18 must be accompanied by an adult or at least have a liability waiver form sign by a guardian.
Our swamp tours our begin friendly. If you’ve recently experienced pain in or had surgery on shoulders or back it would be advisable to consult a doctor or at least try kayaking before committing to our tour.
2-2.5 hours spent on the water for our standard tour. 1/2 Day tour lasts approx 4 hours on water and 6-7 hours total with drive time. Combo tours last approx 8 hours.
As long as you carry your trash away with you it is fine to bring a light snack on both bus and boats. We recommend saving your appetite for the city, we have plenty of places to recommend. Water on the boats IS A MUST.
We are comfortably beginner friendly as long as you know what you’re signing up for, the swamps are a great first kayaking experience
Nothing in the swamps is out to harm us. That said, and out of reverence for our swampy friends, we urge you to obey our guides directions and keep respectful distances from any wildlife we encounter as to not disrupt their natural movement. Alligators are nocturnal hunters and mostly reclusive and lazy during the daylight hours. Nothing to worry about.
Sorry, No we are a leave-no-trace company.
See Eco-Kayak Swamp Tour guides
Yes, it is appropriate to tip the tour guides. Tips will have to be in the form of cash. We will not be able to charge a credit card for a tip. If your guide really works hard and you think he gave a great tour, let him know how much you appreciate it!
Due to high demand, we strongly recommend reservations. If you arrive without a reservation, we will try to accommodate you to our best ability. To prevent this, it is easy to make reservations online or by phone ahead of time via TXT 504-571-9975
City traffic gets CRAZY during festivals and Mardi Gras. We like to limit our driving time in the city during these times. This means being on time for the shuttle and no custom pick-up and drop-offs. Trust me, it’s easier and more fun to walk through a parade than to drive through one.