Certified
Florida SEE Gold
The only safari operator in Florida certified Gold by the Florida Society for Ethical Ecotourism, since 4 December 2012. What that means
Locally owned since 1991
Our Everglades story
Everglades Day Safari has been taking guests into the Everglades since 1991 — longer than most Everglades tour operators in Florida. The company has changed hands twice, grown from one van to a fleet, and never stopped being run by people who would rather be outside.
Who you are actually booking
Pete Corradino grew up just west of the Everglades in Venice, Florida, on the 10-acre Florida Monkey Sanctuary his parents ran from 1968 to 1988. He graduated from the University of Vermont with a degree in Wildlife and Fisheries Biology, guided for Everglades Day Safari from 1998 to 2000, spent six years as a park ranger and environmental educator in Vermont, and came back in 2007. In 2009 he helped co-develop the Florida SEE ecotourism certification programme. He has owned the company since 2016.
The guides he hires tend to have the same story in different accents: biologists, zookeepers, refuge researchers and boat captains who know what is living in the water before the guests do. There are eleven of them on the team today, plus the reservations office that answers the phone.
What we will not do
We never feed or harass wildlife. Not for a photograph, not for a guarantee, not on a slow day. The alligator sightings our guests get are wild animals going about their business, which is why they are worth watching. The same rule applies to the birds, the turtles and the manatees.
We also do not run tours we cannot do properly. The vans hold thirteen guests, the skiff holds six, and the airboat goes out with the people who booked it. If a date does not fill, we will tell you rather than pad it with strangers.
The long version
Thirty-five years, six chapters
- 1991
One van, Fort Myers Beach
Everglades Day Safari starts as a one-van operation running guests from Fort Myers Beach into the Everglades, and soon expands to Sanibel.
- 1996
Captain Bob Cowlishaw takes over
A herpetologist with a zoology degree from Michigan State and years of working with reptiles buys the five-year-old company. He adds a second van and more Fort Myers departures.
- 2000
Captain Bob’s Excellent Adventure is born
Demand from families leads to a half-day tour with a reptile presentation. The same year, the company opens Fort Lauderdale departures under Director of Operations Cindy Gregg.
- 2016
Pete Corradino buys the business
A wildlife biologist who guided for the company in 1998 and returned as Director of Operations in 2007 takes over from Captain Bob, who stays on to care for the reptiles at Lake Trafford.
- 2021
Thirty years
The company marks its 30th anniversary, still locally owned, still running the same vans into the same swamp.
- Today
Eleven guides, four departure cities
Wildlife biologists, a former zookeeper, a USCG-licensed captain and a naturalist in training run tours from Fort Lauderdale, Miami, Fort Myers and Naples.
Permitted
Big Cypress National Preserve
Our vans are the only tour vehicles permitted inside Big Cypress, which is how the day safari reaches old-growth cypress most visitors never find.
Rated
4.8 from 1,238 reviews
Rated 4.8 on TripAdvisor across 1,238 reviews, and 100% recommended on Facebook. Read them
Guest reviews
Guests who came for the day and stayed for the story
★★★★★
So happy we did
“We planned to just venture through the park on our own but decided to book a tour instead. So happy we did. Pete, our guide, was a wealth of knowledge and so passionate about this unique habitat. It was also very convenient and professional. Rather than just ‘look’ at the Everglades, I felt like we got to ‘experience’ the Everglades. Book with confidence.”
Danya J., Lenexa, Kansas · Yelp
★★★★★
One of our more memorable experiences
“We took this tour on our honeymoon, and it was one of our more memorable experiences! The tour guide was absolutely the best there is. We visited so many wonderful locations you would never know were there unless you lived here. My wife and I learned a lot. We’re really glad we took this trip, and highly recommend it for anyone else who enjoys nature.”
Nathan G. · TripAdvisor
Reviews are published as guests wrote them. Read more on TripAdvisor and Yelp.
Come see what we have been protecting since 1991
Pick a tour and a date, and one of these guides will be at your hotel in the morning.