Silver Springs State Park was an amazing experience. I came out with a group to kayak, and it ended…read moreup being one of the highlights of the trip. The water is absolutely beautiful and crystal clear, and we saw wildlife pretty much the entire time. We spotted tons of birds, turtles, fish, and even the famous monkeys! Kayaking was a great way to explore the park because you can get surprisingly close to the wildlife while still just enjoying the scenery. Seeing the monkeys out there in the wild was definitely something I won't forget. Beautiful park, plenty to see, and a great place to spend a few hours on the water. I'd absolutely come back.

My parents were reminiscing about when they were middle school aged and came here for field trips…read more I was surprised to find out that Silver Springs State Park and the glass bottom boat tours have been around for that long! It was about a 1.5 hour ride from Orlando. Woke up real early on a Saturday (on honestly one of the coldest days of the year) to arrive at the park around 8am. I highly suggest purchasing glass bottom boat tour tickets online about a week in advance atleast since time slots fill up! We purchased the 1.5 hour tour on the boats. Our tour guide was incredible and shared so much knowledge and facts about the wildlife and park. I got to see tons of manatees! Plus getting to see gators, turtles, birds, and even monkeys! The glass bottom gives such a cool perspective on viewing the wildlife and plants underwater. Aside from the tour, we walked several trails to enjoy the great outdoors. Also, we had coffee in the morning when we first got here and lunch after the tour. The food was pretty good and filling. At the gift shop I made sure to leave with a magnet and Christmas ornament to remember such a great day here.

I drove through here on the way home from the Panhandle. It reminded me of what I thought Florida…read morewas like when I was a child growing up in Massachusetts. Forrests and springs, fishing, canoeing, swimming, and yes, gators. There are over 400,000 acres in the Ocala National Forest. It needs more than one visit to fully explore this wonder. There are many opportunities for camping and backpacking. I want to come back soon to go on a nature hike. Like Dave O. says, this is the wilderness so don't be naive. You must go in prepared with water, protein snacks, and emergency supplies. This is not Disney, this is the real Florida adventure.

Another spot of beautiful nature in Wild Florida…read more I love going on nature hikes, and this trail has plenty of wildlife and plants to see. Even with the paths seeming wild and free, they're easy to follow and I wasn't afraid of getting lost.

Garrett was a blast! We are just coming into the warm season and most manatees are back in the…read moregulf, he still got us to 7 manatees, 2 gators, and we caught a dolphin in kings bay towards the end. He gave us plenty of time to look for things to come up out of the water which was great for my 2 year old. Boat was shaded and was enjoyable even with a small child. Other tours wouldn't let me book because she was under 3- we brought our own lifevest but they did also have some on board that were her size.

I don't know where to start…read more This was the absolute best day. We started at the River Ventures Dive Center at 6:30AM, where we were offered coffee, tea, hot cocoa and snacks, and spent the next bit with an educational video and a wetsuit fitting. From there, we took a bus to the dock, in the most gorgeous sunrise light. let by our Guide Nat. Captain Emerson met us at the covered, heated pontoon, and our group set off through the water, for the protected manatee zone. The water was FULL of our sweet sea potatoes... in fact, it was difficult to even get off the boat because our new friends swam right up to the ladder. Nat had given excellent instructions. We immediately leaned into our pool noodles and gently followed her lead through the water. It took just moments before manatees were all around us. We stayed calm and quiet, and they either continued snoozing, or swam up to investigate us. Nat was on point with the camera, and with showing us things like the tarpon and sheepshead fish, and she was also shared little details about the manatees as we floated. Of course, with nature, there are no guarantees, and I really had no idea what to expect, but I was absolutely delighted by the interactions we had. The cold snap absolutely played into our favor, and I am so glad we showed up with our adventurous spirit. When we returned to the boat, there were more snacks, as well as hot cocoa, coffee, tea, and a variety of drinks in the cooler (water, beer, wine, soda, and white claws). We were so grateful for the boat covering and heater as we made our way back to the dock, and we had great chats with Nat, Emerson, and the other group on our tour. Was it cold? Sure. But the water felt great at 72ºF, and our wetsuits did a wonderful job of protecting us and keeping us buoyant. Our experience was incredible, from booking, to engaging with the staff with any questions we had, to the actual tour itself. The photos and videos were absolutely phenomenal, as well, and we were happy to purchase the package, as well as some gifts from the souvenir shop. We will be back for more manatee viewing, or to try one of their other tours. Thank you so much for the best day!

I booked the "hold on tour" and was an experience I'll never forget!…read moreWe saw beautiful widlife. The river and swamp are gorgeous, the guide friendly and knowledgeable. I'll also share that I really did have to hold on!!

Took my mom, sister, wife and daughter for an awesome 1.5 hr trip with Captain Justin…read more Great time and he answered tons of questions while showing off the gators and birds (herons, hawks, bald eagles) Note: Bewares the Giant Spider!

We were a family of four, including a 14 yo boy and an 18 yo girl. We had a very relaxing,…read moreenjoyable time. Ericka is a deep resource of knowledge about the area and we learned much more about the ecosystem of the river and the surrounding area, along with the history of the waterways. We were shown many animals, too, that she picked out of the surrounding that we never would have seen. We all highly recommend Ericka and her tour.

From the owner: Pontoon boat educational river boat tours. Family and pet friendly. Manatees and Monkeys. Birds and…read morephotography of scenic beauty of wildlife.

Yeesssssss!, should be your answer, when asked "do you want to go on an airboat?". This was a…read moresuper fun experience for ALL ages. I took my 21 yo little and had an absolute blast! Captain Bill is fun, experienced and knowledgeable about the waterways we traveled. We saw lots of wildlife, learned about boat safety and got to go really fast (my favorite part). Bonus: the Captain is a very kind and conscientious operator and was so respectful to the other boaters around us.

Great experience on the airboat! Bill was a fabulous guide and especially informative about the…read morearea and the sites.

Went today with my family from Texas on the Airboat ride. Josh our Boat Captain was great and very…read moreknowledgeable. Brittany help us with our reservation and was very professional. We were very happy we book our trip and glad we went in the early morning with the cooler temperature. Everyone had a fun time.

Absolutely incredible tour. So much fun and Josh is very informative and quite personable. I…read morehighly recommend the 90 minute tour. We saw a lot of gators as well as other wildlife. Fun airboat ride to boot.

Captain Kyle was very informative and great at handling the boat, had great time despite the rainread more

The grounds and facility were exceptionally clean and well maintained so there wasn't even a need…read moreto question the maintenance of the actual airboats. Our guide was Capt.Kyle, he was knowledge, experienced and highly respectful of the surrounding nature. This is a must-do for anyone wanting to experience the real Florida. Being a native Floridian who was raised with airboats and swamp buggies, I can attest that this brought back great childhood memories and I can't wait for my grandkids to come and experience the adventure as well.

Had some family in town and they requested a boat ride so hey why not an airboat right. Capt Jed…read morewas fun & made the trip enjoyable. There wasn't too many creatures out this time of year but the scenery was great. Would love to come back first of the year

Friendly and fun! Saw lots of gators and soaked up the sun. Great activity to do while pregnant.read more

Had a great time zip lining! What a unique experience in Florida. The instruction at the beginning…read morewill set even first timers up for success. Thanks to our awesome tour guides Kay and Jeremey!

Want an amazing day plan a day at The Canyons Zip Line! We…read morebooked the 9 Zip Line and two top bridge experience. Our guides were knowledgeable and had such awesome personalities that made our experience memorable!!! We felt completely safe and just took in the whole experience!! If you are considering going don't miss it!!