1000 percent recommend. The guide was amazing, the boats ran great and the scenery was…read moreoutstanding. We showed up at 8:30 for the first trip of the day. We got out a few minutes early and the weather was great. They give you a ton of information about the area and let you spend about 15 minutes driving the boats around without limit. The boats get up to 30-35 miles per hour and are easy to control. They hand out waters and life jackets. Even an unskilled boater can handle it. I will 100% be back

Nate was a fantastic tour guide! I found this trip online in a travel app. I was pleasantly…read moresurprised that they allow booking through their website at a lower price. I paid for two people so I could come by myself. It was totally worth it. Definitely worth the drive from Orlando. The rivers, canals, and lakes are so beautiful and diverse. It was great to get a chance to just ride around and explore the lake on our own. I was definitely go back on another tour. Nate said they have several different routes. I went when the high was about 65° they provide seat warmers so as long as you have a jacket you'll be fine.

Our pilot Jake was amazing. We had such a great time. Absolutely beautiful and thought maybe the…read morebiggest alligator I've ever seen. A great way to explore Florida from a different view but also just do something unique and fun. So glad that we tried it out.

Warning : you should not use this company. I callled and…read morelet them know that I would be arriving in Florida for four days and asked would this be adequate time to complete the five hours of flight training. I was assured by The female at the desk that this would be no problem. I arrived on time each day and prepared for flight training. I received 2.9 hours of training and then I was informed they had pre-booked charters and would not be able to accommodate me the rest of those hours. I spoke with the lady at the front desk about this situation and we agreed that I would be billed only for the hours received. I received a partial refund and then within two hours the refund was taken back out of my account and I received a text message from the company that stated the owner didn't feel comfortable giving me a partial refund. This company was fully aware of my situation and did not honor their word. This company took my money under false pretenses, and payment was made for services NOT RENDERED!!!! I immediately called my credit card company and explain the situation and started a dispute. Anyone looking to get there sea plane ratings I would advise from my experience do not use this company. They are not a reputable company and they lack honesty and integrity. Next day I went to Jack Brown's seaplane base in winter haven Florida I was amazed and I found the staff was amazing and most of all had integrity. After two hours of flight time the Cfi was ready to sign me off, but we could not get a DPE that day and I was flying out the next morning. I found Jack Brown's Sea Plane base to be everything that you could ever ask for in a company for Sea Plane operation. I will be going back to Jack Brown's to fly again in the future highly recommend Jack Brown.

Not to be missed! We were very impressed with Captain Colin's knowledge and experience on the…read moreriver. He spotted wildlife details that we never would have noticed, including a manatee tracker rod above the surface of the water - with a manatee below the surface. We learned so much about the birds, plants, fish, and history of the area. It's clear that Capt. Colin has his heart and soul invested in the river and it's conservation. Bravo!

My husband and I love boat tours and exploring nature, so for our wedding anniversary, he booked us…read morea 2-hour eco tour with the amazing Captain Colin. As luck would have it, we were the only ones signed up for this tour. The St. John's River Eco tours run 7 days a week - twice per day. They're also available for private tours or if you need a captain to drive a boat while you fish, relax, focus on photography or enjoy an adult beverage or two. Food and drinks are allowed on the boat, with the exception of red wine (red wine + an all white boat = potential permanent wine stains). Captain Colin was engaging, very knowledgeable and personable- he even back up the boat a few times for my husband and I to get a better view of some wildlife! We will definitely be back!

Colleen was great! She is an awesome guide & added to the historian's information. Took all of…read moreour pictures & was so sweet. I surprised my wife for Valentine's Day & she was given a beautiful red rose. This was a very informative tour. Mt. Dora is the cutest little town. So many restaurants, shops & history to explore. I highly recommend this tour. Reading other reviews & now I want to go back for Halloween & Christmas!

Wonderfully fun ride for Halloween. The carriage was decorated for the season with spooky scary…read moreHalloween flare, with Halloween music playing and an eerie but fun nighttime tour through historic Mount Dora. A lot of fun and highly recommended for any seasonal celebration or non-seasonless celebration and thank you Colleen to our wonderful driver. Highly recommended.

We booked a tour for six of us online. A couple days prior, I got a call saying there weren't…read moreenough people booked on that tour for them to actually take the boat out. They offered to rebook us on another day and time of our choosing. Well, I happened to be in the car when they called so accessing my schedule while I was on the phone, was not an easy task. The lady on the phone seemed SUPER annoyed with me the entire conversation. TWICE she asked if I would like to call her back. I'm sorry- are you THAT busy that you can't wait for two seconds while I pull up my calendar?!! I was so irritated by this lady's rude behavior that I almost said forget it. Refund us. We don't want to support you. You are being rude. However, my in laws were coming from out of town and I wanted them to experience the springs and the manatees. I had an entire week of activities planned for us so I just needed a second to check my calendar. If the lady who called was SOOOO BUSY, then why did she choose that time to call me? I will not get over this. Her customer service got the job done and we rescheduled but I will not forget how rude she was. On the day of our tour, we checked in at the little shack on the dock. Our tour guide was super funny! He was narrating our tour and making jokes. He was interacting with everyone on the boat. It was a cold day but we were able to see one large sunbathing gator and some hawks and other birds. The manatees were best seen from the shoreline walkway. We left a large tip for the tour guide and thanked him. He probably has no idea that the lady in the office is a real jerk.

we have been to blue Springs on many occasions and we finally pulled the trigger and did the boat…read moreride and even though it was short, we still had a good time and our guide was very knowledgeable in the surrounding areas and it's wildlife I would recommend for anyone that's wanting to know more about the area to give this a try

William John Howey (January 19, 1876 - June 7, 1938) was an American real-estate developer, citrus…read moregrower, and Republican politician from Florida. He founded and served as mayor for the town of Howey-in-the-Hills, Florida where he developed and sold citrus groves, becoming one of Florida's greatest citrus developers. He was one of the first citrus growers to send fruit from Florida to England. In 1921 he opened Florida's first citrus juice plant. He ran for governor on the Republican ticket in 1928 and 1932. Mr. Howey's prominence led to many distinguished guests visiting the Howey mansion, These included Lord Bathhurst of England, H.B. McNeal, publisher of Golfer's Magazine, golf master Chick Evans, Kansas Governor Alfred Landon, Mr. and Mrs. Frank Phillip's of petroleum fame, and President Calvin Coolidge who was guest of honor at an all-male dinner party in February 1930. Mr. Howey's former home near Lake Wales, Florida became the site of Florida's Bok Tower at the Bok Tower Gardens. In 1925 Mr. Howey commissioned a 20 room mansion in the town he founded. The architect was Katherine Cotheal Budd. During WWI she designed temporary lodgings known as hostess homes for women who were visiting their husbands at military training camps. Budd is credited for creating 72 lodgings with a homelike atmosphere and the Howey House is one of a few existing examples of her work. The Howey Mansion was designed in the popular Mediterranean Revival style. The house is set back on a wide lawn with wrought iron gates and a long horseshoe drive. The entrance to the home features an elaborate, two story bas relief frontispiece .The massive front door and the woodwork on the first floor is made from peaky cypress. Leading to the second floor is a graceful curving stone stairway with a wrought iron banister. Other features of the home include three large fireplaces, a ballroom-size drawing room, enormous beamed ceilings, and a servant call-bell phone system. There is even a hidden passage behind a sliding bookshelf panel in the library. The original 15 acres grounds of the mansion were called The Park and included many botanical plants and shrubs. On March 6, 1927 The Park was the host site for an open air concert performed by the New York Civic Opera Company bringing the top opera singers of the day to the mansion for a concert for the community. The mansion was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Place on January 27, 1983. On April 12, 2017 it was listed for sale at $480,000. The new owners are Brad and Clay Cowherd, Orlando real estate investors who have made period-accurate restoration of the house. I visited the Howey Mansion for the Founders Day Festival. Admission for tours of the home was discounted to $10. The Howey Mansion is available for private rentals like weddings while historical tours are also available Monday through Friday at 11am. The Founder's Day event included a local market, food trucks, live music, and family activities. I enjoyed visiting the tents and touring the mansion including the hidden bar in the basement that was created during prohibition. Behind the mansion, is a trail through the woods that will take you to the Georgian marble mausoleum where the Howey family is interred including William J. Howey (1938), daughter, Lois Valerie Howey (1941), and Mary Hastings Howey (1981). This year Centennial Founder's Day Celebration, marked100 years since the town's founding in 1925.

What an incredible place! We really enjoyed the tour Fran and Mercy gave us. They were extremely…read moreknowledgeable about the property and you can tell they love what they do. The property itself is gorgeous. If you're looking for an event space, you're in luck they rent it out for weddings and other events.

We had a great time on the boat tour of Lake Dora and the Dora Canal. Captain John and 1st mate…read moreErin did a wonder job of narrating the tour and the things we saw. Would definitely recommend and look forward to doing this tour again in the future! Thank you!

Captain Jonathan in first mate Kenneth.(I hope I I have the name correct) did a fantastic job! They…read morewere very entertaining and very informative! I would highly recommend this tour. It's a must if you're visiting Mount Dora. You get the history from the water aspect.

Another Old School roadside attraction…read more It is certainly not a Disney type experience, but it is not trying to be. It is a combination small zoo, 4H exhibit at a fair, and charmingly ramshackle. Harley the bird startled me by saying " hello" out of the blue, he has a great voice. It is worth it to buy some feed bags when you buy your tickets, as many residents are most enthusiastic about receiving some of that cracked corn. A few enterprising birds seem to have snuck out of their cages so as to indulge in corn that bounces off the cage. Pretty calico cat hanging out at the entrance. Staff all very nice.

Great place for younger children to have a hands on experience with farm animals. Great experience.read more