Marsh Landing Adventures (Orlando Airboat Tours)

Marsh Landing Adventures, which also does business as Orlando Airboat Tours, runs out of a small dock on Neptune Road on the shore of East Lake Tohopekaliga, a few minutes from downtown Kissimmee. It is a small, independently owned outfit built around one thing: getting people out onto the headwaters of the Everglades on a flat-bottomed airboat with a licensed local captain at the wheel.

The waterway here is part of the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes, the northern starting point of the water system that eventually flows south into the actual Everglades. That history is part of what the guides talk about on tour, along with pointing out the alligators, ospreys, herons, and the occasional snail kite that use the marsh grass and open water along the route. The company runs several tour lengths rather than a single fixed trip, which gives visitors some control over how much time and money they want to put into the outing. A sixty-minute ride is the entry point, a ninety-minute tour goes deeper into the marsh and tends to turn up more wildlife, a two-hour version covers more ground still, and a four-hour eco-safari trip is built for people who want a genuinely long day on the water rather than a quick loop. Private charters are also available for anyone who wants the boat to themselves rather than sharing it with other guests, which matters if you are traveling with young kids or just prefer a quieter ride.

Airboats themselves are a distinctly Florida piece of equipment, built to skim across water that is often only a foot or two deep, thick with hydrilla and sawgrass, and impossible for a propeller-driven boat to navigate. Marsh Landing’s captains are used to explaining how the boats work to first-time riders, along with basic safety information, before heading out. Ear protection is provided, since the airboat motors are loud, and riders should expect some spray depending on wind and boat speed.

Because it is a small operation without a storefront or a big parking lot full of buses, Marsh Landing tends to draw people who found it through word of mouth or online research rather than a big roadside sign on US-192. Booking ahead by phone or through the website is the standard way to reserve a spot, and the company is upfront that weather and lake conditions can affect scheduling, since a rough or overcast day changes both the ride and the wildlife viewing. Photography is a big part of the draw for a lot of visitors, since a low, open boat gets you closer to the water and to basking alligators than almost any other way to see the lake.

For Kissimmee visitors who want an authentic look at the wetlands that define this part of Florida, rather than a manufactured version of one, Marsh Landing Adventures offers a direct, no-frills way to do it, run by people who know this particular stretch of lake well.