The difference between an excursion and a day built around you comes down to who sets the clock. This private Everglades excursion collects you straight from your hotel at 9:00 AM, with a vehicle and guide reserved for your party alone, for three and a half hours across the Florida marsh, or five hours if you add the city tour. Prices start at $600 and the format is built for up to seven people. It is the exclusive version of our proposal among the Miami tours.
The private Everglades tour at a glance
- Price: from $600
- Duration: 3.5 hours, or 5 hours with the city tour
- Departure: 9:00 AM, with pickup at your hotel in the South Beach or Miami City area
- Group: private, up to 7 people; over 7 requires a dedicated quote
- Airboat: 30-35 minute ride across the marsh
- Guide: Italian speaking on the ground; aboard the airboat an English speaking Park Ranger
- Italian guide on the airboat: available with a $30 supplement
- Optional city tour: Brickell, Little Havana, Wynwood Walls and Bayside Marketplace
- Cancellation: free with full refund up to 72 hours before
- Good for: families, small groups and anyone who wants to set their own pace
Below you will find what you need before booking: how much it costs and what it covers, what genuinely changes compared with the group departure, what the optional city tour includes, and the practical details on pickup, language and cancellation.
How Much the Private Everglades Excursion Costs
Prices start at $600 and cover the reserved vehicle with round trip transfer from your hotel, park admission, the 30-35 minute airboat ride and a guide who stays with your party for the whole ground portion. The format is sized for a maximum of seven people: larger parties need a dedicated quote, which you can request by writing to info@ilmioviaggioanewyork.com.
Two items sit outside the base price and are worth knowing before you book. The first is the guide's gratuity, customary in the United States and left to you. The second is a $30 supplement if you want the Italian speaking guide aboard the airboat: without it, the commentary during the ride is handled by the Park Ranger and delivered in English.
Book the Smart Way
A private tour has no fixed departures: availability depends on the guides and vehicles free that day, so during the dry months between December and April, when Miami is at its busiest, it pays to move weeks ahead. Booking early lets you pick the day that fits the rest of your stay and leaves time to agree the pickup point without rushing. You also get support before and after purchase, a physical office in New York at 324 W 47th St, and your voucher by email once the order is confirmed.
What the Private Excursion Includes
- Reserved vehicle for your party, with pickup and drop off at the agreed hotel
- Park visit to the Everglades with admission included
- Airboat ride of 30-35 minutes in search of alligators, with a Park Ranger aboard
- Live guide for the whole ground portion of the excursion
- Miami city tour as an optional extension, added at the booking stage
The guide's gratuity and the airboat language supplement are not included. Hotel pickup, which the group format does not offer at all, is part of the service here: after booking you are contacted to agree the exact address, provided it is in the South Beach or Miami City area.
One point worth stating plainly: the guide on this tour delivers the commentary in Italian, and the airboat narration is in English through the Park Ranger. If you need the ground commentary in English throughout, contact us before booking and our team will tell you what fits.
Private Tour or Group Departure: How to Choose
Both formats go to the same place and include the same airboat ride, but they answer different needs, and picking at random is the easiest way to spend badly.
The private format makes sense when the group already exists: a family, two couples travelling together, anyone with children who keep their own rhythm, or anyone who would rather not depend on other people's timing. You are collected at your hotel, you leave when you are ready, and the guide answers only your questions. With the city extension the day stretches to five hours and takes in Miami's signature neighbourhoods.
The group departure remains the sensible choice if you are travelling alone or as a couple and an early fixed meeting point suits you: the details are on the page for the Everglades excursion departing from Miami Beach, which leaves at 8:45 AM from a shared meeting point and does not include the city tour.
If you are still working out how to spread your days, the other destinations reachable in a single outing are gathered among our United States excursions.
Our tip
If you are travelling with young children, the $30 for the guide aboard the airboat is the small add-on that genuinely changes the experience. The engine drowns out voices and the Park Ranger speaks English: without translation, the most anticipated part of the day risks being just noise and speed.
The Optional Miami City Tour
The extension takes the day from three and a half hours to five and puts the guide you already have to further use, adding four stops that tell the story of four different Miamis.
- Brickell: the financial district, crossed by car without getting out, for the skyline of towers that represents the contemporary city
- Little Havana: the stop in the Cuban quarter, among salsa music, Cuban coffee, colourful shops and traditional restaurants
- Wynwood Walls: the mural district, an open air gallery where international artists have painted the building facades
- Bayside Marketplace: the close on Biscayne Bay, among shops, street performers, moored boats and lunch options
The order of the stops follows the return route from the Everglades towards downtown, so it adds no wasted driving to the day.
What to Know Before Booking
- Departure is at 9:00 AM with pickup at your hotel or an agreed point, in the South Beach or Miami City area
- The pickup point is agreed after booking: you are contacted to set it, so keep an eye on your inbox
- If you are late the tour is forfeited, and where possible you can join on another day
- The tour runs in the rain, so bring an umbrella and a light waterproof jacket
- Avoid bright colours in what you wear, as they make wildlife harder to approach
- Cancellation is free up to 72 hours before, after which the tour is neither refundable nor changeable
- Groups over 7 people follow different terms: full refund up to 30 days before, 50% penalty inside that window
- Alligator sightings are not guaranteed, as these are wild animals in a vast ecosystem
Important
After booking you will receive a confirmation and then your voucher by email: please check your spam folder too, as it sometimes ends up there. If the date you selected turns out to be unavailable you will be contacted to cancel or move the booking. The itinerary may vary on public holidays or during special events. Wildlife sightings depend on natural conditions and remain outside our control, just as no responsibility can be taken for damage to or loss of personal belongings during the excursion. Il Mio Viaggio a New York has been looking after travellers in Florida for years and remains available to help you shape the day before you buy.
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