Honey Island Swamp Tours

I was super excited to go on a swamp tour in Louisiana as I’ve never been so close to a swamp in my life.
Our group had a great experience! We made a reservation, and chose the option for hotel pick-​up at the Marriott. Total cost is $ 100 per person, CASH ONLY! The location of the swamp is about 45 min away from the pick-​up location, but the small bus was comfortable and they had the AC on so nobody suffered.
Upon arrival at Slidell (where the swamp is), we went through a quick check-​in process where you paid the $ 100 w/​cash and waited in front of the cabin-​like building for your group to be called. Be sure to use the bathroom before heading out, as there are no restrooms on the boat!
Our tour guide was fantastic. He was funny, clear/​loud/​concise, and extremely informational. And this may sound weird, but I loved his voice. I tend to have a better time listening to a voice that’s catchy and bright rather than dull and monotonous. He was also a great navigator around the swamp, with sharp turns here and there.
Unfortunately, we did not get to see alligators since it was already during the time when they started hibernating (we went in December, and they usually start hibernating around late Oct). Luckily our tour guide was able to whistle and lure out the wild boars! He fed them marshmallows (is that okay?!) and there were a bunch of older looking ones as well as baby ones that were further in the distance — SO CUTE!
I had an amazing time, and feel like it was worth every dollar. The swamp land was so beautiful and serene. I’d be back just to see the alligators next time!

This is a must! An adventure on a boat in a swamp! We saw alligators, racoons, pigs, and a lot of birds. Wonder tour guide very knowledgeable about swamp, animals, and river. My husband and I had a blast. We will definitely take this tour if ever we get the opportunity.

All the way from California, we came to enjoy the swamp and see some wildlife. Our captain was funny and informative along the way, and was able to locate a diamond back water snake, turtles, cardinals, herons, egrets, and of course a 5ft Alligator! We saw what we were hoping for and had a great time! Thanks guys!

My friends and I had a lovely time doing the swamp tour and our guide was incredibly friendly and knowledgeable. We got picked up at a hotel in New Orleans and the ride to the tour operation was only 30 – 45 minutes away. When we got there, the tour groups, check ins, and payment process were organized very quickly and efficiently. While on the tour, it got a little chilly and the tour guide gave me and my friend a blanket and a jacket. On the way back to the hotel, I left a pair of really expensive sunglasses in the shuttle bus. A few calls and couple of days later, one of Honey Island’s employees, Jack, found the sunglasses — AND — mailed it to me via certified priority mail and asked for nothing in return. I am so appreciative of this business’s dedication to helping out its customers the best they can. Thank you so much Honey Island Swamp Tours!

Rene was an excellent swamp tour guide. His skill with the boat is impressive. He’s also got a great deadpan humor. Apparently, other swamp tours have less access to the different areas we explored. I got the hotel pickup tour, which is $ 48. It was very cold, so the alligators were not visible, but I enjoyed the «flooded forest» anyway.

Honey Island Swamp Tours = incredi-​mazingly awesome!!! We called the day before to make reservations for a Saturday morning. Plan to arrive at least 30 mins prior to the scheduled tour time. Come prepared with cash on the day of the tour, as they don’t accept credit cards for payment. Ticket prices per person are as follows: $ 23/​adult and $ 15/​child. Bathrooms are located inside the storefront for your convenience. The swamp tour lasts about 2 hours so be sure to hold onto your hats when the boat starts zooming across the open waters of the bayou!
Our enthusiastic tour guide did a good job of narrating & entertaining everyone while carefully maneuvering & navigating through the swamp. He was very knowledgeable about swamp history, wildlife, plants, and trees. Everyone was free to ask questions at any time. We got to see all sorts of swamp animals– gators, blue heron, egret, turtles, snakes, wild pigs, and raccoons! Who knew turtles, wild pigs & raccoons secretly loved marshmallows?! And the gators loved feasting on the hotdogs! (Not sure if hotdogs contribute to gator obesity or not haha!) The smaller gators even showed off their acrobatics trying to get their hotdog treats! Just go on a swamp tour at least once in your life– it will be fun!
Overall, Honey Island Swamp Tours did an excellent job with giving tourists a feel for the swamp life. Every staff member we interacted with was friendly and professional. We all enjoyed the tour and had a great experience!

SOOOO AWESOME! Don’t even think– just go on a swamp tour. It was so much fun and we saw so many alligators, swamp pigs and other wildlife– it was a blast! Our guide was fun and knew a lot about the area and had fun stories throughout the tour. We did go during the summer, which is probably a better time to see things, but I would come back next time I’m in the area. My nephews, sister and I loved it. Book a tour here if you’re around during the summertime– you’ll love it.

I’ve done tours like this before in Florida and this was better than any tour I’ve taken before. My 3 young kids loved it! It was colder and raining but we still saw gators in the covered boat. Tour is almost 2 hours long throughout the swamp and up and down the river. Great tour and great price!

My husband and I had an AMAZING adventure this morning! We opted for the boat ride with hotel pick-​up for $ 48 per person (please note they only take cash and I would recommend coming prepared with extra for a tip)! We were driven to Slidell by the delightful driver named Gene, a 74 year old native to the area who pointed out so many landmarks and representations from Katrina. We arrived at Dr. Wagner’s and were loaded onto a boat! They paid awesome attention to the customer experience and put families with children on one boat and the adult only parties on another boat! Our tour guide was well spoken, well versed on his surroundings, and did an amazing job taking the time to make sure everyone had their best chance to see the wildlife. The boat tour ended up being about 2 hours and we saw many alligators and other wildlife! It was an amazing experience and we highly recommend it!

Awesome tour! The tour guide was very friendly, knowledgable, and humorous. We saw several gators and enjoyed the history of the area. I would definitely return – wish they took credit cards though. It’s about a half hour drive from New Orleans.

Great time! Definitely a place to take a lot of cool photographs. Tourist guide seem very knowledgeable and willing to answer any questions.

Freakin’ awesome!!! Seriously. We were here in August 2015 for the 2PM tour and we had the best time and my kids (boys — ages 6 & 8) have not stopped talking about it. If you want to see a true, legit swamp and see gators in their natural habitat, about a million turtles, tons of birds, and check out how the swamp people in these parts live I highly recommend this tour. We saw about 7 gators of varying sizes and laughed the whole way because our guide was hilarious. Just his accent alone was amusing but his jokes had everyone on the boat rolling. They lure gators with marshmallows and hot dogs so that people get the pictures they want. The tour lasted almost 2 hours and it was very memorable. I would love to go again!
** Highly recommend calling ahead of time and reserving your spot on the tour. They will take a credit card number from you to hold your spot, but they don’t run anything as long as you show up for your scheduled tour. Once there, you MUST pay for your tour tickets with CASH. They also have a gift shop and, again, they ONLY accept CASH.

My girlfriends and I had an amazing experience on our swamp tour. At the suggestion of my co-​worker, we made a reservation with the Honey Island Swamp Tours company. We opted for the package with transportation from our hotel and back. It raised the price a bit but I think it was worth it for the convenience. The tour is about 45 minutes away from the French Quarter so take that into consideration when deciding your transportation. They picked us up at our hotel and we were seated comfortably in an air conditioned mini bus.
When we arrived to Slidell, the site of our tours, we went through a smooth check in process. There are bathrooms at the check in area, useful considering your tour is about 90 minutes. We were lucky and got in a covered boat with a few other tour groups. There was probably about 20 people on our boat.
What made our tour so much fun was our tour guide. He was fantastic! He was funny, really knowledgeable about the area, and had great stories to tell along the way. You could tell he was passionate about what he did and the area as a whole. If you’re wondering if we saw wildlife, we definitely did. We saw plenty of alligators, pigs, birds, and other animals. The tour was relaxing and a really great way to see a different side of Louisiana. Highly recommend taking this tour!

If you want a great way to see the swamps and bayous around Honey Island, you may not find a better tour than this place. The main difference is they have a covered boat, which is awesome on those hot, hot days, and they are quick with a joke and puns. Reminds me of the Jungle Cruise at Disneyland!
It’s pretty inexpensive (cash only) and takes about an hour and a half. You’ll learn a lot and hopefully see a plethora of wildlife. At the very least, you will see gators, turtles, and boars!

What an experience!
Honey Island Swamp tour is like nothing you’ll ever experience. I don’t think I will ever get the chance to come so close to an alligator like that again in my life.
The tour itself is pretty organized and you can arrange to have them pick you up from your hotel for an extra charge but it’s pretty convenient. My sister and I each paid $ 48 for a hotel pick up and the tour itself which lasted almost 2 hours.
Our tour guide was very knowledgeable, very friendly, and very informative. You learn a great deal about alligators and life in the swamp. New Orleans has such a rich history and the tour guide manages to get all that info in there.
I did the swamp tour per the recommendation of a fellow Unilocaler and New Orleans native. I am so glad I did! It was a great experience and worth the money. Definitely try to experience this tour if you’re in New Orleans and love sightseeing!

I really enjoyed this tour during my first visit to LA. Our driver picked us up at the hotel promptly at 12 and we were on our way. During our 30+ minute out to the swamp tour site, our driver tried to give us a guided tour of places he was passing through. The microphone he had was not sufficient or he didn’t know how to use it so we had a ver hard time hearing it. It would have been much more enjoyable if we didn’t have to struggle to make out every word. I ended up giving up.
Once we got to the tour site, we paid inside and got ready for the tour. We came at a chilly time so we didn’t get to see a single gator but our guide did a great job pointing out other animals that were there. We saw wild pigs, snakes, and different birds.
Our guide was very knowledgeable about the area and specifics like how high the water was during Katrina. He was great at navigating the boats through the water too.
We were in excellent hands from start to finish.
I strongly recommend this tour for anybody visiting the area preferable during the slightly warmer months.

As first timers in LA, we had such a pleasant experience here! Parking was exceptionally easy to find. The cosy little store was clean and had great souvenirs at a very reasonable price. The staff were all extremely knowledge and kind. Our guide Charlie knows the swamp inside and out. We came during off season in January, however Charlie was still able to find any swamp critter within view. Not only was he tactful about spotting the animals he also knew the ecology, history and characteristics of the swamp and animals. The boat ride was fun and breezy and the tours are timed perfectly. Thanks for making our trip Honey Island!
PS. Buy some honey on your way out it’s well worth it!

Yesterday we had the chance to go on the swamp tour with Honey Island Swamp Tours and I have to say that we had a blast. The price itself was reasonable and the staff here was incredible. Our boat pilot was Renee Dupre (spellcheck) and he was incredible. He had a great sense of humor, he knew how to navigate the water and he knew his history. We ended up seeing a few alligators but we also saw a ton of other wildlife.
In the end we thoroughly enjoyed this tour and would recommend it to anyone visiting the area.

Honey Island Swamp Tours are fantastic.
Like many locals I always assumed swamp tours were hokey, touristy and money wasters. But when my oldest had a field trip this summer and begged me to chaperone, my fate was sealed. I was taking a swamp tour whether I liked it or not.
When I was a wee lad of about 10 or so, my grandmother decided to take one of my brothers and I on a swamp tour in Houma. That tour was conducted by the woman given credit for inventing the modern swamp tour, Alligator Annie. Back then swamp tours were a little different than they are now. A good example of the difference was that my brother and I were allowed to feed live gators raw chicken from a stick. It was pure awesomeness and I look back amazed one of us didn’t lose a limb. When I heard there is no interaction between the gators and those on a tour anymore, I was a little sad. That sadness turned to joy as soon as our modern day tour began.
The tour travelled down the pearl river, through the neighboring swamps and back again. We saw plenty of camps perched on the banks of the river that ranged from ramshackle shacks to high dollar luxury mansions. This was a part of the state that I had not seen, but it reminded me of my youth. Sharing that with my daughter was truly special.
The part of the tour most popular with everyone else were the gators. You could tell these gators are used to the tours. As soon as they heard those motors they made a beeline straight for the boat. The guide used hot dogs on a stick to coax the gators out of the water. Watching even the largest of the gators come completely out of the water was awesome. The gators were also fed a bunch of marshmallows which they also seemed to love.
I was really surprised at how much I enjoyed this tour. They’ve come a long way since the hand feeding of raw chicken, but it still was magical enough to put that twinkle in the eye of not only my oldest child, but my eyes as well.

Hands down one of my favorite places while visiting Louisiana.
As one can imagine for a swamp tour, this place is a little off the beaten path, but isn’t too far off the highway. Scheduling a tour is a bit low-​tech (we had to make a reservation over the phone and give them our credit card number to hold) but don’t let that scare you off — this is a legitimate business with boats that float and tour guides that actually know what they are talking about.
You’re on a flat bottom boat that is captained by a tour guide, who will point out various sights and critters for you to look at. Our guide was excellent — he was very knowledgeable about the swamp and the gators that live there, and had that dry, southern sense of humor («Now remember ya’ll, if a poisonous snake falls into the boat… he’s a lot more scared of you, so just pick him up and throw him in the swamp.»). The boat tour lasts about two hours, and if you go during the summer you are almost guaranteed to see some gators. You will also be able to see a Cajun Village, which is pretty much rednecks that live on the water. Very cool.
Mini food review — the Gator jerky is very tasty, but I think it’s a mostly pork/​gator mix. Kinda a bummer.