Not only will you be introduced to the great birding and wildlife in the area by your naturalists guide, you will also learn about the eco-systems, it rich heritage and long history.
Our tours are never "canned", so each tour is different. The area's wildlife move around in order to exist in their world and so must we. Many species are seasonal and inhabit different areas in different environmental conditions, so too, we must be able to adapt. Bring your cameras, binoculars, snacks, favorite drinks, hats, sunglasses and have a great time!!
Visit an uninhabited barrier island beach to collect shells, sand dollars and other treasures!
Note: June through October, we suggest the morning experiences due to the weather.
Posted By : LightPacker556085
Excellent adventure... ran with the dolphins, went shelling on an island near Marco , visited a rookery and saw manatees... Great captain!
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Posted On : 2024-06-15 08:22:25 
Posted By : yolandavP2402TV
Worth it! Knowledgeable staff. They provided details of what we saw. We saw an Eagle, pelican, and other birds. We saw several dolphin and we were lucky enough to see them leaping out of the water. We stopped on a sand bar and collected lots of flat shells.
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Posted On : 2024-06-09 21:58:13
Posted By : Peggy_T
The captain of our boat was very knowledgeable and knew how to attract the dolphins to play. My only negative comment is that I wish we had a few more minutes for shelling.
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Posted On : 2024-05-28 15:37:04 
Posted By : Maren_Y
Captain Ed was awesome! So knowledgeable. He made sure we would see dolphins, and we sure did. He knew exactly how to get them to play. Even helped us find shells. So worth it!!
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Posted On : 2024-05-26 09:50:19
Posted By : Amber_B
It was so much fun, the tour guide was very knowledgeable and gave us a great experience! We definitely recommend this tour.
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Posted On : 2024-05-10 09:42:35
Posted By : 909jimr
Whenever we're on Marco Island (frequently) we always book the two-hour dolphin/shelling/birding tour with Everglades Area Tours. The guides are great and know the area and its wildlife very well. We were lucky to book a tour with our favorite guide, Ed, when we visited in April 2024. There were a lot of people on this tour but it didn't seem crowded. We tried to book near low tide, which is better for birding and shelling, too. We had several very close dolphin encounters, with mature and immature dolphins; very cool. Eventually Ed beached us on Kice Island for birding and shelling. We're really into birding so we were looking forward to this. There were plenty of Black Skimmers, Royal Terns, Least Terns, Black-bellied and Wilson's Plovers, Brown Pelicans (the White Pelicans had all migrated north by this time) and at least one American Avocet. But the coolest thing by far was the immature Northern Gannet that Ed spotted, a bird very seldom seen in SW Florida (or anywhere else in North America besides Maine). I have a poor photo of it taken with my smartphone, but it was unmistakable; like a Brown Pelican with a very different head. Ed and the other guides were all very excited, and I was grateful to be able to add this bird to my life list. Ed is an excellent guide; very aware of the flora and fauna of the area and stand-up guy, too. We very much enjoyed our trip and look forward to the next one. Afterwards, we had our traditional post-trip lunch at Crabby Lady in Goodland, which was also memorable.
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Posted On : 2024-05-08 10:41:19
Posted By : dalit57
We really enjoyed the tour! Our guide was super nice and knowledgeable, and succeeded finding and showing us dolphines, birds of many kinds, manatees. He even managed to make one of the dolphine play with us! It was a wonderful experience, very much recommended!
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Posted On : 2024-04-18 12:25:19
Posted By : emilycB2800UA
We had a wonderful experience with Captain Kate. I’ve been on many dolphin tours and this was the best experience I’ve had. They were jumping in the surf behind the boat and it was amazing. My daughter loved the shelling part of the tour as well and collected a lot of pretty shells to bring home. Kate was knowledgeable, friendly and accommodating. She shared a lot of knowledge about the local wildlife, landscape and lunch recommendations. Would definitely go again and would recommend.
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Posted On : 2024-04-14 10:03:04
Posted By : Seaside39824896894
Captain Ed was amazing. Great guild. Made it all a good trip Dolphins, birds and the seashells were all beautiful and interesting
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Posted On : 2024-04-14 09:28:11
Posted By : robertrG6155YP
We really enjoyed our excursion. The group that was signed up for the the tour was a larger one, so we were put on a smaller 6 person boat - which was great! Our captain/guide was very knowledgeable and shared many interesting facts about the area and it's wildlife. The shelling portion of the tour was really great. Only issue is that our tour was a shorter than expected (perhaps reducing the time we could have spent on the island shelling/swimming) because one group showed up late and we waited over 20 minutes for them. This seems to be happening more and more. Folks show up late, with a story about traffic or a longer wait at the restaurant, don't apologize, and the people that planned accordingly/ left early because there might be traffic have to wait or get their tour shortened.
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Posted On : 2024-04-07 07:18:44
