Looking for a Crocodile Tour Near New Orleans?

No, the big reptile here is the American alligator, and Louisiana has an estimated 2 million of them. Plenty of people use "crocodile" for any large water reptile, and every tour near New Orleans that mentions crocodiles is really an alligator tour. What you will see on the water are wild gators in their natural freshwater habitat.

Start with the snout. Alligators have a wide, U-shaped snout, crocodiles have a narrower, V-shaped one. Then check the teeth: close a gator's mouth and you only see its upper teeth, close a crocodile's mouth and its bottom fourth tooth still pokes out on both sides, an overbite you can spot even with the jaw shut. Habitat is the other tell. Crocodiles have salt glands that let them handle saltwater and brackish water, while alligators stick to freshwater. That's why Louisiana's freshwater bayous are gator country, not croc country.

One native species, the American crocodile, in one corner of the country: the brackish and saltwater areas of South Florida, roughly Everglades National Park down through the Florida Keys. There has never been a wild population in Louisiana or elsewhere on the Gulf Coast outside Florida. Worldwide it is a different story, with crocodile species across Africa, Asia, Australia and Central and South America.

Most likely, especially March through October when they're most active. These are wild animals in their natural habitat, so sightings are never guaranteed, but Louisiana has roughly 2 million of them and your Cajun captain knows where they tend to be. Even on a slow day, the bayou itself, cypress trees, herons, turtles, Spanish moss, is worth the trip.

They are close relatives, both in the order Crocodilia, but different families, and most people use the words interchangeably in conversation. If you came here wanting to see a huge armoured reptile in a swamp from a few feet away, that is exactly what a Louisiana swamp tour is.