Gators and Ghosts offers 3 to 5 convenient tour times daily, depending on the time of year. Year round, we have tour times at 9:45 a.m., 12 p.m., and 2 p.m. In the spring and fall we add a 4 p.m. tour. And in the summer, usually on the weekends, we offer a 6 p.m. tour time.

Our swamp tours are approximately 90 to 105 minutes of on-the-water boat time.

For guests using our round-trip transportation option, expect to spend about 4 hours total, including pick up and drop off, travel time to the dock and back, check in at the tour site, and the tour itself.

If you have a vehicle with you and you want to save some money, we recommend driving yourself out to the swamp docks.

Most of our bayou tours depart from Lafitte, Luling, Marrero or Westwego, all about 25-35 minute drives from downtown New Orleans.

We work with several docks and the address will be provided in your confirmation email. Guests who are driving themselves out to the dock should arrive 20 minutes early for check in.

We offer round-trip transportation to the swamp docks for guests who don't have a vehicle or don't want to bother with driving.

We can pick guests up from most French Quarter and Central Business District hotels, as well as select Garden District hotels. Though we can't pick up at private residences or AirBnB, we are happy to help guests figure out the closest available pick-up location. 

Guests who choose round-trip transportation must be in front of their designated pick up location at the time listed in the confirmation email they receive from Gators and Ghosts for their swamp tour.

There is up to a half-hour pickup window, meaning if your pick up start time is 10:45, our shuttle will be there sometime between 10:45 and 11:15; you must be ready to go by 10:45 otherwise you may miss your pickup and could forfeit your down payment.

Tours are non-refundable, but we can usually, as a courtesy, reschedule your tour free of charge, as long as you give us at least 24 hours notice.

If you need to cancel (and you give us 24 hours notice) but you can't find time to reschedule, we can, again, as a courtesy, put your order on hold indefinitely, and the next time you are in New Orleans, we will be happy to reschedule you for the same tour, even if it's years later. Just give us the name or order number from your original booking, and we can easily apply any money you paid towards the cost of the rescheduled booking. If the price of the tour has increased, your rescheduled tour will be at the new price.

We work with several different docks outside of New Orleans. They're all about a 30-minute drive southwest from the French Quarter area, across the Mississippi River. Until we receive your specific order, we aren't sure which dock we will be sending your group to.

Which boat you pick, availability for your chosen tour time, and other factors all play into which dock we might send you. You'll receive the exact address in your confirmation email.

We can pick you up at many hotels in the French Quarter, the Central Business District, and at a few spots on St. Charles Ave. near the Garden District. If you are not staying at one of our pickup spots, we can figure out which hotel would be closest and arrange to meet you there.

If you are checking out on our website, there is an option to select "Other" and you can tell us the address of where you are staying and we'll find the closest pickup location. You can also contact us for details.

You will not get soaking wet or dirty on the swamp tour. Dress for the weather.

Our boats are open topped and the speed of the airboat makes it windy. On chilly days, the wind can make it feel colder than it is. On warm days, the sun can make it feel even warmer. Sunscreen is advised.

We occasionally go out in light rain. Feel free to bring a poncho.

Our captains make the ultimate decision on whether the tour will be cancelled due to weather. We will often go out in light rain but rarely in heavy rain and never when there's lightning.

If the tour is cancelled by our captains, we will work to reschedule you.

Our airboat swamp tours are the most popular tours we sell with the least number of available seats, so they sell out the quickest.

We recommend you book as far in advance as you can to guarantee availability. We take bookings up to a year in advance. Realistically though, you don't need to plan quite that far ahead.

The larger your group, the earlier you should book. Most of our guests book anywhere from two months to a week ahead. That said, thanks to cancellations, we are often able to squeeze you in on the day of the tour. Please contact us to double check.

In the summer, our 9:45 a.m. tour time is best, before the gators retreat for the shade.

In the winter, 12 p.m. may be a little better as the gators like to catch a little sun while it's cold out. That said, our captains are in the bayou every day and know where alligators like to hang.

We aren't a zoo and we can't guarantee you'll see any specific wildlife, but you always have a good chance, especially on an airboat swamp tour, since airboats can ride over very shallow areas compared to other kinds of boats

Maybe. We can't guarantee any specific animal encounters or experiences. It does happen sometimes, but every tour is different. Sometimes the captain has a baby gator with him. Sometimes they'll try to pull a small gator out of the water. Other times it doesn't happen or isn't possible for a variety of reasons.

As we frequently say, we aren't a zoo, and we certainly aren't a petting zoo. Each tour is unique and somewhat unpredictable. It's best to go in with an open mind and not too many expectations regarding any particular wildlife. Regardless of whether you get to hold a baby gator or not, you are going to have a blast.

Absolutely. To book a private swamp tour, you essentially buy all the seats on the boat. We have boats of a variety of different airboat sizes from 6 to 30 passengers. We will try to match you with the smallest boat available that will accommodate your group. Contact us for a quote or more information.

The swamp tour itself on the boat is approximately 90 to 105 minutes. If you choose our hotel pickup transportation option from New Orleans to the bayou, round trip is a little under 4 hours.

Yes. The prices listed above are per person on the boat.

We have several different options.

Our Small Airboat is the most premium option, seating a max of 10 guests, for an intimate bayou experience. It is our most nimble boat, taking you places in the swamp that other boats can't reach. Book this small boat tour well in advance.

Our Medium Airboat, seating roughly 16 guests is our most popular New Orleans swamp tour, providing the perfect balance of speed, maneuverability, and affordability.

Our Large Airboat, which seats around 30 guests, is our best value when it comes to airboats.

Our covered pontoon boat swamp tour offers a quieter, more laid-back experience a shady and comfortable boat that can seat up to 72 people. It's an amazing value!

Not true at all.

Though airboats are quite loud at their top speeds (we provide hearing protection for you), when the boat nears an alligator or another animal we want to observe, your captain will cut the engines and you'll quietly glide over to the creature, no harm done.

In fact, because airboats are so small and nimble, they can get to many shallow or cramped areas that other (larger, quieter) boats couldn't dream of going into.

No promises, but we don't have many guests complain of seasickness after attending our swamp tours.

Airboats are pretty smooth rides and the water is fairly calm as compared to being on a cruise in the ocean. The boats are fast though, so if you are prone to motion sickness in cars, maybe take some Dramamine as a precaution.

Probably not, as the bugs aren't too bad in the daytime. Still, it can't hurt. Feel free to bring your own, but please apply it before stepping on board.

There isn't one. Same kind of boat. Some folks call it a fanboat. We happen to call it an airboat.

No. The American Alligator is what you'll often find on our swamp tours, while the American Crocodile can be found most commonly in the tropical regions around Caribbean Sea, Central America and South America.

The easiest way to distinguish between the two is by looking at the nose: a croc's nose is narrow compared to the broad nose of a gator.

Our swamp tour guides are Coast Guard certified Cajun Captains. They know their way around the swamp and know where to find the local wildlife.

Gators and Ghosts works with several different swamp tour operators outside of New Orleans.

For our airboat tours, you may see the waters near the Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Lake Borgne, Bayou Segnette, and private swamplands in St. Charles Parish, Louisiana.

Our covered tour boats also operate out of the Jean Lafitte area, Bayou Segnette, as well as the Manchac Swamp.

We don't sell it online right now, but if you visit us Gators and Ghosts’ French Quarter Visitors Center at 728 St. Louis Street, we can also place you on swamp tours out of the Honey Island Swamp and Pearl River, north of New Orleans.