Okefenokee Adventures

We went on a Friday before a holiday weekend, President’s Day.

As the Foster state park we were staying in on the other side of the swamp was booked up for their boat tours, we decided to do the 1.25 hour drive to get a tour over here and I’m so glad we did. We reserved a private boat tour, however that was completely unnecessary as there were almost no visitors to the park on the day that we were there. We didn’t really even need a reservation.

Our tour guide was great and gave lots of details about the swamp and its history. He went out of his way to show us specific vegetation that we were interested in. It was also fun to see how different the side of the swamp was from the western side, so make sure you visit both sides of the swamp. He also gave us some nice info about the history of the US park service and the fish and wildlife service. I’d say this was a must-do tour if you are visiting the area.

This group was also great about masking during COVID.

We arrived late afternoon and took a sunset tour on a cloudy, overcast day. But then the sun peeped through while we were out in the Chesser Prairie and it was amazing. The guide was lovely, she gave us the depth and breadth of the swamp and so knowledgable about all the wildlife we saw.
Then, we took a four-hour ride on a day with perfect blue skies, perfect temperatures and no bugs -- wow.
We've been talking it up with anyone who will listen and look forward to our next visit!

Arrived shortly after opening for boat tour. First tour was booked for a family outing so we reserved a 1030 am trip. Did the recommended self guided auto tour and walked to the observation tower while waiting. Saw many birds. Our guide for the boat tour was very knowledgable. He pointed out many of the birds, turtles, and alligators. Glad we took the boat tour instead of renting kayaks since you need to travel quite far down a manmade canal before you actually get to the swamp.

We did a 4 hr private sunset tour of the swamp. DJ our guide in the boat was great, knew where the gators normally ‘hang’. He loved the barn owls (i think that was their name), could call to them - there were 2, and when he called, one flew close to us. Maybe i should have rated the trip a 4 because he had motor problems, and at dusk it was a bit dicey to get the motor working. But he knew what he was doing. We have been to Savannah and Charleston several times, but this 3 wk trip had the swamp as the highlight

We did the 90 minute boat tour offered by Okeefenokee Adventures. This tour was amazing. We sat in a long, open motor boat with a cover, so we were shaded. The guide was knowledgable, friendly, and interesting. He told us plenty of facts and stories, and also let us float down the waterway in silence sometimes, just enjoying nature. We saw LOTS of alligators, which is what I came for! But we also saw huge spiders, white ibises, strange flowers, and more.
There were some children under five on our boat and the tour was too long and boring for them. I would not recommend bringing young children. They were fussy and talked over the guide, which was hard for the rest of us. To his credit, our guide was a calm and smooth at handling their interruptions as could be.

We loved the boat experience. The water is so clean, and the reflections of the tress are so mesmerizing like mirrors. It was particularly memorable that the tour guide, Joey, asked us to stay for several minutes to listen to the sound of the nature, by the end of the Great Prairie. Yes, no human voice, no machine engineer's noises; everything is peaceful and ever-lasting. We can hear the grass is whispering, the water is flowing, and this is the sound of the quietness.

Our guide for this boat tour was Alex. He said he had lived in the area his whole life, and looked like someone from Duck Dynasty. He was awesome. We had a small group, three couples.

The tour was very informal. We felt comfortable right away, when Alex cracked some jokes. He did not really have a narrative, he took his lead from us. He was very easygoing, and my normally quiet boyfriend asked many questions. Alex could answer them all. He gave us a ton of information.

It was a warm day in February, sun was burning bright. We tooled down the Suwanee Canal. We ended up seeing many alligators, turtles, an egret hunting and striking, a small blue heron. We missed an American Bittern Alex caught a glimpse of. When he backed up it was gone.

We did get off the canal for awhile, back into a "prairie" area with lilypads and different plant life. There we saw two large gators sunning themselves on a bog. My boyfriend asked if it was sturdy and Alex stepped right out of the boat on to it!

The best thing about the tour was Alex's sense of humor. I'll admit right here, we're from the Midwest, and don't know much about swamps! But every (I'll use the word naive) question we asked, Alex had a great comeback or story. He was patient and really funny!

And he ended up getting in the last laugh when, after walking the boardwalk to the observation tower, (very beautiful, by the way) there was a closed gate at the end of the road. The sign on the gate said "pull forward to open gate". I got out of the car and was pulling on the gate with no success. Alex was leaving work in his car, passing by, and cracked a joke about pulling THE CAR forward to set the automatic gate in motion. Sooo funny (and embarrassing!)

Overall great tour, although a little spendy. With tax it was around $63 for two people. I would do it again though, the swamp is amazing, especially for the curious and all nature lovers!

4 Adults- we reserved 2 canoes 5 paddles (one just in case), 4 backs, 1 dry bag. It was luxurious to be able to pull up to canal run and have half the gear there so we could get into the swamp easier. The stafff at Okefenokee Adventure were great. They were ready for us confirmed our itenerary and walked us through the paddle and helped us get everything on and off the water.

The sunset cruise was perfect ( our guide Alex knows so much about the swamp and we learned a ton) and such a contrast to the heat of the day spent kayaking, which was also an amazing experience. The water trails for kayak or canoe are very easy to follow and for most of the time we never even saw other people. One of the best real nature experiences ever. We are going to bring our adult kids and grandson here soon!

We live about 3 hours from Folkston, Georgia, where Okefenokee Adventures is located. We called to make a same day reservation, and were happy to be able to secure a 2:45 time slot for the one and one half hour boat ride through the swamp. We arrived about an hour and fifteen minutes early and enjoyed a hamburger and fries which were very good. We took a brief drive on the swamp trail, and returned for our ride. Our guide, Hannah, was informative and personable throughout the ride, giving us good information and answering all our questions. We do very much recommend this site for a visit, and will likely visit again with our grandchildren.