Gulf Coast Visitor Center

The visitor center itself is the most lackluster of the visitor centers for the Everglades NP, but friendly staff and good informational exhibits made it bearable. There are numerous Ranger– and Guide-​led activities, but we arrived too late in the day to participate.
However, the visitor center hosts the only NPS-​sanctioned tour boat activities of the Everglades NP. There’s a 2hr 6-​person small boat tour of the mangroves or a 1.5hr many person large boat tour of [some of] the 10,000 islands. We took the 5pm tour of the islands, which was wonderful. There were about 20 people, which was a nice sized group. The boat was stable and airy but covered to protect us from the elements. The 5pm tour was a lovely time of day for a water tour, nice breezes kept us cool. We saw lots of birds, many playful dolphins, and were taught a lot about the natural flora and fauna. We looked for, but didn’t find, manatees.
My biggest complaint were all the No-​See-​Ums that kept biting me if I stayed still at the visitor center — NOT a problem on the water. Keep moving, have bug prevention on, or at a minimum be forewarned!

My suggestion here is to take the ‘small boat’ tour, one of the shallow draft boats which seats six people. The Captain, in this case Rick, will take you out to the bay separating the 10,000 Islands from the mainland to look for Manatees. We found a pod of the gentle creatures but that was only the beginning of a wonderful two hour cruise. He led us back into the mangroves and river channels where we saw Osprey, Ibis and Dolphins. Then we navigated a small waterway so thick that he warned my friend and I about branches whipping our faces.
We even got to pull up to a bank where a 2000 year-​old Calusa Indian shell mound sat, probably 16 feet tall in places.
Through the entire tour I learned so much about the history, the types of Mangroves (there’s three kinds) and the ecological status of the surrounding area.
The visitor’s center is great for kids and adults with hands-​on displays teaching you about the manatees, sting rays and other creatures.