Captain Sterling’s Boat Tours

Alright, so the website is shady-​looking and they don’t have a hashtag for your photos, but give it a chance! This tour is strongly recommended as a primer for a day in the Everglades. This tour was excellent and I am glad I paired it with the Everglades Boat tour (inside the park) out of Flamingo Visitor Center. Intimate with a party of six, you cruise through the mangroves and learn about the history of the region. We got to see numerous manatees which thrilled me to no end. Every time our awesome guide, Island Mike, would point one out, our boat would erupt in squeals. We saw jellyfish mosey around the bottom of the water. We watched captive dolphins be trained by trainers in training (yes, that’s confusing). We saw a wild dolphin charge at the mangroves and then dine on the frightened fish as he sauntered back away from them. We saw the «mitochondrial Eve» of the mangroves – an ancient tree with a fun swimming hole. Island Mike has lived in Florida so long that he is definitely the expert on geology, culture, and wildlife. As a bonus, he recommended the Florida Keys Wild Bird Rehabilitation Center, Inc. which was a huge highlight of my trip. If you are a nature lover looking to learn about Southern Florida and the Everglades – TAKE THIS TOUR!

My sister, wife and I went for a tour on the 4^th of July weekend. The tour was great. We saw Manatee, Jellyfish, Dolphins, Mangroves and the guide knew the area well. The reason I give this a 2 out of 5 is strictly price. $ 60 per person? While the experience was nice, it wasn’t worth the gouging $ 180 for three people to coast along on a pontoon for an hour and a half. Save yourself the trouble and shop around a bit or come prepared to overpay.

This was a great experience. Don’t look here for an airboat ride, this is on a pontoon boat. Our guide, I believe his name was Dave, spoke to us before we left and explained what his tour was all about. You had the chance to back out at that time. He has lived in this area for 30+ years. Very knowledgable on the area. It was great to listen to him tell us about the Mangroves here & how they coincide with nature. He also took us down a few canals and found a Manatee. It was great. He also took us through the cutover from the Gulf side to the Atlantic side. Saw a few iguanas and different birds. It was interesting how they cut through the coral reefs. We also were lucky enough to see a seaplane take off. We highly recommend this tour. You will learn a lot.

We had Dave Brigham as our captain for the everglades ecotour. He was amazing. Has working with and in wildlife and it showed. Very honest guide and left us with more knowledge of the everglades/​key largo than we ever thought possible. Definitely ask for captain Dave brigham. He’s a lifelong southern florida local who gives you more than you pay for

I wanted to see manatees…(BADLY! Was on my bucket list) and this tour didn’t disappoint. Our guide was extremely knowledgable, professional and fun. Learning about the ecology of mangroves was a really wonderful bonus. We saw all kinds of wildlife and the coral canal was beautiful.
I went on the 11am tour, on a cooler 70 degree day… perfect temperature for tshirt and shorts. Bring water, sunscreen, bug spray, hat, a good camera and most importantly, polarized sunglasses! They cut the glare so you can see the critters under the water and everything looks a lil better with them on.
Highlights: frisky dolphins, upside down jellyfish, gorgeous birds, coral canal, majestic mangroves and all the sweet manatees!

Best thing we did in the keys. Dave was our tour guide and he knew so much about the ecology of the area.

I went on this tour 10 years ago and again today. Both times it was an excellent trip! The boat captains are incredibly knowledgeable and the scenery was breathtaking. Although I’m sure wildlife viewing is not guaranteed, on both trips I saw tons of wildlife including manatees and a wide variety of birds.
Be sure to bring water and sunscreen, there is a canopy top on the boat that provides limited shade.

Wonderful, entertaining, educational. Captain Dave was fantastic, and obviously very knowledgeable about both the scenery and particularly the wildlife of the Keys.

Captain Carol was fantastic. It was very educational and relaxing at the same time. It’s a great way to spend a couple hours.

Loved our experience. We were there in the off-​season, so we were the only two on the two-​hour tour. Captain Carol was awesome – she was knowledgeable of the bodies of water, the wildlife, and the local area. Recommended highly. It was informational, beautiful & relaxing. The 9am tour was perfect timing.