Cajun Encounters Tours

This experience was absolutely wonderful. Captain Bishop was funny and informative. We thought it would be hot and stinky but it definitely was not, even in late June! We came away with a new-​found respect for the swamp, the south LA culture and the wildlife. Really cool to see four baby pigs running away as we watched the mama. We probably saw 30 gators and the kids got to throw marshmallows to them. So much fun! A definite must for families or couples.

Best thing we did in NOLA– You should do it too – It was raining and it made no difference in the fun of this trip to the swamp tour. If I ever go to NOLA again. I’m doing this tour. Up close and personal with the gators was just one small part of this awesome trip. The drive out from the Waldorf Astoria was actually pleasant and we saw common scenes of Louisiana. Plenty of parking and the group tour started on time. We saw all kinds of wildlife and natural scenes which were mesmerizing. No wonder Walt Disney went on a boat ride here and was inspired to use this as a backdrop. I highly recommend this tour and hope to do it again someday!!!

What an amazing tour! This was not what expected at all. My family and I loved this tour of the swamp and never would have thought how interesting and beautiful it could be. The tour was about 2 hours long, we felt safe, saw some alligators, birds, boars and turtles. Thanks God we were lucky and were able to get a covered boat. The swamp is huge and we loved everything about it. I HIGHLY recommend this tour to everyone visiting Louisiana.
Tips: get there 30 minutes early, bring sunglasses, bug repellent, and water.

This was a great tour, last about an hour on the boat. We got to see a 13 ft alligator named scarface! He was pretty majestic. Also a bunch of baby gators, birds and wild pigs. They feed the gators with a stick and position the boat so you get to take good pictures.
On the way from the city to the swamp (about 30 min) we got to listen to new orleans history and about the hurricane Katrina and the aftermath.
They have a gift shop with souvenirs, sunscreen, bug spray, sandwiches etc so if you forget anything don’t worry.
They do pick you up from your hotel in a spacious bus. I wish they were a bit more punctual with the drop off and pickup. Waited about 30 min in front of the hotel and also when they were picking us up from the swamp had to wait.

Really enjoyed the swamp tour. I did the tour back in 2011 also and I thought it was better back then. We were in a smaller boat and our tour guide was phenomenal. This time our guide was knowledgeable but very matter-​of-​fact. It was still a good tour though. Enjoyed seeing alligators, pigs, birds, etc.

If you get a chance to get out of down town, heading out to Slidell and the honey island swamp is a great way to really see some Louisiana countryside.
TIP: if you drive yourself out, follow the directions on the company’s website and not google maps. It’s a much more interesting drive and takes the same amount of time. Also — stop for Chubbies fried chicken on the way out or the way home. Trust me on this one (or see my review for Chubbies)!!
Compared to similar tours we’ve done in other cities, this seemed like a total bargain.
You can either drive yourself out or arrange for transport from your downtown hotel directly through Cajun Encounters. If you drive yourself, leave a good 90 minutes to drive out. You can probably make it in much less time but we hit a few traffic patches and there are some slower roads and we ended up taking over an hour.
There are restrooms at the tour check-​in office — be sure to use them before heading out to the boat, because you won’t have any other opportunity to go for the next few hours!
We had the pleasure of riding with Captain Matt, and he was in general an outstanding person. He was funny and knowledgeable and you could tell he has a very genuine affection and concern for all kinds of wildlife and nature. He did a great job of engaging everyone in our group, and patiently answered my many questions.
So what did we see? Gators, of course! And also wild boar (unbelievably cute and curious creatures!), Eagles, heron, egrets, turtles, snakes, and I’m sure a few other creatures I’ve forgotten. We got WAY closer to the wildlife than I could have hoped for! It was very, very ‘up close and personal’ for them all being truly wild animals!
Captain Matt explained so much about the swamp ecosystem and history — I felt like we got an animal experience, a history tour, and a bit of a nature education all in one tour.
If you’re picturing a Louisiana swap as a muddy, stinky place… Think again! The honey island swamp area was truly gorgeous!
I would absolutely go back for another tour with Cajun Encounters!

We had a fantastic time on our swamp tour this evening. Capt Matt took us out and he was fantastic. Very knowledgable and quite funny. We got to see lots of wildlife and really enjoyed the entire experience (even through a bit of rain). Would definitely recommend!

Excellent tour. Captain Sonny was great, knowledgeable and made the tour awesome. Definitely recommend this for all. Swamp lots of wildlife and gator and wild boar comes to boat for marshmallows. Ask for Sonny for your guide.

Best swamp tour in the area. Excellent staff and great tour guide. This will be our 5^th tour my wife and I have taken family and friends on. Highly recommend to complete the entire NOLA experience.

These folks put together an awesome swamp tour and we also really appreciated the option of having a hotel pickup since we opted not to rent a car for our trip. The bus brings you about half an hour away to Honey Island swamp where the captain of our boat took us through the swamp and bayou over the next couple hours. We had a chance to see wild boars and a handful of gators as well, all very cool. In fact, our captain had marshmallows with him to lure the boars right to our boat for an up close experience.
At about $ 50/​person including the hotel pick up, the experience was tons of fun and totally worth it.

My tour this past weekend with Cajun Encounters was my second swamp tour with a different company, and I will say, while there is a certain charm about taking an air-​boat ride through the bayou (other company) I absolutely LOVED everything about this experience and would recommend Cajun Encounters vs the other guys to anyone that wants to listen.
They offer a convenient hotel pickup (the only thing I would change about this is I think a reminder email or call/​text the day before would have been awesome) and the bus that took us out to the swamp was really nice. Sign in was easy and they assign a different colored wrist band to each group so you know where to go. Also, the groups are not overcrowded, which I liked.
Our captain was both knowledgeable and extremely entertaining. I learned he rehabs raccoons (among other various wildlife) and is clearly passionate about all the critters out in the swamp, which to me made the tour soooooooo much more enjoyable than the last one I went on. Plus, being there in March isn’t really gator season, so he went out of his way to make sure we saw a couple. I really was blown away by his level of customer service!
We went out to the Honey Island Swamp and got to see raccoons and wild boar-​that all have their own names mind you-that’s how much this company loves their critters! How cute is that?!? We also saw egrets, woodpeckers, gators, turtles, some snakes and one of the biggest blue herons I have ever seen. It was truly an animal lovers dream! I wish I could go back out again tomorrow! The only thing we didn’t see was the swamp monster, however some of our guides stories about pranking people about the monster totally made up for it. LOL
Seriously A++++
I had the best time!

My husband and I went on the Swamp Tour on ²⁄₂₈ at 2:50PM. Jacob was our guide. He was FANTASTIC! He was very knowledgeable and entertaining. He really took his time finding us gators to see even though it was somewhat cold out and most were hiding. He gave us a lot of really good, educational information about the area. We then jetted over to the swampy area where the wild (completely spoiled) boars hang out. He made sure we were well educated about that area as well. The boars were very cool and got right up next to us to be fed.
All in all we had a great time and learned A LOT without feeling like we were in a class or something. It was awesome. Money well spent and we’ll definitely be back on our next visit to NOLA for the plantation tour!
Thank you, Cajun Encounters and thank you, Jacob!!!

Great swamp tour and Cptn. Greg was fantastic! Got us up and personal with the wild pigs and tried his hardest to find some gators. Was a bit early in the season but we saw a few baby gators!
Only complaint was our drive back into the city our driver decided to go down Decatur Street which had so much traffic we had to change our plans of not going back to the hotel and got off in French Quarter. It would have taken another hour to get bank to our hotel! Not a good move on the tour driver!

This was an okay tour… I went on another one with a diff company that I felt was much better. On this one we only say one baby gator, barely. Saw tons of boars tho. Was dissapointed that the tour didn’t cover more region/​area like the other company did. Saw way more alligators on the other tour the previous month.

Great swamp tour… our guide /​Capt Greg was well informed, funny and gave us an excellent tour. Enjoyed riding around the bayou. Encountered some alligators upclose and a lot of wild boars too.
A really great sight going around the swamps

We came here with the family with the family after the concierge at the hotel recommended it. He tried his best to sell us his «discounted» package with the tour company picking us up at the hotel for $ 50 per person. But, being the frugal guy that I am, I did my web research and found out that it was only $ 25 for me to drive the family out there. When I called them, they gave us an even better discount. Discount was all I needed hear, so, I promptly purchased my tickets over the phone. Instead of paying over $ 100 for our family, it cost us a little bit over $ 50.
We arrived 30 minutes early to their location in Slidell, as they instructed us. They had ample parking in front of their location, with dirt lots on both sides of the highway. We checked in at their office and then waited outside in the hot humid outdoors. Rubber bracelets were given to us upon check in. The bracelets color corresponded with the boat that you would go out on. Restrooms (trailers) were available outside. The restrooms, at least the men’s, were pretty clean. Waiting was the toughest part in the hot humid Cajun Swamp.
The Captain of our boat came out and led us to our boat. My wife didn’t think the boat was too clean. She complained to me that there were ants in the boat that we took the tour on. The daughter and I didn’t mind.
It was an interesting tour. The Captain told us about the swamp and what Hurricane Katrina did to the swamp. We were able to see a deserted boat and the new path that the swamp/​river took after the hurricane hit. They took us through parts of the swamp that looked Walt Disney incorporated into parts of Disneyland.
We only saw gators and wild pigs on the tour. It was neat watching the Captain feed the gators and have them swim right up to the boat. I was in total awe of the gators and was sure that I would never be able to outswim a gator if I fell in the swamp. Then I saw the family of pigs. I thought it was interesting that the pigs also ate the same marshmallows and hot dogs — that were probably made with pork. Not that I tried it, but, I realized that if these pigs, could survive in the same swamp without the gators eating them, then the chances of me out swimming a gator was pretty good.
The tour is an okay tour. You do get to learn about the swamp. But it was more of a feed the alligators and pigs ride, than a swamp tour. My wife hated it and wished she stayed back at the hotel. The daughter loved it. I thought it was an A OK experience. If my wife was rating this, it would be 1 star. If my daughter was rating this place, it would be a five star experience. For me, it was just 3 stars.

We’ve been in several swamp tours living in Louisiana. This one was definitely one of the best. The grounds and building was by far the nicest. The bathrooms outside are even air conditioned! The gift shop prices are really reasonable and they have all kids of stuff in there. Our captain was captain bishop who was super informative and friendly. He made sure that we got to see as much as possible even though the alligators seemed to be in hiding. We saw a family of about 20 wild hogs, a raccoon, snakes, tons of massive spiders, and mostly smaller alligators. All of the boats were in really good condition which I really appreciated. Captain bishop even kept us out about 20 minutes longer than our tour to show us some extra things. If you’re from out of town and trying to pick a swamp tour, this is the company to go with.

Awesome tour. They provide transportation if you are in a hotel and get you too and from in a timely fashion. The tour itself was great. Our tour guide was knowledgeable and funny. We saw gators, pigs, a few birds and some houses on the water. Overall a very memorable trip and highly recommended.

By far one of the best run Swamp tours. Our tour was scheduled for 9:30. They picked us up at our hotel in an air conditioned coach bus. Our bus driver gave us a little history on LA on our way to the swamp. This is approximately a 30 minute drive. There we checked in and the assigned a captain and boat. While on the boat the captain explained the flora and fauna. We saw alligators, of course, wild boar (my favorite), raccoons, owls, turtles and several birds. And better yet… not a single mosquito!!!
We were back at our hotel by 12:30.
I highly recommend you take this tour. Everyone was so nice. Very cute gift shop also.

Swamp tour doesn’t sound all too appealing but it was actually very fun, peaceful, and full of animals. We got the boat without shade — holy sun! But apparently it doesn’t radiate with heat as much as the boats with the metal shade.
Anyway, we saw some gators, birds, wild pigs, and turtles. It was actually quite beautiful and not some dirty muddy swamp like I had imagined.