It is possible to arrange an entire vacation around visits to the theme parks – but it is always good to find an alternative way of spending a few hours.  Especially when it is something which simply isn’t available at home – at least for UK and European visitors.

So we can thoroughly recommend an airboat ride as a great ‘tourist attraction’ – slightly off the beaten track, yet typically Floridian.

One option is to drive down to the Everglades, where airboat rides will skim you across the lakes – yet there are similar trips available much closer to the attractions area in central Florida.

Our favourite is at Boggy Creek, just minutes away from Orlando International Airport (close enough that you can read the writing on the sides of the jets as they land at the airport!).  Here you can join an airboat ride which takes you across East Lake Toho – a typical daytime trip lasts around 30 minutes, with a very different experience available after nightfall.

This is an opportunity to see the local wildlife, including eagles and turtles, as well as alligators.  And in an 18 seater airboat, at high speeds skimming across the water amongst the reeds – do take up the option of earphones, as the engine on these boats is loud, to say the least!

So – a few tips to enjoy your airboat ride:

Take a discount voucher with you – these are widely available in many tourist brochures, distributed at kiosks, malls and supermarkets.  A couple of dollars saved on the cost can be very welcome!

Wear shades – the sun is very bright on the water.  And there will inevitably be a few insects, so shades will protect your eyes at speeds of up to 50 mph.

Wear a sun-block – its not worth the risk of sunburn.

Booking is not always necessary – but be prepared for a short wait at the coffee bar, or an opportunity to grab a bite to eat.

One of the trips I would like to recommend to anyone going out to Florida is an air boat ride. We picked the one on the Boggy Creek road as it is only 19 miles away and an easy 25 minute drive and you don’t have to book either.

The cost per ticket is $25 for ½ hour and slightly less for kids but do look in the attraction tickets booklets in Wallmarts for money off coupons for this and others.

We only waited a short while for our time slot and the waiting area was under cover which as the temperature that day was over 100’ was very welcome. There was an area also that you could look into that held quite a few young crocodiles.

Our number was called and we picked up our ear defenders before boarding. These are necessary as the noise from the engine fan at the rear is quite loud. The boat holds approximately 30 people and we were lucky enough to get the first 2 rows.

The boat goes quite fast and twists and turns before slowing down and moving into a small inlet with reeds and shallow water. All of a sudden we saw a croc and edged closer to it. It was about 4 foot long and was only about 18 inches from the side of the boat. All of a sudden he opened his mouth and we all edged away although it wouldn’t have been able to get near anyone on the boat.

We then went to another inlet and saw another croc but it scuttled away before we could get some more pictures.

The boat then picked up speed and for the next 10 minutes we were flying all through the weeds and across the water, zig zagging as we went along. The kids loved it.

All too soon it was time to go back to shore but the highlight of the day was to get to hold a small croc and have your photo done with it. I’m very glad to say that his jaws were firmly taped together.