Everglades airboat vs Jungle Queen cruise

Hi, I know the Everglades airboat and Jungle Queen cruise are two different things. But if you had the choice of doing one pre-cruise, which would it be?

I see there's a 20% discount for the Everglades airboat and this looks like a fun thing to do!

Thank you :)

Jungle Queen.

The airboats technically do not go into the park. Thank God they've banned them completely from the area.

Jungle Queen.

 

The airboats technically do not go into the park. Thank God they've banned them completely from the area.

I agree with BlueHerons. You have no guarantee of seeing animals and birds on an airboat ride. Jungle Queen is fun and a great way to see how Fort Lauderdale's 1% of the 1% live!

Thanks for the responses!

Would you recommend doing a 90 minutes morning or the 3 hours afternoon island cruise?

We would like to go for a ride on the water taxi as well.

Thanks for the responses!

 

Would you recommend doing a 90 minutes morning or the 3 hours afternoon island cruise?

 

We would like to go for a ride on the water taxi as well.

I would do the morning Jungle Queen cruise and then have all afternoon (and evening too if you want) for the water taxi.

We are considering doing the Jungle Queen as well, since we are staying at the Bahia Mar for 2 nights. Haven't settled on what else we are planning to do, so haven't decided the morning or afternoon ride yet either. I don't think there is anything to be gained by taking the water taxi in addition to the Queen, unless you planned to use the water taxi as transportation as well. Plus, the water taxi isn't exactly cheap. I'm a little too impatient to use something like the water taxi to get from A to B, and we have a rental car anyway.

We are considering doing the Jungle Queen as well, since we are staying at the Bahia Mar for 2 nights. Haven't settled on what else we are planning to do, so haven't decided the morning or afternoon ride yet either. I don't think there is anything to be gained by taking the water taxi in addition to the Queen, unless you planned to use the water taxi as transportation as well. Plus, the water taxi isn't exactly cheap. I'm a little too impatient to use something like the water taxi to get from A to B, and we have a rental car anyway.

Actually out of the two, the water taxi is far superior to the Jungle Queen.

It is a guided tour and impossible to get bored on.

Also, you break up the trip by hopping on and off to eat, shop, etc.

I always tell visitors that FLL is a city to see by water and not by land. The fronts of the homes do not face the street but face the water.

We've done Jungle Queen, airboat, and water taxi. For Jungle Queen, we did the evening tour to the island with dinner. We had a great time. If I had to choose between airboat and Jungle Queen, I'd happily take Jungle Queen. The water taxi for us was a great experience, but an all-day tour for us since we took the Hollywood line and switched at 17th Street to go into town.

Actually out of the two, the water taxi is far superior to the Jungle Queen.

 

Yeah, one or the other, but no real point to doing both. Depends on what else one was going to do as well.

Thanks for the responses everyone.

We too haven't figured out what we will be doing while in Fort Lauderdale - but we will definitely do a Jungle Queen cruise, whether it is the morning or afternoon departure. And maybe go to the beach, be tourists & catch the Sun Trolley etc. :)

Thanks again everyone!

Yeah, one or the other, but no real point to doing both. Depends on what else one was going to do as well.

Also, I wanted to tell you that in many cases, getting there by water is far faster than by land.

My BFF lives just over a mile away from me by way the bird flies. I can get there in ten minutes by boat, 12 minutes by bike, and 15-20 by car.

By car I go through three major intersections, about seven stoplights, and over or under a major waterway.

Actually out of the two, the water taxi is far superior to the Jungle Queen.

 

It is a guided tour and impossible to get bored on.

 

Also, you break up the trip by hopping on and off to eat, shop, etc.

 

I always tell visitors that FLL is a city to see by water and not by land. The fronts of the homes do not face the street but face the water.

Plus the water taxi route is much longer than the Jungle Queen's route. The Jungle Queen goes further up the New River but the water taxi goes much further up the intracoastal or you can take the route south to Hollywood (and go right through Port Everglades which especially fun on the weekend when lots of cruise ships are in port).

Plus the water taxi route is much longer than the Jungle Queen's route. The Jungle Queen goes further up the New River but the water taxi goes much further up the intracoastal or you can take the route south to Hollywood (and go right through Port Everglades which especially fun on the weekend when lots of cruise ships are in port).

I am trying to give life to this older thread. :) For the Jungle Queen morning cruise, does it not go down to Port Everglades then? Next month, I have a 5:00 PM flight out of FLL. I was looking at taking the Princess tour via the Carrie B, or booking the Jungle Queen on my own. It looks like the Carrie B does go down to the port. Do you know if these boats take the same route more or less? Thanks for any help/advise you can give.

I am trying to give life to this older thread. :) For the Jungle Queen morning cruise, does it not go down to Port Everglades then? Next month, I have a 5:00 PM flight out of FLL. I was looking at taking the Princess tour via the Carrie B, or booking the Jungle Queen on my own. It looks like the Carrie B does go down to the port. Do you know if these boats take the same route more or less? Thanks for any help/advise you can give.

The Jungle Queen goes down the New River from Bahia Mar and doesn't go really near the port unless they've changed their route.

The Jungle Queen goes down the New River from Bahia Mar and doesn't go really near the port unless they've changed their route.

Thanks so much for this information. You are very helpful to so many people on the CC boards. :)

Actually out of the two, the water taxi is far superior to the Jungle Queen.

 

It is a guided tour and impossible to get bored on.

 

Also, you break up the trip by hopping on and off to eat, shop, etc.

 

I always tell visitors that FLL is a city to see by water and not by land. The fronts of the homes do not face the street but face the water.

Blue Heron always gives excellent advice and I would agree with the above. We have done all three, airboat ride, Jungle Queen (multiple times) as well as the water taxi (every year).

It all depends on what you want.

If you want fast, fast, fast and a little excitement, take the airboat ride. And for what it is worth, it is over fast as well.

If you want something more relaxed and have plenty of time, take the water taxi. Blue Heron describes it quite well above.

If you want a nice evening ride that goes slowly up the New River, I would take the Jungle Queen. It is a little more expensive and has a dinner at the destination with entertainment that is a little hokey.

We have done the Jungle Queen and Airboat "ride" and of course the Water Taxi. We have also bought a day pass and rode the public bus. We took it down Federal Highway to Gulf Stream and Adventura Mall. We have also bused it to Hard Rock, but did take a short cab back to the hotel, because it was later at night.

My take on the Jungle Queen, its OK, you go more into the residential inland area. But the whatever you want to call the destination, is really hokey. I felt sorry for the animals in those small cages. They also take your photo upon embarkation and on the way back present them to you to purchase.

The water taxi gives you more flexibility to actually get information and see a lot of the $$$$ homes that you can't see from the street. You can take the day taxi see the homes, get off and check out different areas of Ft Lauderdale. Then after dark, you can retake the tour and actually see inside most of these homes, as they don't believe in drapes or shades. Believe me some of those furnishings, WOW. and the size of some of the TV's. If you are planning to purchase a water taxi ticket check the online website, as some of the restaurants along the route offer discounts when you show your ticket. You can still purchase your ticket onboard, just take a printout of any discounts you would be interested in.

The Airboat tour is a great way to get fresh air and just see nature in its pristine environment. Back before we rented a car, our hotel offered a trip to the Holiday Park with transportation to and from the hotel....We enjoyed it a lot. It was a little price, but the distance away, we had no problem with it. If you have a rental car, of course it would be cheaper.

Taking the bus, like I mentioned going south to Adventura mall, you can actually change to a bus that would take you to Miami. Going north, we have taken the bus to Ft Lauderdale by the Sea, nice neighborhood with restaurants, shops, and right on the beach.