Miami, Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood

[newxmascruiser]

Hi all

I am flying in to Miami for a cruise out of Fort Lauderdale, planning 2 nights either side of the cruise - 2 nights in Fort Lauderdale or Hollywood Beach and the other 2 in Miami.

I really want to do an Everglades boat tour as have never been, so my question is which of these 3 locations is the best to do it from with minimum travel time...

I've been researching and it seems if I travel up to FL and take the tour from there I'm heading pretty much back down towards Miami...is that right?

Thanks for any advice

[BlueHerons]

I would skip the Everglades June-August.

 

As far as where to stay, what time of year and what is your budget?

 

As for Hollywood, I'd stay at either The Diplomat or Margaritaville.

 

In Fort Lauderdale, Lago Mar, Marriott Harbor Beach, The W, The RC, The Westin, or The Hilton.

 

In Miami I'd stay in South Beach at The W, RC, The Loews, Delano, Shore Club, The Betsy, The Setai, Mondrian, or The Tides.

[Flymia]

That is correct, Everglades National Park is south of Miami. What time of year will you be there? June-September the everglades is a pretty miserable place, make sure to get there early and plan to be gone by 12:30pm or so or else it will be crazy hot or thunderstorms.

[newxmascruiser]

Thanks both very much for the replies.

It's not til next April so all good.

I've been to Miami and Fort Lauderdale a few times, so happy with knowing both areas some, it's just specifically the Everglades part that's got me stumped with its actual location for tours.

I was planning arrive MIA travel straight to FLauderdale or Hollywood for 2 nights, do Everglades tour, then cruise, leave cruise head straight back down to Miami 2 nights.

 

Actually seems like I'm better to take Everglades from Miami though - that's what I wanted to check

[newxmascruiser]

It totally depends on what part of the Everglades you go to. Be very careful with typical airboat tours, especially Holiday Park or Sawgrass Recreation. They are not anywhere near the real Everglades. We learned this the hard way. We took a Holiday Park tour and we were so disappointed. We really had hopes of experiencing the actual National Park. I did a google search and found a company that specializes in authentic Everglades with an actual biologist. It was amazing. We learned so much! We took our tour from Fort Lauderdale. The company was called Wild Lime Adventures. I can't remember the guides name but he was amazing!

 

Thanks so much that's great info!

How long was the journey from Fort Lauderdale to the actual park for the tour to start?

[BlueHerons]

Keep in mind that airboats are not allowed inside the national park.