About Honey Island Swamp
Honey Island Swamp in Louisiana is over 20 miles long and 7 miles across; this protected and well-preserved marshland is filled with wildlife and is a great place to explore and get up close with alligators and other swamp-life.
Dr Wagner’s Honey Island Swamp Tours
Honey Island Swamp Tours
A good way to explore Honey Island Swamp is by joining a two-hour tour with Dr Wagner’s, which is just a short 40 minute drive from New Orleans. I visited Honey Island Swamp en route to New Orleans, a few years ago with Trek America.
I’ve seen gators in the wild in Central America and at Gatorland in Florida, growing up, but this was a much more authentic experience (compared to Gatorland), because these gators are free to roam a well-preserved and protected swamp environment. Admittedly, there is still the feeling of being in a theme park, as the gators are used to human contact, particularly with the tour guides who also feed them, to encourage them to make an appearance.
Feeding time!
We didn’t have to wait long for the gators to appear and approach the boat; those gators know where to get their snacks!
What I wasn’t expecting was what happened next; wild boar swimming towards the boat! This was incredibly cute and I’ve never seen anything like it before. Despite the gators feeding on hotdogs on a stick, they didn’t seem interested in eating the cute lil’ piggies who they were sharing feeding space with!
Swamp-life
In addition to gators and wild boar, Honey Island Swamp is home to many other wildlife including turtles, bald eagles, waterfowl, herons, egrets, ibis, owls, osprey, deer, nutria, raccoon, otter, beaver, mink and frogs.
Even if you visit the swamp and see little wildlife, the swamp itself is still a fascinating place to visit and explore; the guides are very knowledgeable about both the area and swamp life, so you should expect to come away having learned something too!
Dr Wagner’s Honey Island Swamp tour certainly didn’t disappoint; I was hoping to see some gators but was not anticipating we would see so many and the wild boar were definitely another unexpected highlight too.
Key facts: Honey Island Swamp Tours
Location: Exit Interstate 10 in Slidell at exit 266 (US 190)
Opening times: daily (apart from major holidays) with tours in the morning and afternoon
Current cost: Adults $23, children $15 (reservation is required)
Find out more: Honey Island Swamp Tour website
Disclaimer: I was not asked to write this post and received no payment for it.