Fort Lauderdale Things to Do Tips by Dabs

Everglades Airboat ride Air Boat Rides Review

One of the options post cruise was to book an airboat tour which then dropped us at the Miami airport so we opted to do that. We had a nice day for the airboat ride at the Everglades Holiday Park. Our ride was probably shortened because it was affiliated with the cruise, I think it was about 1/2 hour and their website says it's an hour tour. The first part of the tour is a thrill ride at a high speed sometimes going a bit sideways, then they cut the engine and float for a bit to do some alligator spotting. We saw two, a fairly big one and a smaller one, they don't seem to be afraid of the boats and you are pretty close to them although it's probably not a good idea to try and pet one.

Once back at the dock, they hit you up for a gratuity for the boat driver, try to get you to buy the picture you told them you didn't want taken for $10, another $5 if you want to hold a small gator and a bit more of a shakedown after the alligator show with one of the Gator Boys, Chris in our case.

It was cool seeing an alligator swimming around and the presentation by the Gator Boy was interesting, it's definitely something I'd recommend doing while in southern Florida if you have a chance.

Directions: Take Griffin Road West as far as it goes. You will dead end right at the park.

Website: http://www.evergladesholidaypark.com/

Beaches Beach Review

We didn't spend anytime sitting on the beach but I did get to walk a long portion of it from where the 17th Street Causeway meets the beach north to Terramar Street, about halfway between Las Olas Blvd. and Sunrise Blvd., where the Fort Lauderdale Rough Water Swim race started. You can either walk on a sidewalk the whole way or you can walk along the beach. It was early in the day when I walked it so we didn't see a lot of people but I'm guessing it gets more crowded as the day goes on. Lots of shops, restaurants and hotels along the beach which stretches the length of Fort Lauderdale.

Address: A1A (The Strip)

Directions: Drive down A1A of Ft. Lauderdale Beach. It is hard to miss.

Website: http://www.sunny.org/beaches/

Las Olas Blvd. Downtown Review

I apparently wasn't paying attention when people told me to visit Las Olas Boulevard, for some reason I thought that the section they were referring to was near the beach so we started walking...and walking...and walking. We finally got there, I'm not even sure how long it took, but most people will want to take the Sun Trolley or the bus to get to the section with restaurants and shops. The section closest to the beach is interlaced with canals and multi million dollar waterfront homes and boat docks. From the beach to Andrews Street is about 2 1/2 miles so it is a bit of a hike from the beach.

Las Olas Boulevard is the main shopping and dining street in Fort Lauderdale. Most of the shops and restaurants we saw, with the exception of Cheesecake Factory, looked to be independent and not chains, not a McDonald's or KFC in sight. I'm not much of a shopper and I really had a taste for seafood so we didn't spend very much time on Las Olas

Address: Las Olas Boulevard

Website: http://www.lasolasboulevard.com/

Water Taxi

Had it been a bit warmer, we probably would have bought a day ticket for the water taxi and explored some of the intercoastal waterway that runs through Fort Lauderdale but it was a cool windy day and I didn't think that being on the water would be all that pleasant.

From the website, it looks like an all day ticket with on/off privileges is $20, no option to buy a single ticket which I think is a little odd. If you stay on the boat for a round trip tour it takes about 3 hours, another 45 minutes if you do the Hollywood route. It's not a circular tour, rather there and back between Oakland Park Boulevard and Southeast 17th Street along the Intracoastal waterway, then west along the New River into downtown Fort Lauderdale to the Las Olas Riverfront complex.

Website: http://www.watertaxi.com/watertaxi/fort-lauderdale/