Guides

Wear light, quick-drying clothes you do not mind getting a little wet, and shoes that can get wet too. Add a hat, sunglasses, and sunscreen. That is the whole answer. You are paddling a kayak through a swamp in Louisiana, so the goal is cool, dry-fast, and easy to move in. Leave the nice outfit…

Spanish moss is not a moss, and it is not killing the tree. That trips up almost everyone the first time they paddle under it. The grey strands draped over every cypress out here are an air plant, a member of the bromeliad family, which makes Spanish moss a close relative of the pineapple. Same…

Yes, you can kayak the New Orleans swamp in winter, and on a mild day it is one of the most peaceful paddles of the year. South Louisiana winters are gentle compared to most of the country, so a calm, sunny day in the 60s makes for easy, pleasant paddling. The catch is the alligators….

Yes, the New Orleans swamp tour is worth it, and a guided kayak tour is the version worth your money. For 65 dollars you get two hours sitting at water level under old cypress, close enough to hear an egret’s wings and watch a gator slide off a log without a motor scaring it away…

Winter is the most underrated time to be in New Orleans. The weather is mild, the summer humidity is gone, and once the holidays pass, the crowds thin out in a way you never see in spring. You can walk into restaurants. You can hear yourself think on Frenchmen Street. And Bourbon Street, frankly, is…

Yes, kids can absolutely go on a swamp kayak tour, and they often have a better time than the adults. A swamp kayak tour with kids works best when the child is old enough to sit still for a couple of hours and follow a few simple instructions, usually around age 5 or 6 and…

The difference between a swamp and a bayou is simpler than people expect: a bayou is the water, a swamp is the land. A bayou is a slow-moving body of water, often an old river channel that no longer flows hard. A swamp is forested wetland, low ground where trees like cypress stand in shallow…

Fall kayaking in Louisiana is the best version of the swamp, and October is the sweet spot. The killer summer heat finally breaks, the daily afternoon storms thin out, and the alligators are still active because they stay out through October. You get comfortable paddling weather and a swamp that is still full of life….

If you are booking a swamp tour near New Orleans, you are really choosing between two very different experiences: a loud airboat that covers a lot of water fast, or a kayak that goes quiet and slow. We run the kayak version, so take our bias as given, but here is the honest comparison. What…

Mardi Gras is more than the big parades, and a lot of people miss that. The season runs for weeks before Lent, and most of those days are not the elbow-to-elbow crush you see on the news. There is king cake, neighborhood music, house-float decorations, and long stretches where the city just feels alive without…