Tom & Jerry’s Airboat Rides

So much fun. The day we went was cloudy so it was a little cold when you got wet but so worth it. Holding the baby gators at the end was pretty awesome also.

On a failed attempt at venturing on a Manatee tour, we saw the signs for baby gators during our drive. Literally, a cartoon alligator in diaper– selling point I’m sure.
I wasn’t much interested in getting on an airboat, but I was interested in seeing some gators, baby or otherwise. We reached Tom & Jerry’s office and somehow, movies like wrong turn totally struck me. The office is clean, and quaint, with various gator artifacts all along their shelves.
Checking in and using a coupon was easy. We were scheduled on the next tour which held about 12 of us in total. Prior to hopping on, we got a chance to meet a baby gator sans the cute smile and pampers. Well, this one wasn’t quite a baby. She was about 4 feet long, and such an interesting creature. She felt cold and supple, but rigid at the same time. Super weird.
We then got onto the boat which sat all of us rather comfortably. Our boat guide made our ride fun, taking crazy turns and running over all sorts of things. We found only 3 gators unfortunately. I actually thought there would be a lot more.
The whole tour took about an hour. The airboat ride was cool but I was hoping for more gator action, or even sightings would have been good.
PS they have coupons on their website.

Great new place at Jerry’s Gator Lagoon with Tom & Jerry’s Airboat Rides. This is a new hot spot for Airboat Rides and Alligator tours in Central Florida. Real Swamp tour adventures in backwaters of the Withlacoochee River.5 Airboats to choose from and wildlife everywhere you look.

Loved it. The grounds are well kept. the bathrooms were spotless. Our driver and guide was informative, funny and added a bit of local color to our tour. At the end we were allowed to hold a gator and have our picture taken and ask questions. The tour was the highlight of my trip to Tampa.