From a Marrero Dock to a Cajun Cemetery on the Bayou
A hundred minutes on a covered deck in the Barataria swamp, narrated start to finish by a local captain. The Walker family has been running these boats since 1989.
The dock sits on Barataria Boulevard in Marrero, south and west of the French Quarter. The boat goes out and comes back to the same slip, and in between it turns into water the road never reaches.
There is no hotel pickup on this one. You drive yourself, you park, you board, and the captain narrates the whole hundred minutes.
Plan to arrive at least twenty minutes before the tour time. The boats depart on schedule and cannot wait.
What you are booking here is a seat on the covered tour boat. The same company also runs airboats from this dock on a separate ticket, so check the name on the confirmation before you drive out.
New Orleans Swamp Tour Boat AdventureLouisiana Tour company · 100 minutes · Departs 9706 Barataria Blvd, Marrero · Rated 4.85 from 2,281 reviewswww.viator.comWhether You See a Gator Depends on the Month
The company is direct about this. Its listing says you are not guaranteed to see a gator, that they hibernate in the winter months, and that they are easily spotted in spring, summer, and fall. A January booking is a booking for the swamp itself.
Plenty else is out there. The listing names birds, snakes, turtles and fur animals alongside the alligators, and the company's own photographs from these waters include a barred owl low in the cypress and an osprey on a bare branch. Turtles take any log that catches sun.
The captain works the boat in toward the bank where the animals are.
A Cemetery, a Mound, and a Village Still Working
The swamp is not empty of people. The route drifts past a Cajun cemetery on the bank, its tombs sitting above ground. It passes a burial mound that the company dates to two thousand years old. It passes a fishing village that is still a working fishing village.
Those three are what separate this from a straight wildlife cruise, and the captain narrates each one as the boat comes up on it.
The listing describes the Cajuns of the bayou as people for whom the waterways are the highways. From the deck that reads as plain description.
What the Boat Has, and Who Can Get On It
The boat has a roof, cushioned seats, windows that raise and lower with the weather, a restroom, and room to stand and walk around. That last part matters over a hundred minutes with children aboard.
Infants and children are allowed, and the booking requires an adult. Service animals are permitted. Emotional support animals are not.
The listing ticks wheelchair accessible, then adds that wheelchairs up to twenty-eight inches wide are allowed and that the captain is not permitted to lift anyone aboard. A passenger has to board on their own or with help from the people they came with. Those two statements do not describe the same trip, and the narrower one is the one to plan around.
The Walkers Have Been Doing This Since 1989
Ray Walker asked his son to help him fix up an old pontoon boat with seating for six. That was 1989. The son, Milton Walker Jr., took his captain's license in 1993, and by 1995 the company had a swamp tour boat seating sixty. In 1999 he took over the swamp side with two vans and two boats.
His sons run it now. Eric Walker handles the business end, and Justin Walker captains and manages swamp tour operations.
One booking holds up to thirty travelers, and the platform lists up to fifty seats on a shared departure. Neither figure is the capacity of the boat, which the company's own history puts at sixty.
Book everyone on a single reservation if you want to ride together. The company says passengers who book separately are not guaranteed to be on the same boat.
Confirmation is instant, and the booking closes sixty minutes before departure. Cancel at least twenty-four hours ahead for a full refund. Gratuities are not included. Food and drinks are available to buy at the dock.
The run back comes in with the windows down if the weather holds. That is when the swamp goes quiet enough to hear.