Airboat Tours Near Lake Park, FL

Florida's First Zoned Town and the Engineered Everglades

Lake Park was planned from the start, and so, in a way, is the part of the Everglades you ride through. The town was incorporated in 1923 as Kelsey City, named for Boston entrepreneur Harry Seymour Kelsey, and renamed Lake Park in 1939. According to the town's history, it was the first zoned municipality in Florida, laid out with the Olmsted Brothers landscape firm.

Its 1927 Town Hall, now on the National Register of Historic Places, sheltered residents during the 1928 Okeechobee hurricane. That storm belongs to the same South Florida water story you will hear on the boat.

Out on the marsh, you ride through the Water Conservation Areas, large pieces of the original River of Grass now held behind levees and managed for flood control, water supply and wildlife by the South Florida Water Management District. The canals beside the levees and the gates you pass are part of that system.

Ask your captain how water moves south through these areas toward Everglades National Park, and how restoration work aims to send more of it the natural way. For history fans from a planned town, it makes the ride twice as interesting.

How Far Is the Airboat Launch From Lake Park?

From Lake Park, the closest Aces launch is The Landing in Parkland. The usual route: I-95 or Florida's Turnpike south to Glades Rd, west to US-441/SR-7, south to Loxahatchee Rd, then west.

• The Landing, Parkland: about 49 miles, roughly 70-80 minutes by car outside rush hour.
• Sawgrass Expressway at Atlantic Blvd: about 54 miles, roughly 70-80 minutes by car outside rush hour.

We also run trips from our Stub Canal launch on request; ask Captain Billy which ramp suits your group.

Times are measured from central Lake Park and grow at rush hour and on event weekends. Captain Billy confirms the exact meeting spot, parking and what to bring when you text or call 561-660-2419. All three launches open onto the same wild, gator-rich northern Everglades, so pick whichever is easiest for your day. See every launch on our pickup locations page.

The Owner Answers the Phone

Aces is a family business, and that shapes every ride. Our owner, Captain Billy, has spent more than sixty years in and around the Everglades. He lives on a homestead he built, hand-built his airboats and is the person who picks up when you call. Captain Bill, a naturalist captain with more than thirty years on this water, rounds out the crew.

Every tour is a private boat. There is no ticket line, no microphone and no crowd of strangers between you and the view. Every seat is a front-row seat, so the smallest kid in the group sees the gator just as well as the tallest adult.

The fleet is small on purpose: four 2-passenger airboats for couples, two 8-passenger boats for families and one 15-passenger boat for a whole street of neighbors. A block party from Lake Shore Drive or a team from a Northlake Boulevard office can fill the big boat or run several boats side by side. Browse them all on our boats page.

Neighbors who have ridden with us say it better. Read their words on our reviews page, where we hold a 4.9-star Google rating.

Booking From Lake Park in Three Steps

Booking is a short conversation with Captain Billy, not a checkout page. Every tour is a private boat, so the rate depends on your group and the length of the ride, and he will give you yours directly.

1. Text or call 561-660-2419 with your date, group size and preferred time of day.
2. Captain Billy matches you with a boat, confirms the launch and sends directions.
3. Arrive a few minutes early, meet your captain and head onto the marsh.

Pack water, sunscreen, sunglasses and a hat that will not blow off. Wear shoes that stay on your feet. Our day trip guide from West Palm Beach covers the drive south in more detail, and most of it applies from Lake Park too.

Planning around the rest of the area? Our Palm Beach County airboat tours page covers every town, including neighbors in Riviera Beach and North Palm Beach.

Lake Park residents who make the trip once usually come back for a sunrise or a night ride, and airboat tours Lake Park families repeat tend to get better each time.