United States
Florida (FL)
Southwest Gulf Coast
Marco Island
Goodland
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Backwater Adventure
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Backwater Adventure

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Backwater Adventure
4.9
4.9 of 5 bubbles
#3 of 38 Outdoor Activities in Goodland
Boat ToursEco ToursSightseeing ToursNature & Wildlife ToursSpeed Boats Tours
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About
Drive your own 2 seat catamaran, while your guide leads you through the backwaters of Marco and the 10,000 Islands. Simply the best way to view nature only inches from the water.
Goodland, Florida
Meets animal welfare guidelines
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Tours and Tickets by Backwater Adventure

Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.

Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as wait time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.

4.9
4.9 of 5 bubbles1,152 reviews
Excellent
1,074
Very good
48
Average
15
Poor
5
Terrible
10
Lance B
Naples, FL19 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
It's a great family adventure
Dec 2019
This is our second time with Backwater and had a great time. 2.5 plus hours, very well priced, equipment is in great shape and it's so much fun cruising around the mangroves and seeing the gulf. And there are 3 great fish restaurants right next door.
Written January 19, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
videodude
Pompano Beach, Florida96 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Amazing Adventure You Must Do!
Apr 2021 • Friends
Upon a recommendation from relatives, we tried this adventure eco-tour. The CRAIGCAT boats were a lot of fun to drive and our tour guide, Connor, was very knowledgeable about the area and wildlife. We went to a nice island beach for a break halfway through before returning to the marina. The whole experience was amazing, fun and we highly recommend it!
Written April 30, 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
TnTraveler121
4 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Fun afternoon
Apr 2021 • Couples
We did the 2.5 hr Craig cat tour. It was definitely fun & something different! We were able to see several dolphins during our tour. The island you stop at was just ok...not good for shelling as some have indicated. Our tour guide recommended the little bar for lunch. We ate there as recommended, but regretted the decision. Worst meal we had in Marco.
Written April 15, 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Chris R
Houston, TX18 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Highly Recommended
Nov 2020 • Couples
Exceeded our expectations. Safe and fun. Our guide Conner was very personable and knowledgeable. You really get the chance to open up their CraigCats. It was like a go cart on the water. It was so calm we went out into the gulf a bit and back in the mangroves for some tight turns. We lucked out on the weather and the dolphins! Highly recommended.
Written November 27, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
AlaskaDS
Naples, FL54 contributions
2.0 of 5 bubbles
Not worth the money and back injury
Jun 2016 • Friends
It has been a couple of weeks since I have been on this tour. We saw very little wild life other than some dolphin, and most of our tour was consumed by our guide yelling at some people who were afraid to put the Craig cat at full speed. I wanted to see the 10,000 Islands and I chose this tour specifically instead of a wave runner tour because I am 50 years old and no longer have same stamina to jump boat wakes and waves. This looked like a nice backwater option with smoother water. Not true! Our guide decided to take us back to the start point by crossing thru the Gulf of Mexico. Our boats rise up high on the wave crests and then smashed down hard while crossing the Gulf. I called for the guide to stop but he either couldn't hear it or pretended not to. I tried to mitigate the shock to my body by lifting off the seat when we smacked down, but it didn't matter. Both my friend and I had lower back issues by the next day and two plus weeks later and two chiropractic visits later and I'm still struggling . My friend who is an avid cyclist and work out enthusiast recovered after about 10 days. Either way, it was a stupid call to drag us across those waves and I'm still ticked off about it and the $150 that I wasted. This tour has such good reviews and maybe if I was 20 or 30 and from out of state and never saw a mangrove it would have been fine but this was really a disappointing experience for us.
Review of: Backwater Adventure's CraigCat Tours of the 10,000 Islands
Written July 13, 2016
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
gerliegerl33
Indianapolis, IN4 contributions
1.0 of 5 bubbles
The boat broke down and that made for a LONG, HOT day.
Jun 2016 • Family
Our trip started out well. We enjoyed the scenery and driving the boats. The trouble started at the half way point when we stopped at the island for swimming and shelling. The boat my husband and I were driving broke down. Our guide said that the owner was going to bring a replacement boat so we could continue our trip. He was supposed to be there in about 15 minutes. An hour later we were told that the owner refused to bring another boat and our guide would have to tow us back. It took us two hours to be towed back at idle speed on a blazing hot, muggy day. The website advertised that we would be driving the boat ourselves. Due to their faulty equipment we were only able to do this for half the trip and felt that half of our money should have been refunded. The owner refused. He gave us $25 per person back. We paid $600 for this trip. It was definitely not worth the money. I would not recommend using this company since they do not stand behind their advertised product. Our guide was fantastic. We really enjoyed him. Can't say the same about the owner.
Written July 13, 2016
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
ccr337
Wisconsin38 contributions
2.0 of 5 bubbles
not the trip I expected from the reviews
Mar 2016 • Couples
We took the trip last Saturday, we had 8 cats for 2 guides. Our trip started late, guide was rushed from last tour and then had to leave to get cameras. He promised us that we would get the full 3 hours on the water though, and we did, see below. After getting boats loaded we puttered around another half hour "learning" how to run the boats, while Jeff finished up on shore. Once we started out one boat struggled with following advice from Jeff and was sent back with other guide to give them a tour of the river. Jeff said they were just "old women" and couldn't handle the boat. I agree with Jeff that they struggled with the boat but derogatory comments shouldn't have been used, there were plenty of older people on the tour who handled the boats just fine. Jeff then took the other 7 boats out on his own. We essentially drove to an island looked at shells for half an hour and drove back. No time to see any wildlife. The best wildlife we saw was watching the dolphins play while sitting in the marina waiting for boats to be loaded and unloaded, so if you were last in and first out you didn't see much. If you just want to drive a cat this was a good trip for that. If you actually wanted to see wildlife the trip was too much driving to stop and see anything. One of the boats ran out of gas twice and Jeff told all the other boats to leave and sit several hundred yards away, as if our staying within shouting distance was a problem for him. One boat went back to see if they could help and Jeff chewed them out. Jeff's "I got this" wasn't apparent. The young girls in the boat said Jeff thought the gas tank had a leak or he said his coworker forgot to gas it up. When we got to the island Jeff told us to stay away from some campers there "have a little respect", was the phrase he used, then he went and sat with them and complained about how stupid some of his tourists were. Highly unprofessional. I know he was frustrated because of the number of boats and was rushed to begin with, but why not get some help? The owner came down to schmooze with us before trip, and to take pictures with the local lottery ticket winner who won the trip, who also was the boat who had to stay behind. Why couldn't the owner have helped Jeff problem solve? All the reviewers talk about him showing them wildlife and initially that seemed like the plan until 2 groups of 4 became one group of 7. None of us in our group of 4 thought the trip was good. We all agreed, if you like driving a little boat in a line up for 3 hours like a ride in Disney's It's a small world then you may like this, but for wildlife it's no good. We also felt their should have been another solution than the unpleasant trip we had. 12/14 passengers couldn't leave fast enough, though we were 70 minutes later back than expected so maybe that's why everyone walked off to their respective cars in silence.
Also for 4 tickets it was $135/person plus tax plus a $28 service fee "for booking on the internet" though I called and booked our tickets by phone. All in all not a good experience. Hopefully an anomaly for this company but we clearly didn't have the trip the others describe.
Review of: Backwater Adventure's CraigCat Tours of the 10,000 Islands
Written March 24, 2016
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Conner M
Hello! I realize this is a few years late BUT...I wanted to inform you, and anyone else that may see this review, that Backwater Adventure is under new management and supervision and has new, more professional oriented but also fun and exciting guides. I am very sorry that you did not have the experience you should have and hope to extend a hand in to welcoming you to a completely different experience we have now offered and accommodated for thousands of people in just the last 2 years of me being here. We have made adjustments to our route to give the greatest views while cruising along and although we can never promise seeing any type of wild or marine life, it is extremely common that we get up close and personal with some of the local inhabitants of the area. I absolutely agree that the circumstances of your tour should have been handled much differently, which is why I have restructured our tours and trained our guides to be able to avoid difficult situations or to be able to handle difficult situations quickly and professionally at all times. Give us a call or shoot us an email, I would love to speak with you and perhaps get you on a tour to show you how much we have changed and improved!
Written October 3, 2019
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
Mark W
5 contributions
2.0 of 5 bubbles
DOUG OWNER IS RUDE AND UNKIND JEFF WAS AMAZING
Mar 2015 • Family
The owner mad fun of mydads long sleeve and long sleeve pants but father is a lifetime boater and all his clothing keeps him cool and unburned. The owner left the pack half way through and left us in his care of one month employee Jeff. Jeff was only a few min late and the owner made it such a big deal even tho the owner DOUG had more people present than the number of crafts and over booked the event sending a nice family to the curb with no luck for them to get a chance to go. I am also not pleased with communication from owner I strayed only 5-10 ft from the pack in a clear open channel i jet ski in every year and he got everyone stopped and said stay in line like ducks in a row making us hold hands like babies. I will def consider buying a craigcraft but i will never recommend this place to friends or families. I left feeling like i was not a valued customers. Jeff was real apologetic for the mistakes and inconveniences. I would of RATED TERRIBLE/HORRIBLE however new employee Jeff was honest and helpful and wasn't one to make you feel like a child. If your a ECO nut this tour was mediocre at best only saw a dolphin n thats it and you can see those on wave runners too. We left late by bout 10-15 min and also arrived early by 20 min so the time wasn't good length. We could have had more fun just by riding around a open ocean for a short while.
I would tip Jeff and use him if you have to book this event. Otherwise the owner doesn't seem to give a crap about you or having a great time. He did provide cold water thus that's why this earns a poor review just one star shy of worse attraction ever
Written March 16, 2015
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
douglas B
114 Great reviews and 1 bad one, I guess you can't please everyone. I usually don't respond to unfavorable reviews, I usually take them to heart to improve our customers experience. In his case I will. You can see we have not had an unfavorable review since conception of our business. It seemed that this customer didn't want to take the tour in the first place from the initial conversation when we were asked if we could give test drives because they interested in buying a Craigcat, I replied we don't or imply that we sell them. We buy them just like anyone else. There were 3 of them and did not like the fact that they couldn't have two boats. #1 Lets start with the accusation of making fun of what someone was wearing, I did ask if that's all they had or did they also have shorts and informed them that we would be stopping at a beach and your long slacks will get wet (I didn't want his nice clothes ruined). #2 as to the stopping the tour for a brief 2 minutes to reiterate how important staying behind the guide which he wasn't doing, not 5-10 feet is was more like 25-30 ft with 4 boats following him and not the guide,. He may have felt his party were expert boaters as he states twice in his review. It doesn't give him the right to lead the whole pack astray, I AM THE GUIDE for good reason and most people that take my tour have very little to no experience. I do have rules in place for EVERYONE TO BE SAFE, and do not treat them like babies. If stopping someone from leading other people astray and possible danger, Yes I'm guilty. #3 yes I did leave the group half way through to get ready for the next tour, the group was not left with an inexperienced with 1 month on the job guide. Jeff is a native and knows his job very well, #4 Guilty as charged, the very first I have ever over booked my mistake I'm human. I did not kick the people to the curb, I offered them a huge discount on the afternoon tour but they were unable to make that time. They will be offered that discount any time they return. As to the time of returning not true, we did leave about 10 minutes late due to miscommunication between myself and Jeff. As to not giving a crap. I am on 90% of our tours because I give a crap and take tripadvisor reviews very serious. We do our best to be the premiere excursion in Marco and take great pride in what we do, so I am offended.
Written March 18, 2015
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
kathleeninez
Clinton, TN5 contributions
1.0 of 5 bubbles
Dangerous excursion
Feb 2019 • Couples
This trip cost us $300+. Well worth $ if it had been a good trip. While the little speed boats were fun, they were so very dangerous. My husband and I were the "only" people that wore our life jackets. We even had to go back to dock to get his unstuck from behind his chair prior to departure so he could wear. Why was this important safety requirement taken so lightly?? We were told by our tour guide that wearing a life jacket wasn't a requirement, just have them on board.
Check out boating laws to see personal watercraft user lifejacket requirements. Know you will be flying at top speed for hours thru rough, open waters and over wakes of large boats, while trying to hang on with no safety belts or life jackets, and while you are wet and cold.
Written February 13, 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Conner M
Until we can have this review looked at by TripAdvisor for extreme inaccuracy, I would like to respond so that any possible future guests are not mislead by any of the misinformation you've given in your review. I hope that they will read the reviews preceding this one and note how very opposite hundreds of people feel about our tours. Our boats are famously known for their safety. The concept of a catamaran in itself is known to be some of the most stable and safest boats in the water in fact. We are happy to hear that you and your husband made the choice to wear the life jackets we provided so that you felt safer and more comfortable BUT....our boats are in fact boats and not personal watercraft, therefore, we are only restricted by vessel life jacket laws which state that you(as an adult) are not required to wear a life jacket but we are required to have them aboard for each individual aboard the vessel. With that being said, your husbands life jacket was not stuck behind the seat, it was purposely put there so that it is accessible, but so that it also does not blow away should the guests on that particular boat decide not to wear them. We take safety VERY seriously and we have been operating for 9 years and counting, meaning thousands of adventures with tens of thousands of people, without a single accident or injury. We record weather by the hour for every tour. While revisiting the weather during your tour we found that the winds never exceeded 8mph (hardly even a light breeze) and the lowest recorded temperature during your tour was at the very end, at 70 degrees, so it was actually a fairly warm evening. Unfortunately, we cannot control other boat wakes...we unfortunately are never the only boats in the water, especially on a beautiful, calm, warm afternoon, but again, being of the catamaran design our boats just float right over them without an issue. I did want to mention, because safety is the highest of our priorities...safety belts, especially on a small vessel would be one of the most dangerous situations there could be. The reason I mention this, as well as the entirety of this response, is because it is very clear that you and your husband are probably not very experienced boaters and this exciting, beautiful, fun filled adventure may have been quite a bit out of your comfort zone and I feel that we should not pay the price for that.
Written February 13, 2019
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
jeanne
Palatine, IL4 contributions
1.0 of 5 bubbles
Too rough for me
Jan 2022
They took us out onto the gulf waters even though the operator should have known that it would be very rough there. He even admitted that he usually does not take people out into the gulf but just wanted to see how it would be. It ruined all of the fun for me as it was way too rough.
Review of: Backwater Adventure's CraigCat Tours of the 10,000 Islands
Written January 15, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
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*Likely to sell out: Based on Viator’s booking data and information from the provider from the past 30 days, it seems likely this experience will sell out through Viator, a Tripadvisor company.

Backwater Adventure (2025) - All You Need to Know BEFORE You Go (with Reviews)

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