Louisiana serves up memorable experiences - more than just bowls of its famed gumbo - as a guided swamp tour is definitely a highlight on any Deep South road trip.

To experience part of Louisiana’s past, present and future visit the mysterious and beautiful swamps throughout the south of the state, home to one of the planet’s richest and most diverse ecosystems. Modern-day explorers still have the curiosity about the beauty found in Louisiana swamps with the untouched nature and cypress trees dripping with Spanish moss. Visitors encounter indigenous critters such as alligators peering just above the waters plus hundreds of species of birds; and hear the colourful stories of pirates and other inhabitants of the winding waterways. 

And the ways to get up close and personal with this wildlife is as varied as swamp life itself from airboats to kayaks and tour boats to accommodate visitors exploring the swamp:

• Embark on a paddle through the swamps, rivers and bayous with the team at New Orleans Kayak Swamp Tours. You're sure to see plenty of wildlife as you kayak among the moss-draped cypress trees during your trip. Even if it’s your first time paddling, don't worry as most of the tours are beginner-level to ensure fun for the entire family.

• Atchafalaya Basin Landing & Marina, located in Henderson, offers airboat trips at the gateway to the expansive Atchafalaya wilderness - America’s largest river swamp. Perfect for photographers, bird watchers or anyone wanting a glimpse into swamp life. They provide licensed captains who live on the water and narrate these exhilarating swamp tours.
• The 108-square-mile Honey Island Swamp, a wild and pristine river swamp, has breath-taking scenery and includes alligators, deer, turtles and sweet-smelling azaleas. Dr. Wagner's Honey Island Swamp Tours offer either covered and uncovered boats that have access to this cypress tree wonderland and are led by knowledgeable and licensed guides.
• A Cajun Man’s Swamp Cruise is led by Captain Ron “Black” Guidry, a former Green Beret and a former Louisiana state trooper who shares his first-hand knowledge of south Louisiana’s swamps, accompanied by modern Cajun music played on his accordion.

• Come face to face with Louisiana’s wildlife and exotic plant life with Jean Lafitte Swamp & Airboat Tours, headquartered near New Orleans in the Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve. Guides will take you along the meandering, murky waters of swamps where you can capture pictures and memories of a true paradise that time has forgotten. 
• For something different, strap on a helmet for an ATV Swamp Tour in Plantation Country. Action-packed for the more adventurous, this unusual four-wheel land tour allows visitors to traverse challenging terrain on more than 40 miles of swampland trails. 
• Paddle along tranquil cypress, tupelo and oak-forested swamps in the Maurepas Swamp Wildlife Management Area near New Orleans. Lost Lands Environmental Tours combines the unique perspective of Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Bob Marshall, who educates visitors while giving them an incomparable experience on Louisiana’s swamps.
• Acadian Swamp Tours is just minutes away from Nottoway Plantation in White Castle and the closest swamp tour to Baton Rouge – the state’s capital. During the hour and a half tour, Rodney Daigle relives his 30 years’ experience as he takes visitors on a journey through the Atchafalya Basin and Bay Natchez.

Louisiana wetlands are unique and vital ecological assets worth saving. Wetlands act as a storm buffer against hurricanes and storms. They act as flood control devices: holding excess floodwaters during high rainfall (much like a sponge). Wetlands replenish aquifers, and they purify water by filtering out pollutants and absorbing nutrients.

Approximately 40 percent of the coastal wetlands of the lower forty-eight states are located in Louisiana. Unfortunately, this fragile environment is disappearing at an alarming rate. Louisiana has lost up to 40 square miles of marsh per year for several decades – that’s 80 percent of the nation’s annual coastal wetland loss. This loss is at an average rate of an NFL football field every hour. If the current rate of loss is not slowed by the year 2040, an additional 800,000 acres of wetlands will disappear, and the Louisiana shoreline will advance inland as much as 33 miles in some areas.

Whichever tour you choose to explore Louisiana’s postcard-perfect swamp culture, one thing is guaranteed—it will be the ride of a lifetime. Email louisiana@deep-south-usa.com for further information.