About Us

Dedicated to the experiential education of students, families and travelers from Florida, the Americas and the World. Only through education, do we have the opportunity to preserve the Everglades, its culture and its heritage.

Everglades Area Tours is an educational tour operator working in Florida's Everglades National Park and surrounding protected areas. All guides are formally trained Florida Master Naturalists, Environmental Educators and Full-Time Outdoor Leaders.

The Everglades area consists of Everglades National Park, Big Cypress National Preserve, Fakahatchee Strand State Park, Picayune Strand State Forest, Rookery Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve, Collier Seminole State Park and the 10,000 Islands National Wildlife Refuge. Everglades National Park is one of the most spectacular parks in the US National Park System with over 1.5 million flooded, pristine acres. Commissioned in 1947, it is the only park established for its biological considerations instead of its geological features. Home to over 300 species of birds and dozens of endangered species, its biological diversity makes the area unique and very special … a true biological wonder.

Everglades Area Tours provides eco-educational experiences (hiking, paddling and powerboating) throughout the region. These experiences cover the complete educational gamut for students of all ages, from half-day tours to seven-day experiential courses in the Everglades wilderness. Our Lead Guides ...

Capt. Charles Wright
Capt. Charles Wright is a professional fishing guide, outdoor writer, and naturalist interpretive guide. He grew up in South Florida and the Keys, and has personally enjoyed Everglades National Park since 1972. Schooled as an Environmental Engineer, an FAA Certified Flight Instructor, Florida Master Naturalist and US Coast Guard (USGS) Captain, he left his environmental consulting business and moved to Everglades City after hurricane Andrew. He has been guiding professionally in the Park since 1997, and is the President of Chokoloskee Enterprises, Inc. (d/b/a Everglades Area Tours), on the Board of Directors of the Everglades Chamber of Commerce, the Friends of Fakahatchee Strand, the Society for Ethical Tourism and VP of the Florida Paddle Sports Association. He is also active with the Audubon Society and the Collier County Convention and Visitors Bureau. Originally a fishing guide using poling skiffs and center-console boats, his charters always had an educational component. It was not long before he began to use the stealth and accessibility of the fishing kayak to get his clients to parts of the fishery that no others could access. The use of a dedicated transport boat for the kayaks, the desire to share the Everglades and educating his guests, beyond the clichéd "airboats and alligators" steered him to conduct educational-based tours in the kayaks and eventually to create Everglades Area Tours. Charles is still is an active fishing guide, but spends an equal amount of time in a leadership and educational role with Everglade Area Tours.

Capt. Jason Sine grew up in the Appalachian Mountain range of northern West Virginia. He was an instructor at Quantico in the US Marines for three years; a Collier County Park Ranger and is now a lead guide/instructor for Everglades Area Tours. As a USCG Captain and Florida Master Naturalist, Jason provides exceptional learning experiences to over 1000 travelers and guests each year on our signature tour, the Boat Assisted Kayak Eco Tour. His knowledge of the area's flora and fauna is deep and his passion for what he does strong; but it is his ability to communicate to guests of all ages that makes him one of the most requested guides in the Everglades area and a particular favorite of home-school groups.

Christopher Schuld is the lead interpretive guide and Florida Master Naturalist for kayaking and walking tours, Course Director/Lead Instructor for multi-day experiential courses, and lead sea kayaking guide on multi-day expeditions. He has a vast range of experience instructing, coordinating and supervising diverse groups of adults and youth in remote wilderness environments for extensive periods of time. He also has significant experience paddling and navigating throughout the entire Ten Thousand Islands ecosystem and Everglades National Park, as well as hiking through Big Cypress National Preserve and the Fakahatchee Strand State Preserve. Chris is very familiar with multiple facets of the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan from a recent internship with the Arthur R. Marshall Foundation (ARMF). He has an appreciation for the human and cultural history of southern Florida, as well as the flora and fauna of the region. In 2010, he was asked to be the Expedition Leader for a seven day expedition that the Everglades Coalition/ARMF sponsored, called "The River of Grass". He has certifications in Wilderness First Responder and Swift Water Rescue, and is also a White Water Tandem Canoe Instructor. Chris was a Lead Instructor with the North Carolina Outward Bound School, has led crews into the backcountry of the Pacific Northwest, taught English in Japan, worked with the Peace Corps in Honduras, and was a Construction Coordinator with Habitat for Humanity.

Capt. Bruce Hitchcock has been enjoying Everglades National Park for over 25 years. A Florida native, Bruce has been fishing the fresh and salt waters of South Florida with his father since he was a child. As an Everglades National Park Guide, US Coast Guard Captain, Florida Master Naturalist and a Professional Wildlife Photographer, if Bruce is not guiding our birding and photography guests, he is out exploring the remote backcountry of the Park on his own. Bruce also leads the Boat Assisted Kayak Eco Tours and our educational "Swamp Walks". He is a participant in the annual Fakahatchee Strand Central Slough Orchid Survey that identifies rare epiphytic orchids. A recent species was found that has not been seen in almost 60 years. With a strong passion for the Park, Big Cypress National Preserve and the Fakahatchee Strand, Bruce is a true ambassador for the area.

Ron Wofford holds a masters degree in recreation and is a Florida Master Naturalist. He has been paddling and guiding expeditions and tours for the past thirty years on black water rivers, cypress/tupelo swamps, coastal marshes, mangrove swamps and barrier island coastlines in Florida, Georgia and South Carolina. Working with beginning and experienced paddlers through the years, he has trained and led those as young as 6 and up to 85 years of age. Working with universities, county parks and private eco-adventure operations, Ron has taught well over a thousand youth and adults in the paddle sports. He has designed and created paddling trails while working as a county park director in South Carolina, and has conducted extended expeditions for groups of up to 50 people while working with private outfitters. He is passionate about kayaking and sharing his knowledge of coastal ecosystems with his guests.