The airboat tour that skips the tourist circuit runs on a private lease in Gibson.
Bayou Black Airboat Swamp Tours doesn’t share its swamp with anyone else. The Ponthieux family operates on privately leased marshland about 90 minutes southwest of New Orleans. No other boats. No crowds. Just you and whatever Wayne or Junior decides to show you that day.
Wayne’s been fishing and hunting gators in these bayous for over 30 years. Junior grew up the same way. They don’t run scripted tours. They take the airboat wherever the wildlife is that day — through floating prairies, over shallow water, into cypress groves that pontoon boats can’t touch.
The airboats float on air. They glide right over land when they need to. They weave through trees. They cut through water so shallow you can see the bottom. The GM 454 engine sounds exactly like you remember if you’re old enough to know what that means.
You’ll see alligators. Eleven-footers if you’re lucky. Bald eagles nest in the area — Wayne knows where. Nutria swim past with their orange teeth showing. Egrets stand in the shallows. Armadillos, beavers, bobcats, coyotes, deer, foxes, muskrat, opossums, otters, raccoons — they’re all out there if conditions line up.
Tours run about two hours. Sometimes longer if Wayne gets talking about Hurricane Katrina or gator hunting or the people from Swamp People on the History Channel. He knows them. He lives this.
The tour is by reservation only. You drive to Gibson in Terrebonne Parish — Bayou Country to locals. You meet at 125 Gator Court where Greenwood Gator Farm sits. You get on the boat. You go deep into the swamp where tourist routes don’t run.
People who take pontoon boat tours don’t see what you’ll see. The airboat goes places they can’t reach. The private lease means Wayne and Junior aren’t competing for space with six other tour companies running the same loop.
This isn’t the polished tourist experience with matching t-shirts and gift shop upsells. This is a Cajun guide who grew up in the swamp taking you into the parts of Louisiana that most people only see on TV.
Call ahead. Book early. The family keeps it small.
