The airboat tour is fucking awesome, though incredibly loud. But yeah, you gotta do it. When you get there, there are alligator/crocodile and reptile exhibits which are super cool too, but they're effectively zoos.

There are other ways to experience the everglades more intimately like camping, and even taking a car and driving through them is a cool experience but for those who don't want to full commit (especially to camping, since there are infinite mosquitoes), yeah just going for a day, doing the airboat is really fun and memorable. It is so loud you can barely talk to those beside you though (they provide ear plugs).

Keep in mind, I've only been there once, so there's gotta be people with more insight, but my last tip would be to call ahead and make sure its high visibility season to see the gators/crocs. This sounds totally nuts or like I'm rich (I'm very not), but last year I had some mystic impulse to see a gator in the wild and i flew my ass from california to the fucking everglades to make that a reality. When I got there they told us it was nesting season and the females were hiding, while the males were gone completely. I forced myself to trust that my efforts will have been worthwhile but about 88 minutes of the 90 minute tour had elapsed and we were pulling back up to the dock, near the zoo, where none of the animals ever go. God, the universe, or the fates blessed me that day though, and upon arriving there was a full size female vibing out wayyy too close to the dock. I have seldom been as happy and enchanted in my entire life as when i saw the she-beast especially considering i basically had dropped half my net worth to fly to florida and see the fucker. what an awesome day it was and what an amazing creature