Educational Groups

WildNative Tours offers a variety of educational group tours. We are an Approved Watercraft Field Trip with the Baldwin County School Board for Baldwin County Schools. In addition to our watercraft tours, we also offer a range of land based educational tours and “to go,” immersive educational tours available for presentation at your school or location.

Please Note: In addition to our dedicated educational boat charters from 5 Rivers, we offer 50% off our standard Adult rates as an educational discount, for any of our standard tours or services taken Monday – Friday between 0700 to 1700 each day. This discount is available to educational groups with valid identification including Schools, Scouts, Youth Groups, and Homeschool groups. Minimum numbers will apply. To qualify for educational group discounts, fees must be paid in one payment via school/troop/camp check or credit card.

Third Grade Field Trip

We did a boat tour while on a field trip at Five Rivers with my third grade class. It was wonderful. The captain and tour guide were very good at keeping the children’s attention and interacting with them while showing… Read more “Third Grade Field Trip”

Amanda Allen Revelle
Kings Christian School
November 2018

Unexpected fun

We had spent the night in Mobile for Mardi Gras and decided to walk down to Riverside park. I am so glad we saw the pontoon boat just in time to join the trip! It was so interesting and we… Read more “Unexpected fun”

Marsha Davis
April 2019


How to Book an Educational Field Trip / Youth Group Tour

 

1). Choose your preferred tour.

Educational tour options include the following:

  1. Join our Daily 11am Delta Wildlife Eco Boat Tour or choose one of our regular Kayak Tours (available in Spanish Fort / GulfShores / Stockton) with your group.
School Group sees a gator on Boat Tour

Departing from 5 Rivers, these narrated boat tours are available for 1 hour - $299, 1.5 hour - $349, or 2 hours - $399.
These tours may be coordinated in conjunction with a tour of the 5 Rivers facility (Museum / Theatrette) or as stand alone tour. Our Tour boat can accommodate up to 42 guests per tour.  For groups of more than 42 we will divide the group and rotate between boat tours and other activities... Read More & Book.


Native To Go Presentations on the Mobile-Tensaw Delta and Coastal Alabama's Bayous Bays and Beaches!

Available at your location for 60 minutes - $149, or 90 minutes - $199.
Have a large group or can’t make it to visit some of Coastal Alabama’s unique waterways? Let WildNative bring Coastal Alabama to you! Choose from two unique topics:
1. JOIN US ON A JOURNEY INTO AMERICA’S AMAZON - a visual tour of the Mobile-Tensaw Delta.
2. TRAVEL THE BAYOUS, BAYS AND BEACHES OF COASTAL ALABAMA - a visual tour of the Mobile-Tensaw Delta, Mobile Bay and Alabama’s Beaches.
Read More & Book.


2). Notify us of a preferred subject matter (if the tour doesn't already specify it - mostly applies to kayak tours)

Once you have chosen your preferred tour type, we offer options for gearing tour information towards different school ages/levels. Please click the links below to find out more about subject matters / curriculum / tours geared towards particular school levels:


3). Book the tour:


4). What to expect from WildNative:
We at WildNative do our best to accommodate your group needs as closely as possible. After you contact us to reserve your field trip, you will receive a Confirmation form and number with the date, time, schedule (subject to change), and cost of the field trip.

If you have not received a confirmation two weeks in advance of your field trip, please contact us immediately to ensure your reservation.

What Does a Field Trip / Tour Include?
All field trips with WildNative include narration and conversation on chosen topics, along with Q&A opportunities for deeper discussions on points of interest.  All activities are led by knowledgeable and experienced nature guides.

What to Bring:
These activities are outside and subject to the elements. Please ensure students and chaperones dress appropriately.

Suggested Chaperones:

  • Pre-School: 1 chaperone to every 3 students
  • Grades K-3: 1 chaperone to every 5 students
  • Grades 4-6: 1 chaperone to every 10 students

What about food?
Lunch: Outdoor picnic tables and picnic pavilions are located in close proximity to the boat ramps and other facilities at 5 Rivers and Live Oak Landing. Logs and a gorgeous beach are available at Happy Harbor Oyster Bay. Boxed lunches may be provided by WildNative for an additional charge, please call for more information.

Is their opportunities for the children to purchase gifts or trinkets?
Yes, both at 5 Rivers and Live Oak Landing there are opportunities, however not in Gulf Shores.

At 5 Rivers:

  • The Cypress Gift Shop operated by State Lands has nature related trinkets and crafts for $1 or more. Students are welcome to shop in groups of no more than 15 at a time. A chaperone or teacher must be present at all times with the students in the shop. Souvenir gift bags can be prepared for your students for $6 per student with prior notice.
  • WildNative Tours offers cold drinks, snacks, hats, shirts, and some other basic necessities in our tour shop.

At Live Oak Landing:

  • The Live Oak General Store offers nature related trinkets and crafts for $1 or more. Cold drinks, snacks, hats, shirts, and other basic necessities are also available in the store. A chaperone or teacher must be present at all times with the students in the shop. Souvenir gift bags can be prepared for your students for $6 per student with prior notice.

At Happy Harbor Oyster Bay, Gulf Shores:

  • There is no opportunity for purchases.

Parking:
We have plenty of free parking available at 5 Rivers, Live Oak Landing and Happy Harbor Oyster Bay, Gulf Shores. For Buses - all properties are large enough for buses with circular drive through's and easy access to all buildings.

Handicap Accessibility:
At 5 Rivers:

  • Our Tour Boat and Boat Ramp is fully Handicap Accessible.
  • All buildings at 5 Rivers are Handicap Accessible.
  • Our Kayak Dock is a state of the art Handicap Accessible Kayak & Canoe launch.

At Live Oak Landing:

  • Our Tour Boat and Boat Ramp is fully Handicap Accessible.
  • All buildings at Live Oak Landing are Handicap Accessible.
  • Kayak launches are from the shore and while access to the shore is Handicap Accessible, there are no additional rails or slides to assist in launch.

At Happy Harbor Oyster Bay, Gulf Shores:

  • Kayak launches are from the shore and while access to the shore is Handicap Accessible, there are no additional rails or slides to assist in launch.

Final Preparation:
In final preparation for your trip, we ask that you:

  1. Call to inform us of any changes to the total number of students and chaperones at least 24 hours prior to your trip.
  2. Notify us of any particular requests, or subject matter focus you require for your students.
  3. Prepare your students and chaperones for the field trip. All activities are outside and subject to the elements. Please ensure students and chaperones dress appropriately.
  4. Prepare one check, drafted on a school account, for payment upon arrival to WildNative, Inc. Credit card payments are also accepted.

 


 

Focused Tour Subject options:

Preschool to 3rd Grade: General Information or in conjunction with teacher requests.

Our Educational Boat Charters for this age group are focused on general information regarding the delta, with a large emphasis on fun, fresh air, water, birds, animals and plants. Acting like and identifying different animals, identifying plants, seeing whose listening :-), and some great informative tidbits on geography and history.

HomeSchool: General Information or tour information targeted to specific tour types.

Because Homeschool groups are normally too small for a standard Boat Charter, we offer discounted pricing for our 11am Daily Public Wildlife Boat Tour of the Lower Delta. For more information on this tour, please click here. Depending on age, targeted Kayak tours are also often a good fit. Suggested tours include:

4th, 5th & 6th Grade: Watersheds, including how they relate to rivers and estuaries.

  • The Mobile Bay Watershed encompasses 65% of the land area for the state of Alabama, along with portions of MIssissippi, Georgia, and Tennessee.
  • The Mobile Bay Watershed is a vast network of over 250 separate waterways, including rivers, bays, creeks, bayous, lakes, cutoffs, branches and sloughs.
  • The delta empties into the north end of Mobile Bay through five rivers.  These rivers are the Mobile, Spanish, Tensaw, Apalachee and Blakeley rivers.  This is where the Delta Center name comes from.
  • The Mobile Bay Watershed is the fourth largest drainage basin in North America, on average, 33.5 trillion gallons pass through annually.

4th, 5th & 6th Grade: Ecosystems (Freshwater).

  • Major Habitat Types: Mesic floodplains, cypress-gum swamps, tidal brackish water marshes, bottomland forests and submersed grass beds.
  • Species Diversity: Mobile-Tensaw River Delta is home to an abundance of species of flora and fauna, including plants, birds, fish, mammals, reptiles and amphibians.
  • The Mobile-Tensaw Delta is considered one of the most biologically diverse ecosystems in North America.

4th, 5th & 6th Grade: Water & Land.

  • Food Chain: Mobile-Tensaw River Delta is one of the largest intact wetland ecosystems in the US. Overall on the abundance of rich organic matter that provides the energy and nutrients for the aquatic food chain.
  • Habitats (Land and Water species) How the various habitats are created in the delta because of land and water.

Middle & High School: Our student curriculum is targeted to specific areas of interest or tour type based on discussions with the teacher.

Suggested Tours Include:

  • 2 or more hour Boat Charter focused on any of the many topics available for discussion and exploration in the Lower Mobile-Tensaw Delta. Previous class groups have based their experience around biology, geography, history, botany, waterways, pedology, geology, mammals, birds, alligators, and tourism.
  • Kayak Kleanup Tour - focused on pollution and how they affect water systems.
  • Dolphins By Day Kayak Tour - focused on dolphins and marine mammals.
  • Delta By Day Kayak Tour - focused on the American Alligator, the fauna and flora of the lower Mobile-Tensaw Delta.
  • Bottle Creek Indian Mound Interpretive Kayak or Boat Tour - focused on The Mississippian Native American Tribes of roughly 1200AD and the village they built (Mounds still standing) in the middle of the Mobile-Tensaw Delta.
  • Champion Cypress Kayak Adventure - focused on the fauna and flora of the middle Mobile-Tensaw Delta and Alabama's Champion Cypress Tree.

University: Hospitality & Tourism Degree, Residents Life Excursions, tours targeted to specific areas of interest or tour type based on discussions with the lecturer.

WildNative offers a University Curriculum linked to the University of Southern Alabama's School of Hospitality and Tourism Degree. For more information on this program, please Contact the University. WildNative also offers excursions for the Residents Life program at Springhill and Univeristy of Southern Alabama.

Other Suggested Tours Include:

  • 2 or more hour Boat Charter focused on any of the many topics available for discussion and exploration in the Lower Mobile-Tensaw Delta. Previous class groups have based their experience around biology, geography, history, botany, waterways, pedology, geology, mammals, birds, alligators, and tourism.
  • Kayak Kleanup Tour - focused on pollution and how they affect water systems.
  • Dolphins By Day Kayak Tour - focused on dolphins and marine mammals.
  • Delta By Day Kayak Tour - focused on the American Alligator, the fauna and flora of the lower Mobile-Tensaw Delta.
  • Bottle Creek Indian Mound Interpretive Kayak or Boat Tour - focused on The Mississippian Native American Tribes of roughly 1200AD and the village they built (Mounds still standing) in the middle of the Mobile-Tensaw Delta.
  • Champion Cypress Kayak Adventure - focused on the fauna and flora of the middle Mobile-Tensaw Delta and Alabama's Champion Cypress Tree.

*We believe in a Leave No Trace policy, in educating, and in preserving these amazing natural wonders for future generations.*

 

Have a question about our Educational Tours?