Duck tour
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Duck tours, or DUKW tours, are tours that take place on purpose-built amphibious tour buses or military surplus DUKWs and LARC-Vs. Primarily offered as tourist attractions in harbor, river and lake cities, such as Chattanooga, Pittsburgh, Baltimore, Washington, DC, Memphis, Boston, Miami, Seattle, Wisconsin Dells, Liverpool, London, Singapore, and Toronto. One well-established tour operator in the United States is Ride the Ducks.
Duck tours, whether using actual DUKWs or modern amphibious tour buses, are generally light-hearted, with drivers frequently wearing outlandish hats or costumes, and onboard PA systems frequently outfitted with humorous sound effects.
The Boston Red Sox celebrated their 2007 and 2004 World Series victory with a parade of 17 DUKWs carrying members of the team over land and across the Charles River. The Seafair Pirates in Seattle use a DUKW modified to look like a Spanish Galleon as their primary means of amphibious transport.
Almost all have been repainted, and given modern diesel engines and enclosed tops, making them more resemble conventional buses. Most require a bus-type Public Service Vehicle license and a passenger-use boat license.
In 1999 an unrelated DUKW sank in Hot Springs, Arkansas, killing 13 of the 20 people onboard. The U.S. Coast Guard has since followed the lead of Ride the Ducks to improve overall regulations.
[edit] Cities with 'Duck-tour' operators
- Austin, Texas
- Albany, New York (site ; Modern amphibious tour buses shown and described on their web site; probably no actual DUKWs)
- Baltimore (site)
- Boston (BostonDuckTours ; large fleet of vintage DUKWs, departing from 2 locations)
- also in Boston (SuperDuckExcursions ; modern HydraTerra amphibious vehicles)
- Branson, Missouri (site)
- Chattanooga, Tennessee (site)
- Dublin (site ; seven proper DUKWs)
- Gold Coast, Queensland (site)
- Grapevine, Texas (site ; two authentic purple dukw's - one used in Hurricane Katrina)
- Halifax, Nova Scotia (site)
- Hawaii / Honolulu / Pearl Harbor (site)
- Hot Springs, Arkansas (site)
- Hyannis, Massachusetts (site)
- Ketchikan (site ; moderately large fleet of modern amphibious tour buses, no actual DUKWs)
- Liverpool (site)
- London (site) (5 DUKWs named after Shakespearian ladies)
- Memphis, Tennessee (site)
- Montréal, QC
- New York, NY
- Philadelphia (site ; moderate fleet of vintage DUKWs)
- Pittsburgh (site)
- Portland, Maine (site ; a single modern amphibious tour bus, no actual DUKWs)
- Portland, Oregon (site ; modern amphibious tour bus shown on web site)
- Providence (small fleet of modern amphibious tour buses, no actual DUKWs)
- Rotorua (site ; yellow DUKW)
- Seattle (site ; small fleet of vintage DUKWs)
- San Diego, CA (site); (known as Seal Tours in San Diego)
- San Francisco (site ; two vintage DUKWs (one called "Peking Duck", as of March, 2007) the other known as Bay Quakers)
- Saugatuck, MI (site)
- Singapore (site)
- St Helier, Jersey.
- Stone Mountain Park, Georgia (site)
- Toronto, ON ([1])
- Washington, D.C. (site)
- West Palm Beach, FL ([2])
- Wisconsin Dells (site)
[edit] Gallery
 A converted 1944 DUK-W vehicle in use in London. |
 Ride the Ducks, Seattle amphibious vehicle tour |
 DUKW for the Boston Duck Tour |
 A DUKW on a London tourist trip. A superstructure has been added to this DUKW, and the panel guarding its front wheel has been lost or removed (compare to photos above). |
 The transition from road to water or "splashdown", as demonstrated by a tour DUKW in Liverpool seen entering the Salthouse Dock. |
 Adventure headed to operations after Hurricane Katrina |
 "Original Wisconsin Duck" in Wisconsin Dells |
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 Japanese sightseeing bus fueled by cooking oil |
