You asked a few months ago, so not sure if my answer is relevant now. It does also depend on what areas of the park you want to visit. We stayed in Florida City and found many motels and hotels in the area. We liked Fairway Inn. It was economical, but had everything a larger chain would have. (iron, ironing board, hair dryer, toiletries, etc.) Housekeeping worked hard! It is right near the Flamingo entrance to the park. We also found the hotel near enough to visit the Shark Valley area (about an hour). Keep in mind the park also then extends out to the Gulf Coast. (approx. another hour west)

I booked my tour through Viator!

We didn’t see any either, mainly birds and alligators.

Thanks for the reply. We went yesterday. We saw 4 gators, and a few birds. Got some good photos.

I don't have experience with those areas. I would guess the ranger led trip is safe. Probably alligators only in the ponds. I have never seen large spiders here. There was a 5 foot water mocassin sunning in our campsite yesterday so you do need to be careful and pay attention where to step. Wear long pants, a long sleeve shirt, and boots if possible.

We had two days there in June this year which was pretty hot & sticky and, unexpectedly, bugs weren't a great problem (we did use repellant). To be fair though we didn't do any kayaking or trekking deep into the mangroves. We spent a day driving the circuit from the Coe Visitor Centre and stopping for short hikes at the various designated areas and then took an airboat ride. The Anhinga Trail was great for spotting gators and turtles and the coastline at the end of the road by the campsite after the Flamingo Visitor Centre is glorious. The boat ride from Flamingo is pretty but we saw no wildlife. We used Evergaldes Nature Tours for the airboat ride and took a semi-private tour which is a bit more expensive but means you're not on there with masses of other tourists. The boats only seat 6 people and, luckily for us, we were the only ones booked on that morning so got a private tour by default. We took the 8:00 am tour to avoid the worst of the heat and saw 3 gators plus turtles and a whole load of birds. The driver/guide was a really nice guy and very informative. We stayed at the Travelodge by Wyndham in Florida City which was pretty good.

On the way from Miami you will past several possibilities to do a boat ride!

I would suggest you wear light-colored and fast-drying clothes. Clothes made out of synthetic materials dry a lot faster than cotton clothes. My family and I also did a tour with Garl’s Coastal Kayaking (agree with stowtraveller, Garl’s Coastal Kayaking is awesome!). Even if you don't do slough slog, fast-drying clothes would still make you feel more comfortable when you sweat.