captain left was great highly recommend Entertain entertaining great stories Very knowledgeable read more

Captain Mark was excellent! We saw the ponies (3 babies) and a bald eagle! Highly recommend

captain Mark is really awesome took us near the horses. knows the area inside out a thrill ride. A must do Assateague explorer cruises read more

Capt. Lefty was a great guide and got us in close to see the horses! He has a wealth of information about local lore and science. read more

Assateague Explorer - Rafting/Kayaking Near Me - Chincoteague Island, Virginia

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This is a great tour! We got to see the ponies up close and personal. Our tour guide was knowledgeable and she took us on a great tour of the island and the marshes. We had the pleasure of seeing all kinds of wildlife and a ton of horses. I highly recommend this tour read more

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Saw awesome dolphins and eagles We are still looking for the horses it's a pretty ride guys are very knowledgeable read more

Assateague Explorer - On the ride to the island beautiful day - Rafting/Kayaking Near Me - Chincoteague Island, Virginia

Love the tour. Capt.. Mark. F****** on the area and was quite entertaining. Love seeing the ponies and the Dolphins and the bird. Great trip

Captain Mark was great, very knowledgeable. Super friendly. Worked around the weather to make sure we got in to see the ponies.

good job captain Matk good history of the chincateague and assateague ateas Thanks for a good experience read more

2-hour Kayaking is great! The guide is very friendly and kind. We saw ponies swimming! Such a beautiful day! read more

Assateague Explorer - Rafting/Kayaking Near Me - Chincoteague Island, Virginia

What a wonderful experience!Captain Mark was born and raised here. He knew the history of the area and told personal stories of growing up here. I'm taking another trip with him in two days for the pony swim! read more

Thank you captain mark for the amazing time. We saw a lot of ponies. :) thank you for letting us join as a walk on.

Captain Lefty was great! It was awesome to hear about the history of the area and wildlife while we were looking right at it. Got great views of the ponies and birds :) Will definitely be back! read more

Capt Mark is an excellent guide to the waters and culture of the history. Wonderful way to get the most out of your Chincoteague experience.

captain Mark was awesome! We went out on beautiful sunny day. Saw a bald eagle, some horses and a few dollphins.

Recommended! Was a delightful nice relaxing cruise. Shane is very knowledgeable and polite. Thank you Shane. read more

Assateague Explorer - Sunset - Rafting/Kayaking Near Me - Chincoteague Island, Virginia

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Great tune with Capt Shane he provided lots of great information saw ponies and dolphins

Such a fun kayaking adventure! Hoot was amazing and super chill! Highly recommend to anyone trying to have a fun day on the water

captian mark was amazing! very knowledgeable about the area, wildlife and knew where the dolphins were. highly recommended

Great experience, a knowledgeable tour from Captain Mark, and fun time overall. Would highly recommend!

captain lefty saved my fucking life. i would recommend to everyone to book this tour.

Awesome as always!! Captain Lefty is very entertaining!! Always a great time and story teller.

Captain Mark did a great job and we saw so many things out on the water! We saw dolphins and ponies

Cap Mark and host Jenny / Jen were great. we had an amazing boat experience and we got lucky perfect great weather. - perfect family trip for large group to see wild ponies and dolphins! Highly recommended. read more

Great boat tour with Captain Mark and Jenny! Learned a lot about Chincoteague and Assateague, saw beautiful scenery, and the ponies were the best part of the tour! read more

it was a very enjoyable ride , we saw the horses and dolphins. captain mark was very good and lefty

The staff was responsive to phone calls because I had to change our reservation 2 or 3 times. However, I asked for a sunset cruise and was scheduled at 1230 instead. We were there 5 minutes after our start time and everyone was already waiting for us- so come early. There are multiple signs on the boat requesting gratuities. We were off season and didn't have a good animal viewing experience. There was no fault of our captain or the company, but I think you might be better served scheduling a smaller or more responsive tour elsewhere. read more

Jay was an amazing guide. Took us to a great viewing area for the ponies. Told us about the birds we were seeing. Helped all kids when they had trouble. Excellent afternoon. read more

Assateague Explorer - The ponies. - Rafting/Kayaking Near Me - Chincoteague Island, Virginia

Our tour guide was awesome, gave us so much info, and the tour itself was super pleasant. We saw tons of horses and even a pony, so it was totally worth it! read more

Captain Leftie was wonderful. Very friendly and knowledgeable. He put us right on the ponies at the shoreline near where the swim takes place. read more

Captains Mark and Steve were wonderful guides. We saw several amazing pods of dolphins up close and ponies from afar. Highly recommend them. read more

Very informative and friendly crew on the little trip I took, fair pricing as well. I would definitely recommend.

Amazing experience! Friendly people, clean boat, prompt, knowledgable and FUN! Id do it again in a heartbeat.

My family had an amazing time on our tour with captain Shane this afternoon. I booked the tour just a couple of hours before we arrived. The website was easy to navigate and they even had availability for my family of 6 with just a couple of hours notice. We have a 2 year old boy and 3 roundy older boys age ranging from 10 years down to 7 years. My 7 year old wanted to see dolphins and everyone else wanted to see horses . Thankfully Shane knew just where to go and we were able to see bottle nose dolphins and then a whole heard of wild ponies. Shane was super patient with our boys even though they were a little cranky and hungry. I definitely recommend brining a jacket and blanket. We even brought snacks as well. We thought from the pictures we would be on a big boat with other people. But we ended up being able to be on a private tour it was just the 6 of us plus Captain Shane. Shane was knowledgeable about different animals on the island and around the inlet. He told us stories about the horse and how they are taken care of etc. He also had lots of fun facts about the birds in the area. I highly recommend!! My husband didn't want to spend the money for the 6 of us to go. We were just going to go to Asstiague and see if we could see tje horses there... but when we got back to the car after the tour he said he was supper glad we did this. Definitely the highlight of our vacation! read more

Assateague Explorer - Horses on the island - Rafting/Kayaking Near Me - Chincoteague Island, Virginia

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FANTASTIC!!! Jay was awesome!!! He gave us solid instructions before the tounso that we were able to navigate the marsh. The winds were craaaaazy but we muscled through the channels. Jay was very knowledgeable of the wildlife, pointed out the various turtles, birds, oyster beds and landmarks, and horse hot spots. He answered all our questions...he suggested some great photography spots and we took some good scenic pictures. DEFINITELY RECOMMEND THIS TOUR!!! YEEEEE HAAAAA!!!! read more

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Great tour. From horses to dolphins, and some interesting birds. Captain Lefty strived to give a good tour. Nice way to see Chincoteague Island from the water. read more

The boat tour was great. Captain Shane was delightful and had lots of good sights so we saw lots of good stuff. Why did they get four stars? Captain Mark was very interesting on the phone, and I had trouble getting him off of the phone. Hours later while we were in the middle of dinner, he decided to call me and make sure that I would leave a review. The quality of the boat to itself is worth putting up with the nagging of Captain Mark, but just feel free to put him in his place and let him know that you're here to use his service and not to be his bestest buddy. read more

The tour leader (Mark) was terrible. Talking all the time about boring stuff. We saw a few dolphins but zero horses. Could by t wait fur it to be over. read more

This is the message I sent Assateague Explorer - they did not respond. I am writing to express my disappointment in my recent Pony Swim 2025 tour. I am doing this before I write a review on any of the popular sites, as I would like the chance to have this made right. I was on the boat with Captain Shane. When our boat approached the first (closest for viewing) side where boats could line up, the captain stopped a little way out and did nothing. There was no communication with the passengers but from what I could hear of conversation between the captain and Jen, they were trying to contact Captain Mark without success. In the meantime, multiple boats passed ours and found places in the row to view the horses. Eventually some of the passengers asked the captain why we weren't doing anything. Some of them were already getting upset at the lack of communication or decision making or action. The crew did not reply and our boat stayed where it was. After more time had passed we were told by Jen that we would go to the "other side" and that it would be "just as good". When we got to that other side, two of the three boats in the tour were tied together along with two people in a smaller private boat. Our captain proceeded to go to the side with the private boat and started tying to that boat, sandwiching it between two of our tour's three boats. Our boat was facing backwards and it also blocked the view of the people on the private boat. This resulted in a screaming match between Captain Shane and the man in the small boat. I know the people on all of the boats witnessed this, and that at least one woman on our boat recorded it. A law enforcement boat of some kind came over about this time, drawn by the spectacle. I heard our captain tell the people in the private boat that ne could go where he wanted as "a captain of charter boat". After law enforcement arrived, Captain Shane moved our boat to the other side of the other two boats, and tied on with our boat now facing forward. The promise that this side was just as good as the first was simply not true - we were much farther away from the swimming ponies. What a huge disappointment when we have paid around 8-9 times the price of a tour on any other day. This sounds like I am only complaining about Captain Shane, but this is also a complaint about leadership. Why was he unable to reach any one else by radio or cell phone? Why did he seem frozen and not able to make a decision? Were you requiring that all three boats be together? If so, why? They could have had three separate spots on the better side. Why did the crew not communicate with the passengers, even when asked a direct question? One last thing - the picture of the boat in website is a covered one. Two of the three boats in our tour were covered but ours was not, and it was very uncomfortable in the sun on the way back. I think I have a case for a substantial refund. This was not acceptable by anyone's standards. I will also send this to the company email with a screen shot showing how far we were from the ponies. Thank you for your time read more

The tour was great. Captain Steve was really knowledgeable and shared some interesting facts and stories. We got as close as possible to the shore without impacting the ponies and getting stuck in the low tide. It was a cold and dreary day and Steve was thoughtful abkut asking everyone what would help make them comfortable. Also had a great chat with Mark about wildlife in general. You have to appreciate people who appreciate nature and wildlife, outside of the business aspect of the work. read more

Assateague Explorer - Rafting/Kayaking Near Me - Chincoteague Island, Virginia

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