We stayed at Aqualand from November - March of 2024. Staff was friendly and helpful! Campground was…read moreclean. There are long term residents but they were pleasant and respectful of other peoples property. No problems to report. Camp store has limited days and hours of operation so have what you need for your stay or plan accordingly. Plenty of shopping and restaurants just across the bridge. Marina is closed and not sure if it will be open this season as it has been used for a staging area for the new bridge that's been completed. This is an older campground so doesn't offer Wi-Fi but our Verizon phones and hotspot worked fine. Our view was amazing and helped to get through the winter months! We will stay here again!!

The only thing keeping me from giving out a 5-star review is the fact that these assbags lock the…read moregate at 8pm!! It was actually the weekend of the Summer Solstice...so you know, the LONGEST day of the year. I think it got dark at like 9:15 (sun 'officially' set somewhere around 8:45 or so), and these douches want you to be done fishing, cleaned up, and out the damn door by 8pm!? I love this spot for the fishing. It's only an hour south of DC, but the Potomac gets to maybe 50' deep at parts (maybe more?) and it's close enough to the Chesapeake Bay that the water is brackish (high salinity level i.e. ocean fish i.e. EDIBLE fish i.e. REALLY EFFIN BIG fish are up in there. Last Friday (June 19)I was in my canoe (prolly not a good idea with all the waves and currents and stuff...my buddy's $13k pontoon party boat couldn't hack the waves there on a windy day) fishing for rockfish, bluefish, croakers, spot, spanish mackerel, flounder, and sea trout. I actually caught nothing but a shit-ton of white perch which are good only for bait. I was right around the corner from the Aqua Land Marina, beside the power plant's release gate that was making a 50' current of dead fish (the shad/herring run ended recently so there was a ton of dead fish being sucked into the current and flowed straight out). This was naturally a great place to park and try to scoop up the big boys that would invariably be parked on the outskirts, getting their fill on fish flesh. I heard something massive break the water and turned to see what looked like a shark about 40' off the shore. Being 20' off the shore, I wanted to believe that it WASN'T a shark and was only a log or something. So I just ignored it. Heart was pumpin' though. About 20 minutes later I heard it again and turned to see what looked like a 5lb fish jumping out of the water (this usually means something bigger is chasing it to the surface, trying to eat it, thus referred to as a breaking fish). Then I saw what was chasing it. The dorsal fin was sticking out of the water (maybe a 10-16" tall) and there was about 4' of exposed back. Couldn't see the tail or the head. That was definitely a shark. Most likely in the 6'-7' range. I immediately paddled to the shore, dragging both the anchors, and started freaking out. I had to paddle back to the boat ramp and this guy is now 30' offshore, in 6' flats (that's a very shallow place) that extend all the way back to my truck. In short, I'm in his eating zone and my canoe is anything but stable with all the shit I've got in it. You may not have guessed it, but I ended up surviving. Got back with nary the further incident. I didn't see him again, but I know where to find him. I went up to Bass Pros near BWI Airport and bought gear that could withstand a battle with a shark. I will be buying a real boat really soon and then it's on. I am Ahab. Or at least Roy Schneider. And I'm gonna make that sonofabitch smile. Yeah, so after researching the possibilities of sharks on the Potomac, it's most likely that it was a nurse shark (which supposedly are docile, but google a picture of one, they're hella scary looking) or a spiny dogfish (which I've actually caught before) that really doesn't pose much of a real risk. However, in 1975 I think, commercial crabbers around the exact place on the Potomac I was at, netted 5 bull sharks accidentally. Bull sharks are one of the 5-10 sharks in the world that do NOT let go when they 'accidentally' bite a human. Most sharks hate pink meat. Bull sharks love it. And they're as aggressive as a trailer-park kid on meth. This is why I got back to the truck, exhausted/sunburnt, all late and stuff. Luckily, after being locked in, someone who has a slip there was leaving and let me out. The rates are good (like $8 to launch), there's a small store with beer, maybe bait, tackle, limited snacks, and strange hours of operation. I think they sell gas there too. People shore fish to some level of luck (mostly catfish, which I do eat out there, they are fine). There is also a campground attached and it looks aight. One caveat, MD State Police have a station there and they will eyefuck you from a distance when you're drinking on your boat and/or trying to dock on the chincy little dock. So be careful.

Unfortunately I call looking for this fantastic cruise for sunset. But due to Covid-19 they weren't…read moreable to do so. Although they were gracious and thankful for the inquiry. I highly recommend them. The concern was my well being and that of their crew. With that level of concern I will sail with them when circumstances change.

My wife and I booked an evening sunset cruise for a long weekend getaway. Carmelita and Josh were…read moreable to get us a 2 hour trip on a busy weekend in Solomons. The two of them make a great team. It's obvious from their introduction that they love sharing their passion of sailing with others. Before we even got to the dock I was in contact with Josh on the phone and email. He responded quickly and was happy to offer some amenities. Josh offered me a few pick up locations and offered to drop us at our hotel marina. Once on the boat we covered a quick but thorough safety brief. We toured the river before entering the bay. Carmelita and Josh made suggestions for restaurants and other activities on Solomons and pointed them out as we passed them. Our tour took us around Solomons Island and under the bridge at sunset. Carmelita took pictures of us the whole time and shared them with us after the tour. It was great talking with them about how they got into sailing and how they learned their craft. The boat was clean and appeared to be sound. On the way back lighting storms were surrounding us. The light show was really cool to watch. The storm was about 30 miles so there was no danger and we felt safe the Josh and Carmelita were keeping an eye on the weather. I would definitely recommend their tour or charter service. They were great hosts and provide a memorable experience. You should book your tour now.

Had a really good time. Nice and relaxing with plenty of space. It is not to large that all the…read morepeople can be involved in the conversation. The Captain was very informational and has stories. We will defenitly be looking to book again.

We recently did a 2-hour Tiki cruise for my mom's birthday, and had such a great time! The boat…read moredeparts from a bar/restaurant on the water so there's plenty of parking and you can grab a drink or a bite (and use the bathrooms--there's none on the boat) before or after. The boat itself is literally a round, floating tiki bar on the water. It holds up to 6 people plus the captain. You can bring your own drinks (recommend taking a page out of our book and bringing a pitcher of pre-made painkillers with you for the ride!) and snacks, and they provide water and drinking ice. You can also connect to bluetooth speakers to play your own music. Our captain was great, he chatted with us throughout the ride, pointing out wildlife and sharing little tidbits about the landmarks and history of the area as we cruised around. As you'd expect this thing doesn't move very quickly, but it made for a really relaxing ride with plenty of time to check out the views, enjoy a few drinks, and gawk at all the houses and boats along the shore. We went around 6:30pm and it was perfect for beating the heat and catching some sunset. Would totally do this again for a special occasion or with out of town visitors!

In addition to the marine service and sales operations, which is a separate business, Captain Phil…read moreGootee provides lighthouse tours on the Chesapeake Bay. He does both a Southern Bay tour and a Northern Bay tour. Living in Annapolis for 8 years, I have not seen any other tour operator providing this unique service. I took the Southern Bay Lighthouse tour a few summers ago, and yesterday, we did the Northern Bay tour. Capt Phil is so friendly and knowledgeable. He provided written materials that he passed out before we reached each lighthouse. It is a glorious way to spend time out on the Bay. We left ftom Cambridge yesterday and saw six lighthouses, and so much of the Bay scenery from the water, including Poplar Island. On the return, we went through Knapps Narrows at Tilghman Island, which is a very scenic route. It was awesome.

We wanted to make a day trip to search for fossils at Calvert Cliffs and this seemed to be one of…read morethe only options so off we went. The road to get to the campsites / office is relatively bumpy and the road is full of ruts and rocks that could actually be challenging for a small car or a car that is low to the ground. We drove slowly and it was fine. The lady in the office was very friendly and we paid in cash which is preferred. This is clearly a family-run operation. The walk down to the beach was via a kind-of steep set of stairs. At the bottom there were a few other groups of people there, many of them apparently semi-professional fossil hunters with specialized digging hand tools. Unfortunately the tide was coming in when we got there (poor planning on our part), but this limited our fossil searching to a sliver of exposed beach itself as the water was covering a significant portion of the ground. I would highly recommend Wellington-style rubber boots or something similar to keep your feet dry while you search (everyone else on the beach was wearing them). Your sneakers will probably get wet. As far as fossils go, we didn't find much. One of us found what appeared to be a very small shark tooth. You are not allowed to dig into the cliffs themselves due to erosion concerns but you could see layers of shells and small fossils in the cliffside which was interesting. All in all it was not the fossil-rich experience I was expecting. I've heard about digging for fossils at Calvert Cliffs for many years and so it was a bit disappointing to come away empty-handed. If we had been better prepared to wade out into the water and brought some sort of implements with us we may have had more success. Not a terrible afternoon at all but not a place I will be chomping at the bit to return to.

This review is for the beach. Perhaps a new owner has taken over, as we had nothing but a pleasant…read moreexperience with the woman who took our money and her husband, who showed us where to park. It was $10 per person (cash only!), but considering that the beach has tons of shells and fossils, and lots of parking, we found it a very fair price. They even give you a permit so you can leave and come back on the same day. I would suggest bringing an umbrella or sun tent, as there isn't much shade (at least before 2 pm est, when we left). The water is a bit murky, but refreshing and sandy once you get out past the shoreline. You may want to bring water shoes.

You can do better than staying at this hotel. The staff were kind and helpful, our qualms are…read moreentirely with the facility itself. The whole place is extremely dated. Our room was ... relatively clean. One of our towels had a stain on it, there were some stains on the chairs in our room, and on the bed skirt (although the sheets themselves appeared to be clean). The king bed sagged in the middle, it was probably at least a twenty year old mattress. The sheets would not stay on the mattress. Half of the shutters in our room were broken, although we managed to position them to close well enough, and there were bugs in the windowsills. The screen door in the suite area was broken. There appeared to be a lamp missing in the bedroom. The TVs are tiny and very old. Much of the room quality could have been overlooked if we'd had better entertainment. The walls and floors are very thin - on our first night we could hear almost everything in the rooms on either side of us, making it very hard to sleep. It seemed that there was a TV on the wall directly behind our bed in the other room. The curtain rod in the bathroom had been moved/repositioned multiple times which left patches in the paint. The cherry on top was that we had no running water for a shower on our final night. This is an awesome location, it was such a bummer that the room was so low quality. It rained the whole weekend we were here, but if the sun had been shining we would have had the most gorgeous view. If this hotel gets a facelift, it could be an amazing weekend destination.

Pros: The views all around is amazing…read more There is water everywhere. The rooms are big, and they have mini kitchens. You have view of the water in the balcony. Cons: Do NOT stay in room 301. Omgoodness one of the rooms is under an air condition or condenser. It's the master bedroom it was so LOUD. You cannot sleep at all. We had to sleep in the sofa bed in the living room area. And close that master room because it sounds like a helicopter literally on top of the room. The front desk said they cant do much since there's no more room available. But Good Lord. It was tough to sleep.

We have been wanting to go Fossil hunting in Calvert County for years ! So glad we decided to go…read morewith Paul instead of attempting this exploration by ourselves! Paul is a wealth of information not only about fossils but also about Calvert County history. We had such a great time and look forward to the next adventure!

My boys and I had a fantastic day with Paul Murdoch! I have one child in elementary school and…read moreanother in high school, and both had an amazing time. Paul shared his deep knowledge of fossils and history in a way that was engaging for both of them. He's a true expert fossil hunter--he spotted things we never would have seen on our own! Before the outing, we also had the chance to visit his office and explore his incredible fossil collection. Paul communicated clearly and promptly leading up to the day, which made everything smooth and easy. We're already looking forward to our next adventure. Thank you so much, Paul!

We were very excited to book this hotel. It's in a beautiful area and we were going to a…read moregraduation at St. Mary's College, our grandson. The hotel is supposedly dog friendly and we paid an extra $75 dog fee upon arrival. I called the hotel and spoke to Janine and asked her if we could have a room on the first floor, non allergic pillows and if the dogs were allowed to stay in the room while we went out. The answer was yes. Our dalmation is very well behaved and we have left her for short periods like while we were having dinner. Last year we traveled across the country and never had a problem. So last night the family had a pre graduation dinner on St. George's Island. We were finished around 8:30 and as I was leaving I got a call from the hotel that Freckles was barking. We were on our way back and about an hour away. Then I got another call while we were driving. It took us an hour to get back and I apologized. I never want to upset other patrons at a hotel. By the way, the room was on the third floor, not the first as we asked for. So we were not allowed to leave Freckles today and I missed the graduation. I was broken hearted bc we had just traveled two days to get here. The night before we were in a La Quinta Inn in Selma, North Carolina. This hotel was loaded with dogs and they barked on and off but no problem. So maybe this Hilton Inn should advertise "bark-less dogs". Or at lat least put them in an area where they wouldn't bother anyone. We're spending another night here because we already paid for the room. Freckles will come with us everywhere. Fortunately there are many restaurants with patio seating. Unfortunately we couldn't bring her to graduation- my loss. PS. The staff and breakfasts were excellent! They even let us bring Freckles to the other side of the lobby so we could have breakfast. They brought the food to us! Thank You!

We decided on this hotel as a short getaway. We stayed for two nights and our plan was to spend a…read morewhole day at the outside pool. We succeeded! After a very pleasant check in, we got our travel bags into our room, which was very clean and comfy. We had a brief visit to the hotel bar, where we received a very good recommendation for a breakfast spot the next morning. After breakfast, we hit the pool area. We had sunscreen, water and snacks. The pool area was very clean and members of the staff came out periodically to check the water, clean out debris, etc. They even asked if we needed some bottles of water! Everyone we came in contact with at this hotel was wonderful. We definitely will come back when we need a little vacation from home.