Very responsive when it came to planning the tour, helpful staff and entertaining info during the tour itself. We had a large pod of dolphins hang around us for an hour including a baby and it was wonderful! Would highly recommend this tour and this business. read more

Captain Johnny's Dolphin Tours - Docking station for tour start - Boat Tours Near Me - Manteo, North Carolina

We LOVED our dolphin tours! We got very lucky and were able to see 40ish dolphins within the first 15 minutes of the tour. Our tour lasted a little over two hours and we had a great time. It was perfect weather, great tour guides, and amazing views. I would highly recommend this dolphin tour to everyone looking for an excursion while visiting OBX! read more

Fun dolphin tour!!! Guide was hilarious and knowledgeable. Would definitely recommend!

My mom and I were walking around Manteo after touring Roanoke Island Festival Park and we stumbled upon Captain Johnny's Dolphin Tours. A bunch of people were coming off the boat. I decided to look them up quick and noticed that on their website they had a $10 off per person coupon if you take the morning dolphin tour. Either way we were going, but that was a plus. Savings are always great. You board the boat through another boat and in the first boat is where you check in, pay and there is also a small gift shop. It also sells some snacks. The captain of the boat was entertaining. Throughout the tour, if we spotted dolphins they put various snacks on sale. They are also in communication with other boats, so that they know where the dolphins are. On this particular tour, we saw about 30 dolphins. There was one pod that was surrounding our boat and it was so cool. This was an incredible experience being so up close and personal with wild dolphins. I really enjoyed myself. It was a long time too. We went the first couple days of October, so be sure to at least have a sweatshirt, or jacket ready. Also, no bananas on board. Dolphins don't like the smell of them and it makes them not show up in the water during the tour. You'll get fined if you are caught with banana. read more

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We thought this was a great trip! We have done another dolphin tour before on speed boat in Florida, two completely different ways to see the dolphins in our opinion, but both super fun. It was easy to book with this company, check in was simple and in a cute little town. Parking is close by. We went on the sunset tour and it was beautiful. We saw about 20 dolphins and the guide didn't really have to take the boat out far. He was was great at educating everyone on dolphins and was funny. There were lots of little boys on this trip and they asked about 100 questions that really didn't fully pertain to the trip itself but the guide was super patient with the kids and answered most questions. The sunset that night wasn't great since it was cloudy but it was still fairly pretty. The guide also took us back into an area where high end boats were docked and spoke a lot about that area which was really interesting. Overall money well spent! I didn't take pictures of the dolphins- too hard to do, but captured a few that I have posted below. Even if you don't see 20 dolphins like we did, the views are worth the trip! Also, if the guide suggests trying Frosties for some ice cream afterwards- DO IT!! Absolutely delicious!! read more

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I didn't know what to expect and really didn't think we would see dolphins...how can you guarantee that we'd see them? If you don't like crowds, then you might not like this boat cruise. It was packed when we got on and you were sitting on top of each other. The crew was nice and were good tour guides, sharing little facts as we were traveling out to the spot where dolphins are typically found. We were sitting right next to the captain so we could him him and other boats sharing info about where the dolphin were located, and sure enough, we saw a pod of dolphin. I think there more more than 20. It was cool to watch them and I tried to take a few pictures, but I really wanted to just watch them play, feed and swim. On the way back, we got to see the sunset, which was super cool. It was a fun outing that I would definitely do again. read more

Captain Johnny's Dolphin Tours - Boat Tours Near Me - Manteo, North Carolina

Hats off to Captain Johnny's! Money well spent. Put us on the dolphins right away. Although dolphins are wild, they found them. We stayed in the area and saw plenty of them. The captain was super informative. Spent a good hour of the 2 hour cruise watching them. Finally they disappeared. But, it didn't end there. He took us on a little tour of the area and explained to the group about the area and the yachts that we saw. In fact, told us that Michael Jordan use to dock his boat there. Super super informative. We then sat in the sound and took advantage of the beautiful sunset read more

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Most definitely one of the coolest parts of my vacation. We woke up and were dealt the Smoke scandal 2023 from Canadian Wildfires and a bit of rain, and we thought the dolphin watching tour was a bad idea... turned out if was amazing. We saw tons and I mean tonssss of dolphins. I got more videos than I do pictures, but we had a blast. Capt Jamie and his co-capt Wesley were awesome, comedic, knowledge and fun. There was good communication with out boats on the water to help either eachother find pods or dolphins and the weather was great. We will be back! Wonderful job! read more

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This tour was amazing. Saw at least 30 dolphins. Knowledgeable about the wildlife and dolphins. Highly recommend.

The dolphin tour today was excellent! The tour guide was very personable and knowledgeable of dolphins and the surrounding area. It's a family business that is quite efficient and the boat looks in good condition. We laughed plenty while on the tour and saw many dolphins including two baby ones! The tickets are quite affordable and is only on the sound. Additionally, I am motion-sick prone and only got slightly nauseous while on the boat. Only tip if you are gluten-free and motion-sick you will not be able to eat any snacks for sale on the boat. Otherwise, great experience! read more

Wonderful experience. We saw tons of dolphins and had a great time. We will definitely do this again the next time we are in town.

DOLPHINS! Bottle-nose. We were excited and well informed by our Captain. So many dolphins were in the sound to greet us, but it was unusual to find so many on this day, even the Captain said so. Good steady driving, crackers and soda available for a $1. Get your sea legs on and ships ahoy! read more

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This was an amazing time. I loved seeing the dolphins and being able to take plenty of pictures and videos. I also loved the sunset boat ride too. And the info given to us during the ride. Anyone who loves dolphins and or boating I highly recommend this event. read more

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This was a surprise adventure from our friend on a girls trip to OBX. We had a ball! The Captain's were very friendly & knowledge about the whole area. The sunset tour yielded beautiful views and we saw lots and lots of dolphins swimming in the wild. I highly recommend this experience if you are into seeing the OBX Sound in a whole new way. read more

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Rude and unprofessional captain, never left the dock! My husband made a reservation to go on this tour and we had to change our original number of people from 14 down to 9 people. (Note: We actually ended up only having 8 when we showed up, but I offered and was more than happy to pay for the agreed upon 9 people to be fair since we did not give advance notice of the one last minute drop out.) To go from 14 to 9, we called more than a couple of hours before the scheduled time and the women on the phone said fine to the number change. However, when we showed up at the dock, the captain came out in a terrible mood and told the cashier to not let any of us on. He was incredibly obnoxious and his solution to the situation was to attempt to extort us: he suggested everything from paying for all 14 tickets to paying full priced adult fare for all the children. He was so angry that we were concerned about his ability to calmly and safely operate a boat, let alone make it any sort of pleasant experience. We drove from 30 minutes away. Not sure why he wouldn't have just had the person answering the phone to just tell us not to come. We would have been happy not to have had this horrible interaction with a terrible business owner. read more

This was a great boat tour. We saw dolphins fairly early (thanks to my wife and son for spotting them). We spent about an hour among the dolphins, and the dolphins seemed to enjoy buzzing our boat. After that we took a side tour through the local marina where the fishing boats load and unload. That was a fun little bonus. Overall, this was a very nice, highly recommended tour that was low key. read more

Had a fantastic time. Just about a 2 hour boat ride. If you do not see dolphins, you can come back for a free ride. Dolphins are totally wild not captured and kept in an area. We were fortunate, had great weather and saw about 12 dolphins, including moms and calves. Captain was very knowledgeable about the area and history. He readily answered any and all questions. Was very friendly. They do offer small snacks (think cheese/pnut butter crackers and candy bard) and water or sodas for sale on board for $2.00 and under. You are allowed to stand at certain points. If you find dolphins, the captain slowly stays in the area following them so you can get great pictures. It is a covered boat for the most part but on sunny days I would wear sunscreen and/or a hat. When the wind whips up it can get a bit choppy. I made reservations online, quick and easy. They ask you to check in 30 minutes prior. We were scheduled for 1:30 so we got into town about 12:45 so we could check in by 1:00. It's a small historic type area so parking lots are a little bit limited but we found free parking within a 5 minute walk. There were nice benches in the shade at the marina to wait until we were to board. There are plenty of little restaurants and shops in the area including ice cream. It was a nice day out . read more

Family operated dolphin tour located on Roanoke Island. Pros: Lots of parking. Shaded place to sit before departing. Guaranteed to see dolphins or you can come back for a free tour (we saw a ton of dolphins when we went) Family owned and operated (4th generation). Dolphins were seen within feet of the boat. Dolphins are truly wild, not netted into a certain area of the sound just for the tours enjoyment. Offered soda, water and snacks for less than $2, you could also carry onboard your own. Tour guide was extremely knowledgable. Bathrooms onboard the boat. Kids were welcome to stand at the front of the boat. $10 coupon code can be found on their website for booking a 10am cruise online. Prices are $30 for adults (w/o coupon) & $20 for kids. Reservations are not needed but I would suggest calling ahead to make sure they have space on the boat. Didn't have to wear smelly life vets. Con: No a/c (but it's a boat, what would you expect?) the breeze is plenty. It was 90+ the day we went and we were fine. Best part of the tour (except for seeing the dolphins) was the kids being shot by water cannons from a 'pirate tour' on the way back to dock. It was hot so they enjoyed the refreshment. Otherwise the tour is dry, swimsuits are not needed. read more

Excellent! Captain John was a blast. He was informative and worked hard to find dolphins! And find them he did! We had to see 25 or more...it was wonderful. They had a blast swimming all around us and followed the boat multiple times! Really great trip! Worth it! read more

Captain was funny and knowledgeable. Second trip on this boat and we weren't disappointed. We were lucky and saw lots of dolphins.

I'm sure the entire experience is great without the "COVID experience.". It's too bad that despite their website claiming otherwise, they don't enforce social distancing, instead the boat was standing room only. The captain made zero effort to help and keep folks safely apart. Mandatory masks would go a long way in the cramped space. read more

Going on vacation in June and we're trying to get information about the dolphin tour and I must say they were the ruddiest people I've ever spoke to on the phone. The guy had an attitude. Told us all the information we need to know was on the website. Nothing on the website stated they were closed for off season or any of the questions we had wasn't online. Maybe if you want people's business you shouldn't be an ass. Our family will be taking our party of 12 somewhere else. I wouldn't even give this business a 1 star. read more

Great time for our whole family. Saw lots of dolphins. Crew & Captain friendly and informative. Boat was clean & well maintain. Very enjoyable. read more

My husband, two daughters (ages 8 and 10) and I had a great time today on the morning dolphin tour. The boat was timely and we saw many dolphins within 15 mins of being on the boat. The captain shared a lot of insight about the dolphins, the sound and the town. read more

Captains Johnny, Stuart and Jamie were phenomenal. Captain Jamie was an apprentice on the trip and was an incredible student. Lots of insider obx info and of course many dolphins engaging in natural dolphin behavior. 5 stars. Highly recommend. read more

Was a great time and the guide was very friendly! I liked that there is a guarantee to see dolphins or come back for free.

Great day of dolphin watching. Funny and engaging staff/captian. Knowledgeable about the area and can answer almost all questions. Great family outing! read more

We were running late driving over 120 miles from Williamsburg and called to see what would happen. She said just to be there by 1:30. We got there at like 1:31 and they welcomed us aboard the loaded boat. On the way out Captain made me unsure we'd see anything and I was, like..."All that hurrying and driving...." We started to see dolphins suddenly. And more dolphins...and more dolphins. I actually filmed them jumping up out of the water and flipping. Many came right up to the boat. Captain was funny and entertaining. He mentioned that in all the tours he'd done he had rarely if ever, seen as many dolphins as there were. It was worth the trip down and made our day! read more

A fun tour of local wildlife and sights as well as dolphins! Be sure to check out the 10 dollar off per person coupon for the 10am cruise!