Dolphin Docks saved us on our last trip we originally booked with Fisherman's Wharf HUGE mistake. Fisherman's wharf had there boat leave an hour and a half earlier than listed on their website so we didn't make it so I gave dolphin docks a call and 15 minutes later we're on a boat and got our limits of snapper. The crew was awesome and it was cheaper than all the others. I cannot recommend this place enough! read more

Booked a trip and paid months in advance only to be canceled by Dolphin Docks 1.5 hours prior to departure because they didn't have enough customers for the trip. After using a vacation day at work and 2 kids taking off school along with driving half way there. It was a waste of time and money. read more

Went on the 12 hr on a smaller boat on July 12th instead of the bigger one in 6's n 7's so it wasn't exactly smooth sailing. At each location the captain( overweight dude w long ponytail) kept drifting and couldn't stay on top of the fish which I believe resulted in us not catching very many fish. At one point as I was lying down in the passenger area as we were heading back I saw the captain run down into the men's restroom twice leaving no one in the wheelhouse as the boat was running! That's what a milk jug is for! Gonna try Fisherman's Wharf next time. As you can see in the video provided the fish was very slim pickings due to the captains inability to stay on top of the fish! He kept drifting! read more

The crew worked hard to make sure everyone was successful catching fish! I would use them again.

went fishing red snapper season, caught 6 good size snappers, waited on them to call my # to collect my fish, # never got called, they gave away my fish, paid alot of money and then they wanted a tip. read more

The whole experience was great. Caught plenty of fish. The staff was very friendly and fast. read more

Dolphin Dock - Shark - Fishing Near Me - Port Aransas, Texas

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Our group of 10 were told we were doing bay fishing. As we were heading out, the deck hand told us we were doing off shore, I offered to pay to take us back and he declined. 3/4 of the boat got incredibly sick and one with a medical emergency (ambulance was waiting at the dock for a passenger), still wouldn't go back to the dock. The waves were at a minimum of 25-30 feet!! Never saw the captain. We are all very experienced on the water people! Nobody caught a fish and the captain was more concerned about his needs than the people on the boat. Never again with this company!! read more

Terrible, I know it's really not their fault but kind of is, not even a bite. We moved one time and I kept the same bait on my pole most of the trip. No bites and no one caught anything. I've been on many trips, most with deep sea headquarters, couldn't use them this time, they were booked. Will wait next time. read more

Went on a 12 hour trip and the first half was great. however the second half wasn't. First the deck hands are awesome. However the captain put us on the Red Snapper and everyone boat caught their limit in about 30 to 40 minutes. GREAT. Then the captain moved to a different spot so we could get Vermillion Snapper. After about three hours with less then ten fish he said we were heading in. In my opinion after the first hour in the second spot without catching fish the captain should have moved to a different spot, This was the first time I have used Dolphin Docks and it will be the last. I will stick with the charter I have used in the past. read more

I've done party boat's before, we booked an 8 hr. with this outfit on the first day of Snapper season. The best spots on the boat however are on the stern, but upon boarding we found the deckhands at reserved those spots for themselves. Fishing off the sides was a complete tangled up cluster ****. After 3 hrs. out the boat limited on Red Snapper in about 30 min., problem being however they really just throw all the fish on ice and then distribute them on the dock. The rest of the trip was spent fishing for sharks, which you can do off the city pier. Most of the crew had an attitude which wasn't altogether pleasant. The best part of the trip was getting off that boat. I definitely would not book with this outfit again. read more

They will take you to the fish, it's up to you to catch the fish. It is a LONG trip out and back so be prepared for that. Also, there are many people who do this enough to make it a pain for the newbies. They line up first and herd to the preferred spots. Be prepared to relax or take your spot in the elbow shoving match. The biggest disappointment is that they forbid you from bringing your own food & drinks so that they can charge you airport prices during the time that you are trapped on their boat. Which is likely to be somewhere around 12 hours. If you are like anyone else, you will get hungry & thirsty during that time. So when you plan your trip, make sure you factor in the gauging prices in your budget. If you want your fish cleaned, you will pay an additional $.40 to $.65 per pound for them to do it for you. Some may think this is a deal. Remember that depending on the fish, you will likely get 1/3 fish flesh you can eat and the other 2/3 gets pitched. So when they weigh 12 pounds of fish, you will get 4. Be aware. Again, you will catch fish but you better know how so either watch some YouTube videos before going out or go with someone who can teach you. read more

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Me and my family took a 5 hour fishing trip on a Sunday it was 90$ a person we maybe stoped to fish maybe 20 minutes there were so many people I did not even get a pole and did not get to fish before the crew said we were leaving. We arrived back 30 minutes early . We were told we would return at 8:30 they just wanted to get as many people on the boat go out and back as quickly as possible I would not recommend this business. read more

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3.5 stars I have mixed things to say about Dolphin Dock... we had reserved two spots for two 4-hour afternoon trips last week. Prices weren't bad at $62 each with the pay with cash discount. The first afternoon we headed out about 45 min away from the dock to a fishing spot. Only the back of the boat was catching sharks and a big ray. My dad caught a tiny spadefish that was unhooked from his pole and used as shark bait (sometimes it took awhile to get the attention of the deck hands when you had a fish on). If he had known that, he wouldn't have said anything. No one was really catching anything in the first spot and we spent about an hour and a half there. The water here was still barely 50 ft deep. We finally headed out to another spot (which was much better), but only spent about 30 min here before heading back. In this spot, two of the deckhands were at the front of the boat fishing from there. We didn't buy any food or drinks on board, but no outside food or drinks are allowed. Overall, it was fun, but fishing was a little slow. The next day we came back for our afternoon trip and saw the catches from the morning trip- a few snappers that were smaller than the ones we caught the previous day that had been thrown back by the deckhands, one tiny shark, and a small ray for 30 some people (to be fair, all the rain they had the week before that had sent the fish to deeper waters). We decided to cut our losses for the day and used the money we would've spent on the fishing trip for lunch, a tour of the USS Lexington, and the aquarium. 2021 #57 read more

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We did a fishing excursion while in Port Aransas with this business. First most all of the employees were nice and helpful. However we paid to fish right? They took time from us both there and back, fishing for themselves. On top of that got us in wrong waters so we had to real in, move to reposition. Then we will got back 15 minutes early. It was a 5 hr but poles in the water 45 minutes. read more

Dolphin Dock - Fishing Near Me - Port Aransas, Texas

Went fishing with my husband, 2 sons and extended family for an 8hr trip in June. Red snapper season. Had a blast almost everyone was hooking snappers left and right. We went to 3 different spots. I wish we could have switched to try some sharks but I think they were waiting to max out on snappers and there were a few people not catching anything so we never did. Overall we had a super fun trip. We went back last weekend with my husband, son, and daughter. No one else had signed up for the 8hr trip so we got bumped to the 4hr. We were a little disappointed but I guess you can't control those types of things. Headed out about an hour. As soon as we dropped our lines me and my son's gf hooked bonnethead sharks! After that my hubby, and daughter caught one each. We hooked some bait fish and my hubby hooked a Mangrove Snapper. Only my son didn't catch anything. We all still really enjoyed ourselves! We can't wait to plan another trip! Both trips, all the guys were super nice and helpful. Sometimes you have to wait a bit if everyone's catching at the same time, but they try to get to you as fast as possible to unhook your fish and rehook your line if it snapped. Thanks for making both trips extremely enjoyable!!! We'll be back! read more

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We took a private charter on the The Dolphin for a 9hr trip. We needed a boat for a group of 7 and this was the best price in the area. Overall, we had a great time. The deckhand, Joe, was super helpful and we had lot of fun. Joe had all of the lines and bait hooked up and ready. He was very helpful in ensuring we had no issues with tangles or hooks and he was very quick to unhook our fish so we could get back to fishing. He was also very helpful with the Sting Ray. It took us about an hour to get it onboard. Ask him about his recent trips. He has some awesome stories. The boat, The Dolphin, was very nice. Sure it's a bit old, but they keep it in a great shape. We took our own food and drinks so there was no issue there. For a 9hr trip they tell you to expect to fish 1/3 of the time. This is due to getting out to sea. While you have only roughly 3hrs of each person with a line in, you troll the entire way. So don't think you won't catch fish. Just rotate pulling them in off the trollers and you'll be fine. Lastly, they advertise that they filet the fish for 0.40/lbs, that is for a standard bone-in cut. Obviously you're going to want the bone-out cut, that is 0.60/lbs. Not an issue, just misleading. Pro-tip: if you catch a shark, they will also remove the jaw for you as a souvenir. It's a roughly $7+ pending the size of the fish, but cool nonetheless. read more

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Had an incredible time deep sea fishing. We went to catch Red Snapper and started catching them as soon as we dropped our lines. We have gone several times with a different place but never had luck. This time we switched to Dolphin Dock. The entire boat caught its limit (2) each of Red Snapper within an hour. So the captain moved to another location so we could try for shark. And the deck-hand was very amazing. They were all so kind and helpful. My family and I highly recommend Dolphin Dock for deep sea fishing!! read more

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I was so looking forward to this trip. I have never been on a fishing trip where I actually had a good experience. The joke in our family is that if I go, we won't get any fish. My husband was going to prove to me that I could get fish. The day we went on our trip was very windy. When we called to make our reservations we verified several times that the weather would be OK for a good trip. They assured us that the waves would not be too bad. What they DIDN'T tell us is that the waves wouldn't be bad because they were not planning to take us out of the bay. This was so VERY DECEPTIVE. We even asked them that morning. If I'd wanted a bay trip, I wouldn't have paid for a deep sea trip. We could have planned to wait for another day to get the experience we paid for. We caught fish. Nothing worth keeping. Little bitty fish. SO DISSAPOINTING. My reputation lives on......maybe fishing isn't my thing. read more

So we book a private trip for our company. We had a great time and the deck hand was very nice and very helpful.The Captain seem real short with answers like he didn't want to visit or make sure we were having fun .Maybe he was just busy that day or had a long week and was super tired .He wasn't rude and He wasn't nice . He made a comment to me that I was wasting the bait ,even though the way I was doing it ,the bait actually stayed on a long time and I was catching a lot of fish.As much as we paid for the trip I am sure we paid for that bait .You could have said it nicer .Maybe You were nicer to the guys. The caption did his job very well he found us some. Great fishing spots .our big group end up being really small so we were a group of eight. I ended up being the only women but I held my own I was close to catching the most I would definitely Recommend read more

Dolphin Dock - Our fish - Fishing Near Me - Port Aransas, Texas

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They rocked it like they knew what they were doing!! The captain and staff gave specific direction on how to catch the fish that were there. It was definitely not their best haul but we did well following the guidance given. My only complaint was at the end when we were paying to have our fish cleaned. Who ever that was has a big mouth and shouldn't be allowed to interact with paying customers. If you aren't happy with the fish we kept talk to your deck hands! read more

My family and I went on a red snapper trip this past week. We had an absolute blast. The captain knew exactly where to take us so everyone on the boat came home with fish. The best part of the trip were the deckhands. They are so quick in getting the fish in the boat allowing for another drop of bait on the hook. I am a newbie fisher and the deckhands were very patient with me and made sure I understood what to do and periodically came back to check how I was doing. One of the deckhands stayed and gave me pointers of how the fish more successfully. Those kids are some hard workers and make me feel better about the work ethic of the future generation. Those kids shouldn't have to ask for tips, it should be a given that every person on the boat express their gratitude for such hard work. read more

Dolphin Dock - Fishing Near Me - Port Aransas, Texas

Save your money. The conditions on the Pesca are deplorable, and the crew are rude. First the bathrooms: the toilets don't flush, but they constantly run and in high seas slosh urine water all over the floor and you. They only have one handrail to hold onto while your trying to hover over the toilet and avoid sloshing urine water, so you get thrown all over the place. The sink doesn't have running water and there is no soap. For 9 hours I could not wash my hands. There were no trash cans in the bathroom so women left their bloody tampons & pads on the floor and counter. Now for the puke: they only let people puke off the back of the boat. They tell everyone not to puke in a trash can or off the side, so allll the people who got sea sick made a mad dash for the back of boat, but only a few made it. There was puke allll over. They tried to hose it off, but it was absolutely disgusting. Want fresh sea air to calm the sea sickness? Think again. The entire crew chain smoked the whole 9 hour tour. This boat has a roof over the fishing deck that trapped the smoke. It was absolutely the most disgusting, putrid atmosphere. Smoke, smoke and more nasty smoke for 9 hours. Lucky enough to have a Dramamine patch and NOT be sea sick? They forbid bringing food or water on board, so you have to buy their food. Remember above where I mentioned the urine water bathrooms? Well people weren't just peeing in there, they were pooping and puking too. The bathrooms are literally directly across from the kitchen. The doors open directly to the kitchen counter. There was absolutely not an E. Coli's chance in hades I was going to eat or drink anything from that kitchen. Especially with my dirty, unwashed urine bathroom hands. You have to yell over the engines because they are so loud. When you can't hear the crew they get really mad at you and get rude and super pushy. Like I cannot hear you dude. Stop being such a freaking jerk. At the end one of crew actually had the gall to ask for tips. She said it's how they make their living. Well if that's how you make your living, maybe you should be nice to guests, professional, put out your cigarettes and maintain a functional boat with basic necessities, like hygiene. Not scared off by the above? They crammed 40 people on board. People spent more time getting their lines tangled than fishing. They only give about 15-20 mins of fishing in one spot before motoring to another location. We motored for 4.5 hours out and back. With all the motoring in between we probably only fished for a total of 1.5 hours out of a 9 hour tour. Only one fish was caught on the entire boat. Additionally there is not seating for 40 people. There is seating for like 15 people inside and some outside, but they don't let you sit in some places because of spray. Some in our party literally stood for 9 hours. In rough seas. One person even slept standing up on the motor home. I cannot believe we paid $300 for this experience and they want tips? They should be giving refunds. You could not pay me to go back on that boat or do any business with Dolphin Docks. read more

Dolphin Dock - Fishing Near Me - Port Aransas, Texas

Incredible experience! Friendly and professional staff; very informative website detailing all you'll need to know for a great time.

My husband brought me fishing this time he usually brings our son during spring break. It was a nice sunny day not too hot. Went out way past the oil rigs. The spot was about 70 ft deep per the captains announcement. The moment we dropped the line we started catching fish. Together we caught about 20 fish gaftop and sand trout. The ride back as the sun was going down was nice and the water beautiful. The deck hands were pleasant and cleaned the boat while we returned. The only reason I didn't give them 5 stars is because of the filleting process. There were a lot of us maybe 20 baskets full of fish and they have one man weighing the fish and 3 people filleting. If you are the first person in line you have to wait till the last person gets weighed before they even start bagging your fish. You'd think they'd have a person at that station handing out the done product and not have the whole fishing party just sitting there waiting until that one person weighing the fish is done. read more

Dolphin Dock - Beautiful - Fishing Near Me - Port Aransas, Texas

We were originally going to go on the 10 hour trip but decided to go on the 12 hour trip for $25 more a person but had less people signed (less tangled lines and more space to fish.) As we were getting on the boat following morning we realized everyone was getting in the same boat, as some had blue tickets (12hr trip) and others had green tickets (10 hr trip). Later when we got back, we asked the lady inside and they said they decided to put the groups together. People who paid for the 10 hour trip got a 12 hour trip, and ended up being a crowded boat. Felt like they knew that the evening before when we had paid and should of communicated that information with the customers as we paid the night before at the dolphin dock location. But the fishing was great, boat was clean for a charter boat, Took the dolphin express which I highly recommend because it is the fastest in their fleet and has nice A/C with bunks which is nice because we slept to and from the fishing spots 60 miles out (3.5 hour rides). We had smooth waters, and only had a few tangled lines while fishing. Caught some good vermilion snappers, kings, amberjacks, and I caught a spinner shark which was the biggest catch of the day, caught a lot of red snapper but had to release since they were out of season. I would recommend these people over others in Port A! Just make sure you know what you're paying for and maybe see to pay the cheaper price since they obviously combine the 10-12 hour trips when both of the boats aren't full. read more

Dolphin Dock - Fishing Near Me - Port Aransas, Texas

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Risky company. THEY canceled and can't refund my money until their accountant is back. Unbelievable. Booked a month in advance, fully paid. Was told 2 days before the trip it was canceled because other spots were canceled/not filled. Found replacements for these spots same day and was again told there was nothing they could do, that they already notified the captain. Still 2 days before trip. We had people fly in from out of state for this trip. Now it's too last minute and everywhere else is booked. No compromise or working with us. Lady in the office is brutal. That they can cancel and not refund my money immediately is shady to say the least. read more

I had the 4 hour trip on the Capt. Paul. I was a bit skeptical about booking this trip at first due to the mixed reviews, but it was cheap, so I went along. They didn't let you bring food or water, but I had figured that out already thanks to the other reviews. The group before me only caught 3 fish out of about 15 people. So I was a little worried about how many fish we would catch. I got on and the first place was really good. I caught 3 gafftops in less than 1/2 of an hour. Then my boat moved onto another place which had less fish. All I caught was a bunch of hardheads. Some other guy caught a big black drum, but it was too big too keep. Then my boat moved onto a third spot. Which had some fish but no gafftops, I caught a stingray and a big whiting. A different guy caught an even bigger black drum, so he couldn't keep it. Counting the hardheads I might have had 20 fish. But hardheads are totally uneatable. It's a pretty good trip for the money and the deckhands were really helpful as well. I would definitely recommend. Tip-the back of the boat is the most productive part. Everyone in the back caught a fish, but a few in the front didn't catch anything. Some people in the boat were smoking, but it's not that bad. read more

Dolphin Dock - The 5 fish I caught - Fishing Near Me - Port Aransas, Texas

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Questionable choice to go deep sea fishing on a day with 10-20 foot waves; no advance warning from the crew. Several guests with sea sickness and/or unable to fish due to the conditions. Tied off to 4 different rigs / platforms. Entire boat only had ONE keepable, small fish; the rest were young catfish. read more

Captain Paul & his crew were wonderful!! They made the trip fun & enjoyable for all ages on board. We took the 1pm-4hr trip out to the gulf & stopped at 3 spots. Each spot we caught something, from sand trout to reds to cat fish. We had about 15-17 people on board so it wasn't crowded at all! You could move around with ease & buy snacks & drinks on board. The crew was very helpful with getting the fish off the hooks in a fast manner. They also gave us tips about baiting our lines & casting. The crew had poles in the back that were catching bigger fish (like sharks & stingrays) for the guests to grab & reel in. My fiancé snagged a 75lb stingray!! A few people were sea sick but hey it happens. Didn't bother us any! We definitely recommend them & we will be back!! read more

Dolphin Dock - Fishing Near Me - Port Aransas, Texas

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We went 3 weeks ago and it was amazing!! Everyone was so nice and helpful!! We would go again! The price was within our budget.

Just got back off a 4 hour trip with the best deckhands every. Very attentive, great with all the guest ( took time to laugh and talk to each of us personally). I've taken many of the party boat trips ( being from Galveston) and those three guys Dudley, Ryan & Marcus should give lessons in customer service. I will definitely be back. F.B. Haynes read more

Dolphin Dock - Fishing Near Me - Port Aransas, Texas

Captain Paul and the crew were top notch. Spending time with my husband and helping him bait his rod and giving him plenty of pointers to help him catch some fish. A very good experience on the 4 hour excursion. Seeing the sting ray being caught was a true experience. Thanks to Capt Paul and the crew. read more

We rented a boat for ashes burial at sea. Professional and courteous captain and crew. $400.00 was a reasonable price for 5:30 to 7 pm excursion. We even saw dolphins swimming alongside the boat. read more

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Booked a "five hour" fishing trip. Fished for 30 minutes. Two hours there, two hours back and literally had lines in the water for 30 min before we were told to reel them in. No one told us there is a two red snapper limit per person before the trip. So we paid $190 for two of us to ride for four hours and come back with four fish. There were only two deckhands for 20 customers and they don't want you to bring your catch in the boat without their help. We were all standing on the boat, holding suspended fish yelling "fish on", waiting for the deckhands to come bring it in the boat. Ridiculous. No instructions from crew on using open faced reels which is no problem for those of us who fish, but several ladies and some kids had a rough time. I helped as many as I could in the 30 min we were allowed to fish. On the two hour trip back, the customers were constantly being asked to get up and move so the deckhands could clean the boat. How about wait until we get back to the dock? With tips, Texas one day fishing license (which no one asked to see), fish cleaning and charter fees; it was nearly $300 for 8 fish fillets. Not worth it. read more

Was a very fun experience and the deck hands were fast at the hook when we were getting into the fish/shark. We were able to catch our boats limit of Bonnethead Shark while making our way to three locations that were successful. Overall the crew and fish cleaning service were very friendly and were timely, will recommend to others for future trips. read more

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5 hour trip is posted as 1 hour to catch site but we actually went almost 2 hours out which was okay because we reached our limit fairly quickly. Not recommended for the elderly or if you get sea sickness easily. read more

Loved this experience. I only wished they would have told us that we would get soaked on the ride out. I did not expect that. But now I know. Next time I'm going to be more prepared. I had such a great time I'm definitely going back. I highly recommend booking this place. read more

DO NOT work for this company. They promise pay rates, and give you quite a bit less than what is promised than when you were hired. They absolutely do not pay any overtime! Not even for their hourly employees that are not working on their boats. You can work at McDonald's or Wendy's or any fast food restaurant in the immediate area and make several hundred dollars more a week than what you would make working here. They really need to be turned into Texas workforce commission. read more

Zero stars. Stay away from this place. Booked fishing trip for 8 hours and showed up hour early as asked and told boat can't go out without 15 people. 12 showed up and they fired used to go out. Rather than provide good customer service they complained they can't go out because they don't make money on gas. Pure GREED. When we pointed out that we spent our gas driving 7 hours to get there - she copped an attitude and provided even poorer customer service. Non professional all they way. You want people to show up and make money, provide better service and be professional. Ask for 1/2 when you make reservation and people will show up. Be good customers and stay away from this place. They don't deserve our money! read more

Everything went wrong. When making our reservation for a 4-hour trip, I was told that we could not bring any food or drink onboard because they sell it on the boat. The boat was tiny, with no food or drink, and rocked wildly on the rough water. Passengers had a small ledge to sit on. No safety orientation provided. Safety vests were nowhere to be seen, so I don't even know if they were available. We weren't told there was a bathroom on board until a passenger asked. Once we anchored we were given equipment and bait, which we did ourselves for over 3 hours. We had huge sinkers and hooks made to fish for large fish off the bottom. Except all the fish were tiny and just feasted on the shrimp bait by nibbling it with their tiny mouths. Not a single passenger caught a fish large enough to keep. One person never caught anything. We merely fed the tiny fish. Meanwhile, the crew of two and the skipper's family, fished with different equipment with lures, for different fish on the surface. They caught at least a dozen or more fish large enough to keep and many too small. They caught fish left and right while the passengers caught nothing and were pretty much ignored. Terrible experience. read more