Multiple "Halibut Derby" trips and these trips are a lot of fun. Just under a hundred bucks, plus fishing license and fifteen more for parking. Captain Jason is very knowledgeable, helpful and keeps a low-key, positive vibe that is fun on the boat. You will need a 25 or 30 (better) pound setup. No matter how dialed in you are, 20 pound outfit just gets broken off (I have caught monster tunas in my 50+ years fishing and am dialed in so learn from my mistakes). A Carolina or Reverse Dropper loop with a 4 and later in the day 8 ounce sinker, 2/0 to 4/0 hooks, dragging the sandy bottom. There are 3 deckhands for roughly 45 passengers. So I ask Deckhand "Wilson" the age old question: "Do Halibut gum their pray before eating it?" He responds with "yes" (old school) but his technique how to hook them either way. I wasted a trip using the new fangled techniques (a newer book on fishing) with zero results. So do as they tell you and you will be successful. Four stars as 45 people is just too many people, especially with beginners and gear left leaning up at the rails. Also, no educational class on what and how to fish on the way out (not enough time). Fishing is most always done from the Port (Left) side of the boat. Their RSW ensures your caught fish comes home in really good shape. The filleting on board is not wasteful. Oh, yeah, almost forgot: Cook Saul's (pronounced Saw-Uhl) is really good but you will see people bringing day old, soggy-bread-cold and squashed, fast-food burgers, sandwiches and etc... that cost more that the fresh, yummy food on board... Chilli Cheese Dog! Good luck and tight lines! read more

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To start with: we had to stop for bait. 40 minutes wasted, took a hour to get to the area to fish. Once anchored the 1st mates don't help anyone unless you are a woman. The boat is catered to anyone who is casting. They allow (the captain's buddies to do whatever they want). I was almost hooked numerous times because they simply don't care about anyone deep dropping. Once they hook a fish, you might as well cut your line off so one of the captain's buddies can catch their fish. I wouldn't hire these bottom feeders to take me across the harbor! Almost forgot... an hour back... big hurry so the next set of Captain's buddies can go out! read more

Great experience fishing with my friends. The staff were friendly and helpful. Only wished I planned a full day instead. See you next time dolphin! read more

Dolphin Sportfishing - Got out with some sweet rockfish - Boating Near Me - San Diego, California

We were on the twilight trip. The crew was great. However, we fished a spot that stopped catching fish after 45 minutes. Instead of moving we stayed there the entire time. By the time we went in, over half the people had just stopped fishing. Piss poor job by the captain. read more

Went out for a pm trip this weekend. Captain Jason got us on the fish right away. Leslie in the galley made great food and the deck hands were so helpful and incredibly kind to the kids on board helping them get on the fish. If I could give more than five stars I would. read more

Dolphin Sportfishing - Boating Near Me - San Diego, California

Fished Dolphin Sunday's am trip , boat was spotless, the crew was great, deckhands were helpful and patient. There were some active little ones on deck, the crew did a great job helping and keeping them safe and entertained on the rail . Captain was energetic and worked on getting us on the fish. Even met some of the regulars who were also great peeps. Had such a good time, stayed for the afternoon trip. No need to take food, for me , the Patty Melt was the way to go ! Will Defiantly be fishing with the Dolphin sports fishing crew again soon read more

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Went out on an a.m. half day on 17 July with my stepson and his friend. Captain Dalton, Drew and Leo were attentive to the anglers needs. Had a good time. Would recommend. read more

Dolphin Sportfishing - 26 inch lingcod caught on the Dolphin - Boating Near Me - San Diego, California

Awesome. Went for a half day for sculpin and bass. Crew was super helpful and patient. Good food and drinks. Caught a whole bunch of fish.

I am not a fisherman, but through the blood line, my kids are. I enjoy watching them, interacting with tier uncle who has it in his blood... It is great to see and experience. This Captain of the Dolphin was straightforward, understanding that we had some newbies on the boat, me and kids included. Deck hands walk around taking care of catches, tangles, crossed lines... They do this with no attitude, meaning how many of these issues would it take to piss you off LOL?!?!?!?! The attitude in the galley alone tells you that this is a great boat. I have been on a few, all have been good, but this guy was on it and allowed you to review your tab in case of errors. Honesty make me sooo happy!!! I hope you all enjoy the pics as much as I enjoyed my time on your vessel, and did my kids! We will see you soon! read more

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WOW!!! what a great captain and what a great crew .. captain Jason did an amazing job putting us right on the fish .. The crew Nano,Wilson we on the ball and there fish cleaning is on point ..last but certainly far from least is Leslie down in the galley crafting those amazing Dolpin burgers .. Thanks every one for a wonderful experience!!! read more

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The kids really enjoyed the fishing experience. For me it was so so but at least the kids had fun.. Not sure if I come back read more

I've been on the Dolphin several times in the last year, and they are over due for a well deserved review. This is an awesome boat to get on to scratch that itch. You know, that itch you get when you fish the bays and the lakes from shore and go home skunked more often then you'd ever care to admit. Out of ALL the times I've been on the boat, I've only been skunked ONCE. Seriously its impressive how hard the Captains will work to get you on fish. Of course there are days where nature just.will.not.cooperate. but the Captains WANT you to catch fish. They won't quit til its quitting time. If fishing really stinks, kick back, grab a burger and a drink from their Ahhhhhhmazing Chef Tim! Seriously, I'll get on the Dolphin just to satisfy a craving of one of Tim's burgers. I've tried several different burgers and HOLY FISH they are juicy, flavorful punches to the face! Don't forget to order before you head back to the dock. Otherwise you'll live a life of regret. Now, I saved the best for last, THE CREW!!! Over the course of about a year I have met most of the crew, a couple have come and gone, but the current crew is so helpful & kind. These guys are professionals at herding cats and they do it with finesse. If you need help, ask. NICELY. The crew want to see you happy too. These guys work their @$$ off and kindness goes a long way. Don't forget the Golden Rule before you leave your house. :) Also, make sure you TIP TIP TIP! If the guys are doing what they can to help you catch fish, and your counts are not what you wanted, remember they still worked hard and earned a tip. Don't blame the boat or the crew for the wild beast we call the ocean. It will never be tamed. ;) Tight lines and Fish on! read more

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Total waste of time and money. Try to line up 54 people on one side of an 85 ft boat, do the math. I've been Rockcod fishing all my life, this is a nice boat, good crew, just lacked a captain that knows how fish on both sides of the boat, while on the throttles to keep things lined up. Maybe greed overrode the fishability of this trip or at least to that captian's ability to fish with a full boat read more

On July 10th I took a pm half-day on the Dolphin, and it was disappointing to say the least. The deckhands were extremely inattentive, unless you were a local, and made little effort to interact and give anglers the best possible experience. We got into some Calico Bass, and there were a couple sheephead. The redeeming quality of the Dolphin was Tim in the galley. Tim instantly made me feel at home, even with the limited time in the galley due to covid-19, and the burger he prepared for me was so good I felt like I was at a liitle mom and pop burger stand. I would come back for the interaction witb Tim, but before thst I'd do a $200 tuna trip, without catching any tuna, just due to the other boats deckhand's personalities. Markus read more

These guys right here. This crew is all about making sure that everybody on board has a great time. From the captain, Cody who drives the hell out of that boat all the way down to the youngsters just learning how to work the deck, these guys take very good care of you. Now I'm an experienced fisherman so I don't need help with setting up my pole, but I see their patience with the first time or just some time anglers who do. I enjoy this boat. I have a lot of fun here. read more

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These guys maybe a good 1/2 day boat but don't waste your money going offshore with them. We paid $160.00 to fish for yellowfin tuna and the captain threw in the towel by 1:00 in the afternoon and took us rock fishing. NFW If we wanted rock fishing we'd have paid our 65 dollars for it, not 160.00. DON'T GO OFFSHORE WITH THESE GUYS! read more

What a nice surprise to find such a clean, well maintained vessel and friendly, helpful crew! Fishing out of Dana Point as a child with my dad made me hesitant when a friend invited me to go out on the Dolphin in Point Loma. I was pleasantly surprised when we headed out for a 1/2 day afternoon trip. It wasn't overcrowded and the crew jumped in to assist without having to ask. Our Capt for the trip was amazing and he made the extra effort to find nice schools so that everyone had the opportunity to haul in some fish. I packed up my own snacks for the day (as I am allergic to everything) but my friend did order food from the galley. He ordered a double cheeseburger and said it was fantastic (evident by the way he hoovered it down). I will go out with them again! read more

I should have known by the overall yelp reviews that this would not be a great experience...but the Yelp elite seemed to think this was a pretty good place. Well, this is the first time Yelp elites have let me down. The check in was pretty seamless for our group of 10 celebrating grandpa's 70th bday and the only reason for my 2 star review and not 1 star. There was also a guy that was an employee fishing on his day off trying to be helpful at the start of the trip...kudos to him. The other 2 hands on deck were not friendly at all. They were moderately helpful but not friendly in the least. Friendly hands would have made a big difference on our groups thoughts of the excursion. Then there was the rest of the experience. It was supposed to be a 6 hour fishing trip but we spent 30 minutes of the trip loading bait and came back a 1/2 hour early. Why would that be? Also, we stopped at only 2 places to fish even though hardly anyone was catching fish. Seems to me we could have stopped at another spot on the way back for 30 minutes to try to make it a more fruitful experience for the guests. I can understand that there are off days for catching anything but the captain didn't make even a reasonable attempt to find fish in my opinion. In the end our group of 10 caught 4 fish. When I checked the fishing count on their website the next day they had an awful lot of fish listed as caught even though I checked around regularly to see if others were catching anything as well as witnessed the filleting of all that was caught. They definitely over exaggerate their counts. This trip really soured our opinion of deep sea fishing in San Diego and I will definitely not be recommending the Dolphin as an option to anyone looking for a fishing trip. On a final note I actually reserved 20 spaces for our group of 10 hoping to get better service with 30 people on the boat instead of 40. I paid full price for everyone at $60 a piece for Labor Day with no discounts for juniors or seniors because of the holiday. There goes $1200 down the drain. read more

I like this boat and there's always a chance to cross paths with John Ho. The advice on lottery strategy alone is worth the ticket fare. Go fishin! read more

I haven't gone out on a sport fishing boat in decades and likely was on this very boat when I was a kid with my grampa. My first trip back out was this past Friday the 13th. Going out we all knew the outlook was bleak after a few slow days according to the fish counts. The short version of the day is the whole boat got skunked. The rest of the fleet out of SD didn't do much better. The trip however was great. I got to try out a lot of new gear and got some pro tips from the captain and crew, Cody and David notably among them. The mark of a real boat crew isn't how many fish are caught on a day when the bite is on, it's how they handle the slow days. They made sure everyone worked together, kept tangles to a minimum, and everyone got home safe. The only criticism I have is that I would rather sit on a school that is slow to bite and use my gear than spend the whole trip looking for another school, at least when it appears to be a slow day. I will definitely be back, once the fish counts are up. read more

Dolphin Sportfishing - Coming back into San Diego Bay after a day on the water. This is the same view Spanish explorers had when they first landed here. - Boating Near Me - San Diego, California

lack of truthful fish reports. if you kill them, do a great report. but if its off and nothing is caught say so. don't waste peoples time if there planning a trip for dorado, and you start chasing tuna foamers , that wont bite. what's the point. And the people are under gunned,100 lb fish with a deck of spinning rods. read more

I would have rated the Dolphin higher, but I am incredibly disappointed that their reported fish counts for our trip are a complete fabrication. We took a 3/4 day trip on 8-16-14 and the website reports that we caught 39 California Yellowtail and 14 Yellowfin Tuna. In reality, the 38 of us caught 5 Yellowfin Tuna and 2 Yellowtail! Unfortunately, the misreporting of the fish count overshadowed a really fun trip. JJ was the captain and he and his crew worked their butts off trying to find the fish. There were always two lookouts on the bridge, in addition to JJ, with binoculars searching for any kelp paddy, school of dolphin, flock of birds or anything else they could think of to put the boat in a position to find the tuna. It was just a bad day all around as it appears that most of the other boats struggled as well. Also, the galley was great and the cook worked really hard all day. In summary, it was a positive experience, especially considering the lack of fish, but just don't believe the fish counts posted on their website. In our case, at least, they were completely inaccurate and significantly overinflated. read more

Took the AM 1/2 day Dolphin trip this morning. As always, crew was outstanding. Jason had the day off, and fishing was good but not great due to cloudy water near the kelp beds. Love to go while visiting from Prescott Valley, AZ. Will go again! read more

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This is a good boat for 1/2 day fishing. Pretty good size and I think it can fish around 75 people. Good crew and we stayed out late to make sure we got some fish. We actually went offshore on the pm 1/2 day. So me and my pop both got some dorado. It was a good day. Galley cook was very accommodating and friendly. read more

Dolphin Sportfishing - Boating Near Me - San Diego, California

My son and I enjoy going out on 1/2 day fishing trips on the Dolphin, especially when there's Kids Fish Free Sundays. The deck hands are all super helpful and patient. When you rent a rod from them, they set everything up for you, and at the end of the trip, you can also get your fish gutted or filleted for a small fee. The galley below is nice and comfy when you need to take a short break from fishing. read more

Went on the 1/2 day PM on 16 Sep 2018 from 1 PM to 630 PM. From some of the regulars on the boat I guess the usual captain was out sick and had a diffetent guy. Terrible experience overall. Spent the majority of the time moving spots after maybe 5 minutes of fishing a spot and getting lines tangled because the anchor wasn't set and then during the last 20 minutes of the trip we finally hit some good deep water. The fish were biting and then 10 minutes in they dump the live bait well with just a bit of squid left for 60 people and say lets go. 5 hours of wasted time and MAYBE 30 minutes of actual fishing. Save your money if you want to fish, if you want a nice boat ride then just get on the hornblower cruuse downtown. Will not repeat here. read more

My boyfriend and I went out today and had a great trip today. They found a great spot and fishing was amazing! There was a mixup with my fish at the end, but Captain Jason made sure to fix it. I would highly recommend this boat and think they offer great customer service. read more

Don't bring your family on this boat, conversations are not family friendly. Crude innuendo, tons of people were hammered (hopefully they aren't driving home), deckhands were fishing and not helping their customers. Find a different boat to go on, the price is cheap and so is the company they keep. read more

Had an amazing time - took my two young boys - the crew & the captain treated us like family - highly recommend Jason & his crew for anyone looking to fish - Not t mention the food in the galley is delicious! contact Capt. Jason at the e-mail address below...... jasoncoz1@gmail.com read more

The Dolphin and their crew are amazing ! Captain Jason and Captain Cody and crew are awesome! They always make sure their guests have a great time. They are right there to help you with anything you need. A clean boat, great food and plenty of space. Our family loves going out on their half day trips and we always end up starting with a morning trip and returning on their afternoon trip. Thank you to The Dolphin! read more

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Went on a half day pm. The whole entire day was tough. But for some odd eason, the captain kept anchoring to nothing instead of a test drift. I caught literally 3 hand size rock fish. Deck hand charged me $9 to fillet 3 small fish!! I asked the deckhand why is it 9 bucks when filleting small fish is only $1. He then stated " I guarantee you there is 9 fish inside the bag". I understand they workoff of tips and fillet. But it's not a good way to take advantage of people. Specially when its only 3 fish. He must think I am stupid. I gave him a $20 and told him to keep it. Believe me when I tell you this, It's never about the money. It's just the mentality of the situation. read more

Dolphin number 1 ( best half-day there is ) .... awesome crew.. been going with them for years during the weekend or when im off. always keeps us happy no matter what .... Jason and Kody always finds the spot .. awesome deckhands always helping people out .. Jeff,Jake,ethen... raddest dudes i know (: ...... i have made so many friends on the dolphin (: .. who now i can call them my huge facebook fishing family ... love them (: read more

Went out on the boat on October 2 for a full day offshore trip. Boat had 30 people on it which is pretty good. We had a group of 6 and one was my son, he was disappointed. The boat did not catch hardly anything, and the rest of the boats that went out limited out that day. Pretty disappointing we were the only boat that did not limit out. The other boats went to the islands and we did not. read more

Worst I mean worst fishing boat. After 1 hour of finding a spot they fish 5 minutes. Terrible newbie crew doesn't know how to rig poles. God awful rudeness read more

So I've been doing fishing trips for several years now. And most recently I've fished with Jason aboard the Dolphin. Me Anton Jefferson and good friend Joshua did the extended trip to the Mexican waters on Sunday 7/27/2014. At first the trip seemed very Bleak! We spent hours on the hunt looking for the illusive Yellow Fin/ Yellow tail. But the Captain Jason Never Gave up,and when he put us on the fish it was AWESOME! The bite was Epic! Hearing "Hook Up" was a phrase being shouted all over the deck! The Deck hands JJ & Dustin we on top of their Game! On another note I will add that a controversy did arise on the boat concerning the Jack Pot winner and the Captain handled it in a fair and honest way. I'd also like to thank Jason for acknowledging that I frequent his boat and gave me a Annual discount card for my loyalty. In today's market customer service means everything and getting the most for you dollar it's important. I'm just waiting for Jason to get some Dolphin T-Shirts so I can Represent ! read more

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December 22 AM trip I understand that catching fish is never guaranteed, what I do not understand is, why would the captain spend two hours trolling for Bonito on a rock fishing trip in the middle of winter? This is especially troubling given the great rock fish counts on this very same boat in the past week. Most of us signed up to go rock fishing, instead we spent two hours spinning our wheels trolling for Bonito and the rest of the time fishing the same spot which was less than productive. The captain could have done a lot better job finding fish for us. On the positive note, the deck hands were very helpful and professional. This was our second time on this boat and last. Similar thing happened last time, rock fish counts were great and when we went we're surface fishing instead with poor results. I know catching fish is never guaranteed but trolling for Bonito for two hours on a half say boat, and then anchoring in one spot for the remainder is very disappointing. read more

Captajn JJ is the man!! Goes the extra mile for customers. Captain Jason does the opposite. Deckhand crew is awsome. Great experience every time. Except when Jason is captain. :) read more

I have been out on the Dolphin six different times, and every single time I've been out with them, captain Kody has found and kept us on the fish. Yesterday's crew, Corey, Patrick, and Jeff couldn't have been nicer and more helpful. Even the young first timer Ethan was always there when someone needed help with their pole, or hooks, or were needing to be set up for the type of fishing we were doing, they were all more than helpful. When we got on the fish in the morning and the afternoon they were encouraging and very helpful to all the children that were on board also. There were a few young kids and the crew made sure that those kids caught fish it was very exciting to see. Not to mention the help I received myself. I went out on both the a.m. and the p.m. boat, and when I wasn't fishing because I was tired from so many fish, LOL, I was down in the galley with the master chef Kyrie for a bite to eat. She is funny and entertaining, always professional and makes the best double burger with jalepeno on the ocean. as cThe experience of the whole day was outstanding, as usual, so if you want to catch fish and have a great time with family and friends, go out with a great captain and a great crew on the Dolphin. Thank you Captain Kody, we look forward to going out again soon! read more

I've been on the Dolphin on a couple of trips, (usually as an option when the boat I normally frequent, is full) and had some decent trips with "Jimmy" as captain. Last Saturday 11/26/16, I, and a couple good friends, decided to go on the Dolphin AM trip. This was the absolute WORST half day fishing trip I've ever experienced. We chose this boat because of the decent fish counts the past few days prior, but I'm beginning to believe the fish counts were inaccurately input as a way to attract potential anglers. We booked the trip hoping to catch some local rockfish as the website advertises. Very few were caught but we caught none. Upon checking the fish counts, it's not surprising they didn't post it. Jason, the captain, mainly positioned the boat with emphasis on catching "mackerel" (he even announced it in his PA system). I couldn't believe it . . I could have caught mackerel for free at the local fishing piers!! . I will note that children were admitted free on this trip with a paid adult. So it appears he put most of his focus on children catching mackerel. And when there was little or no activity for long periods, he was always busy engaging in conversations with friends instead of moving the boat to a better area (as most boats would). In all fairness, the deckhand(s) did a fantastic job. They were very polite with everyone and helped out in every situation. My advice- if you're looking to spend money on a half day boat hoping to catch some decent rockfish, don't book on the Dolphin when kids are 'free'. Captain Jason will definitely favor kids catching mackerel as top priority. read more

I've been on the Dolphin several times in the past with family and friends and have had great experiences. Unfortunately our trip on Tuesday afternoon was not as positive, and not because the fishing was slow (choice of fishing spots could have been better though). There were several beginner fisherman on this boat (it's noted as being very beginner friendly, and that's why we have chosen this boat to bring our 7 year old son), and they were using rental gear. There was no instruction for them on how to use the gear, and I ended up showing several people how to get their lines in the water, reel in, and get rid of birds nests. The deck hands were not helpful, in fact one just sat there and watched while I helped their customer. Another deckhand fished the entire time, and didn't help anyone. I ended up helping several novice fisherman unhook their fish and tie hooks. The only friendly and helpful person was the guy in the galley (wish I remembered his name). I've recommended this boat to many people in the past, but will have a hard time doing so in the future. read more