I really recommend this houseboat vacation for any family who truly enjoys freezing freezing cold showers, a broken air condition, no sheets for the sofa bed and no towels. If you enjoy sweating in the evening while lying in bed and taking freezing cold showers which we didn't take a signal shower for 2 days after fishing because it's to cold this is the disaster houseboat for you. read more

Perhaps three of the best days I ever spent on vacation. These are cruising houseboats that you can sail yourself even with minimal sailing background. I only had an introductory sailing course years back and yet was comfortable managing the boat. You are restricted to the bay side of the keys rather than the ocean side so currents and waves are minimal, and the water depth is shallow ( important for family members like my wife who are afraid of open water). Importantly you can take your pet along, which we did. We actually anchored in one beautiful spot for most of the time and were perfectly happy. It is magical being surrounded by nature in the Florida Keys, one of the most beautiful places in the country. We were lucky to have 3 perfect days, sunny with mild wind. We saw dolphins, sea turtles, water birds of all types and other sea life. During the day the turquoise water of the keys was magnificent and we saw the most beautiful sunsets ever, as well as the clearest night skies. I read the prior reviews and I believe that almost all of the negatives are due to the fact that this business changed management in late 2014. The new owner Ricki has decades of experience captaining yachts but has had a bit of a learning curve in running the business. Much of the equipment she inherited was in bad condition and she is replacing and fixing the houseboats as fast as she can. I believe she also had initial trouble finding good staff. My experience was that she was always available by phone and tried to be as accommodating as possible. The day we began our trip her new assistant Tom started. He was an Annapolis graduate having just recently finished his tour of duty with the navy. The boat we had was the smaller and least expensive; it was perhaps the oldest in her inventory and was being replaced in a few months. Yes it had some old equipment and furnishings, however, we found it perfectly clean. The layout is like a motel suite with picture windows everywhere. There was a full galley kitchen, refrigerator and outdoor barbecue. Once you leave dock you can't go back to stock up at the supermarket so you need to plan your meals in advance. If you are a good fisher you can probably catch most of your meals. Some items we wished we had brought were binoculars, mosquito repellent, fishing gear and a radio. Our iphones picked up strong cell phone and data signals so we never felt cut-off from our cyber dependency. The biggest consideration is that there is a limited amount of fresh water and 120 volt electricity requires you to run a generator. I would definitely recommend renting one of the larger newer houseboat models. The layout is spacious and the furnishings are beautiful. The one I saw had a door that closed the corridor and separated the boat into two living spaces. This would be perfect for two families. In summary, I loved this experience and I will do it again next year. read more

Ok this was the worst experience of my life and my family! I don't know what the other review was talking about and I will say in my 20 something years of traveling I have never ever posted a review ...but dear god I hope I can save another family from this horrific experience. I alway read reviews before and felt after reading her review we were good. Well not at all...showed up at 8:30pm...she was giving us a night for free since we were flying in late...we go there and to say the least it was a red flag but we choose to believe in Rickie...powers was not coming on...flipping switch and such...told well you don't need the refrig tonight and I will get it going...we left for dinner came back and she got it working! She told us she was getting the generator in the am and off we could go...be up and ready to go at 9am...well back with groceries and excited To start our trip...well no generator...wait and wait and next thing you know she has to rent one...ok finally ready to go at 12:30pm...pull out...make it 10 minutes in boom boat is broke need to return...at this point we have lost a whole day..she tells us mechanic is coming at 3pm ...I like hell no...she says well I won't charge you for today...again of course not we have done nothing but sit at the dock...offers us her work boat to at least go cruise and wait for the houseboat to be fixed...so we did...only to realize this trip is not happening and we need to save our vacation...and when we return she is not there and her deck hand told us boat is broke and best to pull the plug...which we already decided too...she asked for 100.00 to cover the night that we stayed and the use of the boat for a few hours...please don't think this is a review out of being pissed off ...this was a trip we were so excited for ...25th anniversary and time with our teenagers...it was horrific and disappointing...I did not even mentioned how gross the boat was and mouse droppings...but we stayed the night figuring it would be all good once we hit the water...but it never happened...PLEASE BE AWARE...nice lady but way over her head and she needs to re-evaluate the business . read more

WARNING about this business. Do not book with her at all! Just something crazy I found was that the pictures of certain locations on her website aren't even from the Keys! We were 1 hour away from the Keys driving 24hrs there over Christmas when she called us with the news that we couldn't stay with her!.. Because of engine trouble. She is not a member of the Islamorada chamber of commerce who have had multiple complaints about her business. She should not be operating. We had an extremely difficult time with her over the phone and she does not know how to operate a business. We have not even received our refunded downpayment on the trip, $1000! It has been nearly 2 weeks since the trip. This was supposed to be a birthday trip for my grandfather who turned 80. It would have been ruined except we found a great resort "The Islander" on Islamorada that had 4 nights open. I'm Ranting, but also looking out for other people so you don't make the same mistake. Her website has good reviews but don't believe them. Update 05/04/16, no refund of $1000 yet. Legal action is what it will take to get our money back. read more

The series of blunders and excuses in just trying to rent one of these houseboats was enough for us to request a deposit refund (which was, at first, refunded to someone else's card) and make other plans. Glad we did... we later drove by this business and met Rickie and realized that our instinct was right and we made the right decision. The site was a mess and the boats are old and scary looking. No way I would feel comfortable leaving the dock in any of them. Rickie is a nice lady, but she needs help managing her business. read more

Go to http://floridabayadventuresfalseadvertising.com/ if you want the real truth on the houseboats. The photos say it all. Don't waste your time or money on these rentals. They are complete garbage. I wish I had found the consumer alert website before booking the vacation. read more

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This was perhaps one of the worst vacation experiences I have had. We made our reservations many months in advance to spend the July 4th weekend on the houseboat. When we arrived (with all our food) the morning of our reservation, then we were told that our boat was broken. Not only that the boat was broken but the inside of the boat was gutted for a remodel. Although she had the boat tore apart for many days, Ricky gave no advanced warning about the boat not being ready so there we sat with three kids and no boat or alternate reservation and food spoiling. She made many promises about getting the boat fixed that day, then later that day, then the next morning, then the next afternoon, etc. Finally we were forced to make other accommodations at a house in another town paying a premium price because of the last minute reservations. As if this wasn't enough, after two weeks we are still fighting to get our deposit back from her. Again she makes many promises but never follows through to read emails, return phone calls, or return the deposit money. The only way we can get her on the phone is to keep calling from different numbers and always with an "I'll get back with you tomorrow excuse". It's no wonder why she has an "F" rating with the Better Business Bureau. She runs a very sketchy operation at best and I cannot stress this enough that you should RUN, RUN, RUN from there as quickly as possible. Don't let Ricky and Florida Bay Adventures take your money, strand you with no accommodations, and ruin your vacation like she did to us. read more

The review below was recently brought to our attention by a previous charter guest while rebooking . After reviewing our records, we are certain that we have had no cruising guest, nor inquiry, reservation, or booking from such a person named, "Lisa R". Since taking over the business 18 months ago, we are proud to say that this is the ONLY negative feedback that we have had. This is not to say that we have not had a few hiccups along the way. However we have always been resourceful and addressed and resolved each issue in a timely fasion. We strive to accommodate you professionally and personally at all times! So come on down and enjoy Paradise with us on your own FLORIDA BAY ADVENTURE'S HOUSEBOAT! Thank you, FBA,Inc. Crew read more

Got ripped off to the tune of $500 last year. No boat and no deposit returned, it's a scam.

BEWARE This business should be shut down. We had similar experience boat with no power rodent droppings, boats are not sea worthy our boat broke down after 7 hours waiting for mechanic that had to fix it..no hotels had availability in the area this vacation was a disaster. The woman who says she is a captain ran into the sea wall as we were departing the marina she can not handle the boats she has. after a whole day wasted we were approached by a coast guard who told us this woman is extremely incompetent, drinks heavily and never has reliable staff she has countless violations but according to her she has been doing this for 10+ years and never has had any problems, hard to believe when she can hardly drive the boats unbelievable that she is in business beware of this houseboat rental you will end up with no place go if the season is busy in the keys and I wouldn't recommend sleeping in the boats they are filthy and should be condemned I have been on many house boats and never have I seen such horrific conditions and maintenance very unsanitary and unsafe. Luckily we got a small room in marathon thanks to Airbnb. read more

Florida Bay Adventures does not even deserve one star. We attempted a house boat vacation with this company in June of 2015. We never got to leave the dock. Ricki seemed very unorganized. The boats were a mess... the dock area was a mess... she had four broken boats that were all in unacceptable condition. She made excuses about lack of help and reasons for broken generators and batteries that did not work. She begged our forgiveness and made promises about repairs and discounts if we agreed to start our trip a day later as we stood at the dock with our children and groceries. There was no way any of those boats would have been ready the next day. Then she never returned our security deposit and wouldn't respond to our calls or emails. read more

The worst vacation I've ever been on! We love the Florida Keys & will go back again but please, avoid this company!!! We planned this vacation for 9 months. When we first contacted Ricky she was all positive & informative, she'd return our calls etc. We couldn't find negative information about her company in reviews so went for it putting down $500 to reserve a boat. Within 3 days our credit card was being used in Mexico! We canceled the card and tried contacting her as now I was concerned about this company. We tried calling multiple time a day for a week, we texted, we emailed. She would never return our attempts at reaching her. Finally I left a voice mail saying I wanted a refund. That got an immediate response. She said she had been sick, etc. We decided to continue as this sounded like such a great vacation. As time when on when we had questions it was the same thing, never could reach her. We had called the chamber of commerce to see if she was legit, they assured us she was a real company & had never had a complaint to them. Ultimately we arrive around 2:30 pm on our scheduled day. Same as Keri R's review, boat is filthy, something was actually rotted in the freezer, it was filled with mosquitos, it looked nothing like the picture on line and nothing worked, no radio, no emergency radio, even the battery powered lights didn't work (we found out once on the water) it was dingy & battered. She had an excuse for everything mostly that her employees rob her blind! We couldn't go out the first night for various reasons. The next morning after our "1 hour orientation" (which took 5 hours literally of our vacation time) we were off. She drove the boat out of the canal and hit 3 other boats going out. 2 were her own but wow, quite exciting. By the end of the first night our boat was dead. No electricity. The next morning we call her, 3 hours later she comes out with a battery charger, gets it going, leaves us with the charger & wasted another hour of our vacation time talking. Meanwhile she nearly falls off the back of the boat at the ladder when she leans against it, it falls apart & we grabbed her to pull her back on. Then we realize the ladder & railing are held in place by a bungy cord. We're not able to continue our boat trip as planned as now it is 3pm and there isn't enough time to get to our destination so we go a little further & have a great rest of the day fishing. The following day we call her as directed when were ready to return as she needs to drive the boat back into the canal. When we reach her dock she crashes into her own other boat...twice! Re aligns the boat and rips a huge gash in her 3rd boat. For us this mostly makes for funny memories but then comes time for reimbursement of our down payment of $500 which she said she will keep $125 of for fuel & cleaning deposit. OK. She said she didn't have the money in cash (even after asking us to pay cash for a 10% discount) but she would put it on my credit card. I wasn't about to give her our new credit card number so we agreed to cash in a couple days as we were going to Key West & would stop on our return. I was pretty sure we weren't getting that money back but we returned as planned. When we arrived she said she had no cash and would write us a check, she couldn't find the business check book (after 20 minutes of going back & forth from her boat to the office, again she wants to put it on our credit card (NO WAY!) and finally says "I'll just have to pay you in cash". Really! So 10 minutes later she comes out with $325, I ask for the additional $50. She then falls down 3 times, says she has to lay down, falls face first onto her boat & disappears into it. I have tried calling since but of course, no answer. We don't know if she was injured in the fall. No matter how badly you want the houseboat experience this isn't the way to do it. We learned our lessons and hopefully you don't have to. read more

BEWARE!!!!! Lady Rikki that runs it is most unprofessional person besides being nut job. Before renting houseboat please go to either side and ask businesses for reference of her. She is known to keep deposit and saying it is standard for wear and tear and clean up even though you return in same condition. read more

I would not give this business even one star. The experience was devastating. I had my house boat rented, sent my deposit, check was cashed and a day and a half before we were to launch they canceled me. My grandchildren were devastated. I had to scramble just to find anything for this time off. I had 7 people that I needed to find a place to stay. What a problem. I would never use or recommend this company to anyone EVER!!!!! read more

This is the worst business in the world. Ricky is not only incompetent but she's hardly bearable. Her bullshit excuses and ridiculous promises are embarrassing and I was silly to ever give her the benefit of the doubt. The woman is a disaster. My boyfriend luckily has years of boating experience and was able to fix all of her boat issues (which he worked on all day for the entire first day of our vacation, where he should have been on the water) He did enough maintenance (for free) on her boat for about a day and a half until it was working enough to get us out on the water. Ricky promised us free kayak rentals and a discount on our stay etc etc... All of which she forgot about come check out. Due to electrical issues with the boat we were left without power or water for two days while a mechanic was being arranged to come repair faulty wiring that we didn't have tools to fix ourself. Each time we had to wait and wait while she made excuse after excuse as to why it was taking so long. Meanwhile All our food was in danger. no water. We made the best out of a shitty situation. I would recommend the houseboat experience but never with this woman or any company she is affiliated with. She deserves what's coming to her and I'm surprised her business is even still somewhat running. read more