Captain Doug is from the area, and was thus was full of information, and gave me the ongoing…read morenarration I was looking for, throughout the tour. He He was helpful in answering questions as well. I will say that is way colder than you can imagine on the VERY windy water, and my 3 layers of clothing were not enough to keep me warm. No matter how tough you think you are, wear at minimum 2 *heavy* layers of clothing, and a thick windbreaker (my think raincoat did not hold up) and a hat to keep your head and ears warm. It's not just that it's 10 degrees colder on the water -- it's a constant cold wind blowing at you... and that's on a day when there wasn't a strong wind on the island itself. If you're not properly dressed, you won't find it relaxing. Although this tour company does warn you about the colder weather on the boat, it does not sufficiently warn you about the constant unrelenting wind.

The entire time was visually beautiful and Captain Dan was a wealth of information…read more We would highly recommend this tour.

What an amazing trip! My mom waited 70 years for this! We booked our trip for a Saturday 2pm and…read morethere were only 2 others on the boat. We went in with the idea that we will have a great trip on the water and learn a little about the area. Fingers crossed to see the horses, that is what mom waited all these years for! We saw part of the heard on the way out from a distance and were happy with that. Then we saw a pair of eagles and dolphins and a group of pelicans and leaned about wallops island. On the way back the heard was closer and we got the experience of a lifetime. They came closer and closer and we were in awe. Captain John was great and the rest of the staff were very friendly and the boat was very clean. We also got a special shell from a little entrepreneur!

We took an early Sunday morning boat tour around the Chincoteague Wildlife refuge with Captain…read moreJohn. Although it was cloudy and raining, John reassured us that we would have better chance of seeing wildlife in such a weather. He took us to interesting places around the island including the lighthouse, oyster beds, mariner's cross, and popular bird nesting grounds (egrets, pelicans, laughing gulls, black backed gulls, ducks). We also saw the ponies from afar. Overall, this was a great memorable exprience! P.S. only suggestion: could rain coats be provided to customers in a rainy weather?

A delightful real life experience of the famous Chincoteague Island and ponies. Storybook boat ride…read morearound the island at 6am spoiled us with ponies right off dock. Ours tour was chock-a-block full of personal stories from our husband and wife Captain and tour guide duo extraordinaire. Our eye candy consisted of a sting ray enjoying a clam breakfast, flopping around in the shallow waters like a happy kid in the candy shop. It was topped by a crane slurping down an eel then a bald eagle. We spied a few more ponies then made our way around the other side of the island for a full grand tour. Appreciated the excellent service and comfortable boat.

The best part of our trip! The sunset tour was perfect for our ten year anniversary! The staff was…read morevery great from start to finish. Our tour guide, Aiden was awesome. He was very knowledgable about the ponies and history of the island. We got a great view of the ponies and dolphins, as well as a great tour of the island.

Captain Jake was very personable and had great knowledge of the island. We got to see the infamous…read more"Riptide" with his mares and their foals and two bald eagles, and enjoyed some laughs along the way. A super fun and beautiful experience. Highly recommend!

Still great! This is our third year with this company and we have had great luck every time. This…read moretime, the southern herd wasn't close but we saw a band that was part of the northern herd up close! Thanks again to Captain Henry and Captain Brad and the team for a great evening.

Cap Mark and host Jenny / Jen were great. we had an amazing boat experience and we got lucky…read moreperfect great weather. - perfect family trip for large group to see wild ponies and dolphins! Highly recommended.

Great boat tour with Captain Mark and Jenny! Learned a lot about Chincoteague and Assateague, saw…read morebeautiful scenery, and the ponies were the best part of the tour!

We had a wonderful boat ride with Randy as he gave a lot of information about the island, the…read moreponies and how the area has changed over the years. Very personable. A worthwhile tour.

Captain Randy is the best! Extremely knowledgeable of the area and provided lots of information…read moreabout all of the hidden gems. Friendly, kind, and helpful. Highly recommend!!!

Captain Barry's has become our family tradition with all the generations in our family. We never…read morestop learning something new with Captain Barry and we could not imagine our family vacation without this experience.

We had a fun and eye opening time experiencing the bay with Captain Barry. He is full of fun,…read moreobscure facts and knows the area like the back of his hand. We took a gorgeous route to secret spots, saw plenty of wildlife, and learned all about the local ecosystem. Fun was had by all.... Highly recommend!!

If you want to go on a tour to look for ponies and other wildlife, this is the tour group you…read moreshould book. Captain Mike was great. He not only got us so close to the ponies, he pointed out bald eagles, the different birds that were flying around. I was amazed at how he could recognize what horse was there by sight. From hundreds of meters away while in the middle of the bay. He also had some fantastic and funny stories about Chincoteague (wait for the Sugar Shack story) what is was like growing up in the area. You can tell he loves his home very much. The pontoons were brand new and stable and very comfortable. It was windy when we went out but I never felt nervous because the pontoon was so sturdy and stable. We got some great photos. And Captain Mike was awesome. I would go again.

I highly recommend picking Mike and Up the Bay tours for your pony sightseeing…read more Mike is a native to the area, and thus very knowledgeable, but also extremely enthusiastic about the ponies. Thanks to Mike's knowledge of the area, the ponies, and the waterways, we were able to boat right up to the ponies in a manner that was clearly comfortable for them and not intrusive. He was happy to chill there watching them graze and swim, never rushing our tour. But we watched as many tours stayed outside of the marshes and never came close to ponies because the captains were not comfortable navigating the shallow marshes. We would have been quite sad if we were in one of those tours!!! Lastly, the boat is shaded fully shaded and the most comfortable tour boat I have ever been in. Recommend 10/10 - worth every penny!

We did the afternoon kayak tour. Our guide Brody was there right on time and wasted no time…read moregetting us in the water. I was nervous as it has been 25 years since I have been on a kayak and I have a bum knee. We opted for a tandem kayak and I am glad. Brody knew all about the marsh and really enjoyed sharing his knowledge. Not only did we see ponies, we saw a variety of other wildlife like various birds and turtles. This was a 2 hour experience and we traveled about 3 miles into the marsh. We were the only ones on the tour and to their credit, they did not cancel it. But, like Brody said, it is not a job!

I went on the boat tour with Captain John. I have been on other tours but Captain John was the best…read moretour guide. He is a native and his ancestors were some of the first settlers on Chincoteague. If you want a great historical tour with the best sightseeing this is the tour! I love Chincoteague and love Captain John.

We had a phenomenal experience with Captain Hunter!…read more We went on a lovely sunset tour with two moms and two four year old girls. We booked with Hunter ahead of time on the phone. He was honest about our chances of seeing wildlife--he said early morning was better, but for our toddlers, that wasn't happening. We decided to go ahead and take our chances with the sunset cruise. There are bathrooms in the boat house near the parking lot. The ride is around 2 hours, so we made sure our girls went beforehand. You can bring your own booze and snacks, so it was an extra fun mom outing, lol! Hunter was so informative and just a nice guy all around. I had tons of questions about Chincoteague, the ponies, and even remote Tangier Island. He knew so much--he has a degree in marine biology from William and Mary and he's also a member of the local fire department. And he's really a real cowboy! Seriously!!! His specialized knowledge, regarding both local flavor as well as wildlife, was something I wouldn't have wanted to miss. By going on this tour, I got to know so much more about the place I was visiting. On to wildlife: we saw TONS of dolphins jumping right by our boat! We also saw some beautiful birds, and you best believe Hunter delivered on the ponies!! He did some really cool guy shit to get us to a shallow spot to see the ponies. We saw a small group of them and he knew every single one of them by name. Our girls were in heaven, picking out their favorites. On the ride home, the sun was setting and it was just beautiful. I hope someone else will see this review and decide to go on this special tour!

Amazing! Our tour guide knew so much and knew great areas to see horses. He got us so close to the…read morehorses. The tour started on time. I had two kids with me (5 and 1), they loved it. Such an amazing experience!