I booked a four-hour fishing trip with Mark the Shark and paid well in advance. We showed up on time, everything started off fine, and although we didn't catch anything, that part isn't even the issue. Although he made alot of promises.. The real problem began afterward. By mistake, I sent Mark an extra $650. I immediately told him it was an error, and he assured me he would send it back. First, he said he was sending it. Then he said his wife would send it. Then it became his people sending it. And finally, he told me the money had already been sent -- which was simply not true. Since then, I've been contacting him repeatedly, asking for the refund I'm owed, and he has not returned it. I don't mind paying for the actual service. What I do mind is sending money by accident and being misled and ignored when trying to correct the mistake. He avoids texts, avoids giving me anyone else to speak to, and avoids taking responsibility. This is not how you run a business. Unfortunately, he's now lost a customer -- and I hope others take note of how he handles situations like this. read more

he touched my son on the butt!!!!! when I paid an extortionary amount of money, he cried his eyes out we got back into the car. Also we didn't catch any fish!!!!!! I am extremely mad and I will be seeing him in jail. read more

A must ! Definitely a day to remember! Mark the Shark made our charter even more exciting and fun with his unique personality! Highly recommend! Gottem on! read more

Gottem On! As the Captain would say! What a fabulous day and we loved every minute! The weather and water was perfect and the sharks were on the wire! Captain Mark gave us great advice and instructions on how to reel them in! WOW! Definitely one for the books! Highly recommend and worth every penny! First trip out but won't be our last! We can't wait to do this again! Thank you Captain Mark and your crew for a phenomenal experience! Our memories of this day will last a lifetime! Gottem On! read more

Booked a trip for Mar. 24th, 2021 with the famous or (infamous) Mark the Shark. We were very excited and should have read reviews and some due diligence beforehand. Charged us $700 for 5 with another couple on board. Took us out 2 miles, which was fine after bait fishing for about a half hour. Stayed in one spot the rest of the 5 hr trip and never caught a thing, he even said after an hour with no bites that he should move and then asked him an hour later to move. I was a gentlemen about it and we were very friendly and talkative the entire trip. Never tried to bicker about the 700 and gave him his cash on board as soon as we docked, even tipped his crew. On top of him never moving from the same spot for 3 hours or more he took video of our kids sleeping/tired/nauseous and people making all kind of terrible comments about them on his i.g. account. Asked him very politely twice to take it down and will not respond. Save your money and time and stay far away from this scammer, jerk! read more

Mark The Shark - Tons of people saying terrible things about my kids and me being a gentlemen and not catching a single fish! Avoid this scammer! - Boat Charters Near Me - Miami, Florida

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Awesome experience with Celebrity captain Mark The Shark. We used to only go with the guys to catch everything from Tuna, Mahi Mahi to sharks. Boat is very special and every trip is a thrill!!! Last few times we went out with family and kids and it was even better to watch our little one catch his own fish and the crew teaching everyone all the tricks. Mark is a legend and the mates are great, cater to everyone as if we were on a 120 Mega Yacht. Most of these reviews are from people that have never been on this fishing trip and just enjoy sharing their opinion on something they know nothing about!! read more

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This guy calls himself a charter Captain? He clearly doesn't understand nautical rules of the road or diver down laws. Ran down our towed dive flag then complained on VHF that we were SCUBA diving in his trolling path. A Real POS who thinks he rules the Atlantic Ocean and is either ignorant or just doesn't care about Florida laws- probably both.At least he couldn't kill the bull shark hanging with us. Irresponsible and dangerous vessel operator. read more

Amazing fun service! Captain Mark makes sure everybody enjoys.! He was even able to get drinks on the water. Even on dark waters we were able to catch and release a tiger shark!! My family and I would definitely would recommend and do it again! read more

Horrible experience with Mark this past weekend. Not only did he have to change the day after we booked/paid a deposit but he was 45 mins late picking us up. I could have seen past that if anyone on our boat had a remotely good time. Mark was obnoxious and unprofessional from the moment my family got on his boat. We are a group of inexperienced fishermen but were eager to learn and have a fun time. Mark consistently made fun of all of us and went so far as asking my son if he had Down syndrome when he had a hard time understanding his instructions. He wasn't being amusing...he was nasty and impatient. When two of my family members didn't want to hold up a fish (that we didn't catch) for a picture he told us that he didn't have a rainbow flag for them and they should essentially man up. In addition to his bad attitude we had the pleasure of spending the day with his 8 year old son who screeched at the top of his lungs for the majority of the 3 hrs we were out there. He didn't even treat his first mate with any respect. It was just horrible from start to finish. In the end we spent over a thousand dollars to be insulted, babysit his kid and caught no fish. read more

Only leaving 1 star because I can't leave 0. Behind on writing this review (Memorial Day Weekend 2017 ) but I'm still pissed when I think about it so yes, it was that bad. I went shark fishing with two of my friends that weekend. Upon arriving the 'captain' (Mark) started complaining about how we didn't bring any beer or alcohol. Respectfully, we are all bodybuilders so alcohol never has been our thing and we simply said we were sober and he proceeded to give us sh*t for the whole trip and said it was bad luck, even blaming us and the lack of alcohol for getting skunked fishing wise. We were respectful the whole time, didn't leave any garbage or messes and enjoyed the day, talking with his assistant and fishing and overall thought it was a good day, despite not catching a thing. My issue comes from not just the alcohol issue, but from the unprofessional nonsense he pulled with his instagram. He posted a video that morning of us heading out on the boat which is fine, but his friends and followers on IG started making comments about 'Protein shakes about to go overboard from sea sickness' which is actually pretty funny. I'm taking exception though to HIS responses to these comments and things he was saying in general, saying we were a bunch of disrespectful meatheads and after the alcohol comments he kept harping on all day. Of course this clown is unprofessional and finds it easy to talk sh*t from the Instagram comments which weren't even warranted. I get offended rarely, if ever so I could care less with this type of thing, but when we pay you that amount of money as a business and you proceed to trash on your customers behind their back, that's a grade A douchebag move. There are tons of other fishing charters out there, don't waste your time with this clown. read more

We had a wonderful time! Weather was perfect, boated a barracuda & a Sand shark which was tagged & released. Incredible. We want to go back with our sons! read more

Mark The Shark - Fishing - Boat Charters Near Me - Miami, Florida

A wonderful captain very funny and raw and knows the waters of South Florida better than anyone. If you want to catch fish or giant sharks and have a good time mark the shark is the man to call. Make sure you check the weather 1st or you'll be on Instagram and I'll be laughing with you vomiting. read more

!!!! DO NOT SUPPORT THIS BUSINESS!!!! I had contacted him 5 days prior for a fishing trip / business trip @ 10:30am. I was going to take some high profile clients out on the water. Captain mark never asked for a deposit he said that would not be necessary. 2 days before our trip he told me to send photos of my credit card (front and back which is actually illegal). I was told he is a good fisherman so I went ahead and did it anyway even though I knew it was a bad business practice. The next day around 1pm he tells me that we need to change our scheduled trip time from 10:30am to 7:00am. Mind you i told you this was a business fishing trip so we have tight schedules with breakfast, yoga, drivers and we can't just change our whole day because he has another client that he wants to squeeze in after we made arrangements and a reservation. He went on to say that he has another charter and he can't take us at 10:30am. I told him we booked at 10:30am trip and that's what we are sticking to. He then tried to raise the price from $750.00 all the way to $1,100.00 & tell me he would cancel the other trip if I paid extra. He's rude, unethical & greedy. If you don't believe me just look at his IG & you will see first hand. To make matters worse he just called my phone at 7:11am on Saturday asking me if I wanted to go fishing today. He's legit psycho. I'm going to post his text so you guys have proof. read more

Mark The Shark - Calling me on Saturday at 7:11am to see if I want to go fishing. That is insane. - Boat Charters Near Me - Miami, Florida

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Terrible Experience. The guys personality is terrible, we didn't catch anything, and he made us pay for random things that should have been included in the original cost. read more

The worst fishing experience. I have spent my life fishing in different part of the world. When I came to Miami I found Mark as a Shark hunter. Long story short. We spent 6 hours catching nothing. After he asked to pay for 500$ more than we agreed. When I said that I will pay only the agreed price and no 1$ more he started to threaten me with the gun ( i was with my wife). Thanks god we had a chance to call 911 and they came fast. Don't use his charter. Or better sink his boat when you have a chance. read more

Fishing with Mark The Shark was some of the best memories I have made. He is a true professional and is a blast to spend the day fishing with. My father has been a charter captain for 50+ years and when I told him I was going out on a charter with Mark he said "Mark is the best at what he does" and he was absolutely right. Highly recommend chartering with Mark. read more

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Take the family and enjoy an excellent day fishing. Wonderful for kids to see the beauty of ocean and lucky to see Dolphins in the am. Catch and release a beautiful rare golden Hammer Head Shark. Awesome day thanks to Mark and Ryan. read more

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Took the kids for a fun adventure. I checked reviews Mark's were amazing. His crew kept the whole day screaming fun. Not for the uptight fisherman. Best day fishing memories the kids will never forget. read more

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I never thought I'd be leaving a Yelp review I've been waiting for at least a year to fish with this guy. He told me 100$ per person when I said I had 3 people so I said hey that's a great deal for some broke collage students. Didn't catch a thing, which happens but said I owed him 500$ after that. I'm not the kind to complain a lot but the crew guys were great. There's better charters tho!!!!! read more

Mark The Shark - Proof - Boat Charters Near Me - Miami, Florida

I have been trying to get in contact with this business for 4 days in order to make a reservation. I have left messages and nothing. Finally today, I found their Instagram account and emailed them. I also found another number some where else online (NOT ON THE GROUPON) and called to make a reservation. The person who answered asked me what I wanted and told me to not call them because their busy catching a fish and clicked in my face. Bad customer service. Got my refund. Thanks for nothing. After writing the review above, I FINALLY got a response on instagram (from before i wrote the review), and this was the owners response. If your too busy catching a fish, then you should have a dedicated person answering the phone, and if a potential client is upset, you make them happy. This man called me an Idiot, Smuck and moron.. Pathetic read more

Mark The Shark - Boat Charters Near Me - Miami, Florida

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Would not recommend ever. Mark is very unprofessional, he was responding to his google reviews in front of us while on the boat, shared his political views, and became cocky saying he "made it big". He also sat on top of the boat commanding orders to the guy below him, I believe his name was Ryan and he was excellent, felt bad that he had such a terrible boss. If you want to know who Mark is, watch "Sharkwater Extinction" on Amazon Prime to see him be interviewed and see what a terrible person he is. read more

Well, I'm sure Mark is a great fisherman and can read the water. We didn't catch anything, but he felt bad and invited me out the next day. That was nice. I would however say that I was disappointed that he took a video of a seasick teenager and posted in on his Instagram, which has a ton of followers. A nice mother paid to take her two daughters and one of their boyfriends, nobody caught anything, some got seasick, and he posts that? I guess he's a man-child, so if you are a woman or have kids I would probably suggest going elsewhere just to get a little respect. read more

My brother and I the day fishing with Mark the Shark and it was hands down one of the best days we've had out on the water in a long time. Mark & his crew (we had Ryan and Matt) are so knowledgeable and knew so much about the local areas. They are so friendly & made us feel like we were out on the boat with life long friends. They knew EXACTLY where to fish and how to GET EM ON! We had a blast catching Bonitos and monster king fish. Mark & his crew got great pictures & not only shared them with us digitally but also mailed us beautiful 8x10 pictures. We cannot wait to book and go back out again! read more

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Do i have to put "1"? Brutal waste of money. Didn't catch a thing. Mate from Michigan was great but captain (mark) was a clown. Foul mouth around my kids, several racist remarks among other unacceptable things out of his mouth. Oh yeah, and an ear full of politics. I will let you guess who his guy is... read more

It was AMAZING!! Sometimes you have luck finding fish...sometimes you don't....but when you have MarkThe Shark and Ryan taking you out, you can be sure that you are gonna have fun, and if the fishing gods are smiling, you will be too! The seas were choppy and we thought we might get skunked...then BAM! It hit!! Mark found us this Monster and made sure that we got him in the boat after a 50 minute fight! They were patient and professional and terrific at teaching us how and when to do what. It was an Amazing experience. Fish safely brought in, tagged, photographed and released unharmed, but tired from the fight. Great Pics! Great Fun! Great Experience! Great Captain and Crew. We will be going out with MARK THE SHARK again for sure. Very fair price, great boat and professional nice guys....Aside from catching 10 more if these, I can't imagine how it could have been a better day out. If you are looking for a really great private charter with folks that know what they are doing.....CALL MARK THE SHARK!! read more

Mark is the best caught some monster fish, three large ones and I even mounted one if the fish. Great captain, a super fun guy! You can't go wrong, if the fish are out Mark will find them! Easy 5 Stars!! read more

Best charterboat captain and most knowledgeable crew in Miami highly recommend. Had an amazing time with an amazing crew.

I've held my tongue long enough but in fairness to those who are about to be suckered in by his deceitful ploy of advertisement I feel I owe you some insight to who and what this man really is. My sons dream was to catch a Tiger Shark or Hammerhead Shark. He is special needs but lived and breathed his passion of fishing and hoping to realize his dream when we reached out to Mark The Shark. I was very specific in asking what the most favorable time would be to plan this trip. He assured me a particular time was more favorable and we moved forward with planning the trip my son had always dreamed of. We booked two full days for just us (myself, husband, son, niece). My son would be the only fisherman as this trip was entirely about him and for him. How utterly shocked to board and be told the fishing has been terrible for months and nothing is being caught due algae. Wow, he said it was GREAT fishing right now! My son sold his boat for this trip! We live in California and had to fly out to Florida. Oh... My niece who gets terribly sea sick but loved her cousin enough to be there to share in this special trip. She takes Meclazine, Bonine, and wears the Scopolamine patch. Still, she gets it bad. Yep, he felt the need to utterly shame her by posting a picture of her on his page being sick! I cannot comprehend the humor in this! The gratuity is charged without consult! Automatic to your card. Definitely not earned, just charged. The deck hand spends every each day smoking cigarettes and drinking beer! The ultimate is Mark posting not one but two sail fish caught while we were there which NEVER happened! All from pictures years ago. Yes, we were suckered in by his posts that were falsely presented! Fishing is fishing and there are never guarantees, but to ride on a fantasy wave of pretense at the expense of my son is wrong in so many levels! Buyer beware!!! He's a crook!!! read more

These guys are true legends. Mark was answering calls from other ships, extremely friendily, which just goes to show his status, his presence, respect and his network in the industry. Going out, these guys know the bridge conductor, the cargo ships and all the other big players out. Mark is a great guy, easy to talk to, full of knowledge and willing to explain to those that aren't well fond of all the details and intricacies of fishing. He's full of legendary stories. Crockett was the little man, cool little kid, amazing to have him onboard. He's gonna be little legend one day, next generation. Eloy and Alex were the best skippers anyone could ask for. Knowledgeable, personable, humorous, attentive all the time . Can't recommend these guys enough. These guys are the real deal. read more

I have been on approximately ten fishing charters in several different states. Mark the Shark is hands down the worst. From the beginning this experience was horrible. He was late, took almost two hours to actually start fishing, and was dismissive and rude to myself and everyone in our boat. His boat staff is similarly rude. Our charter time was not even close to that promised and the price was outrageous for the experience. Do not be fooled by Mark the Shark's "wacky", "non-PC" demeanor. He is rude, aloof, and appears to have had better days. If you look closely his website is misleading; many pictures are clearly old and from a "better time". His boat is filthy, has minimal space for multiple people to talk and relax, and is simply not comfortable. Also, Mark INTENTIONALLY littered in the ocean on multiple occasions during the trip! Bottom line: Stay away, there are too many charters in Miami to waste your time and money with this one! You will be disappointed. read more

Mark the shark aka monster fishing aka Striker 1 aka ace fishing. Mark as cool as you and your staff were, the sad truth is you are operating just a huge dead tourist trap. If you look at the website/broacher they give you, you'll see pictures of a really young mark, a few celebrities he once fished with, a few large sharks he once caught... Reality is, and he even admitted it to us, is that all that was 20-30 years ago Our full day charter was scheduled for 8am. Mark arrived at 9:40am and blamed traffic.... Whatever no big deal. We set sail, and spent the first 2 hours going to a little spot and I just sat back and watched his crew catch bait. (Personally I think They should of had already had bait, it shouldn't cut into our fishing time). By about 12:30-1pm we were finally going out a few miles to try to get a big catch. We were out there by for only about an hour, with no bites mark decided it was a bad fishing day and wanted to head back. We got approx 1 hour of deep sea fishing on our "full day charter". When asked about the chances of Catching a shark, he pretty much laughed and literally told us "stop watching shark week", all shark fishing was 20-30 years ago, the chances of catching one are almost slim. I was more entertained listening to all the stories of how great fishing was 20-30 years ago then fishing for hopes and dreams. We spent $900 with tip. If your someone with high expectations your going to be in for a disappointment. You have A LOT more chances of going to the hard rock and sitting on a slot machine and hitting a jackpot then catching a big fish on this charter. If you don't mind blowing a grand to be on a boat sight seeing with "mark the shark", then you might like this. If you want to fish, go down to the keys. read more

This guy was terrible! We scheduled a 5-hour afternoon fishing trip for 600. We were late (our fault) so we ended up leaving 1.5 hours late. After we left they told us that this was not their normal boat and that it was a bad day for fishing so we might as well go sightseeing instead. For $600?! We went fishing anyway and caught around 15 fish that were about 1 ft long each. Pretty good... Or so we thought. They brought us back an hour early without asking us first. On the way back my friend asked if all the fish were edible and the answer was "not really" and they informed us that they were too oily and bloody and were better for shark bait. They didn't even give us the option of keeping the fish. It turns out the reason we didn't go fishing for sharks was that the boat for that was in the shop getting a new motor and this one was not properly equipped. We used colorful lures and when I asked if those were better they laughed and said no. I asked why we weren't using live bait and they said it was because this was a friends boat so we couldn't. Seriously?! They also told us that we didn't have enough beer, prompting us to buy more at the marina store then they bullied us into leaving it on the boat. Basically, we paid for Mark's gas and caught shark bait for him to use on a future trip. After tax and tip it was $760 and we left with nothing. The only positive thing I can say is that they were nice, I didn't see Mark litter, and they were honest (a little too much so). My advice is to book a sightseeing trip because that is BEAUTIFUL and very worth it. If you want to fish for fun and don't care about a picture next to a 6 foot shark then go to Bill Braggs in Key Biscayne with your own fishing pole. If you want a shark then use someone else! read more

This guy is an unethical consumer bully and predator. I was recently asked about his charter service by a coworker who is going to Miami next week. This is what I told him about my charter which took place about 10yrs ago...I went on what was described as a full day charter that wound up being a half day charter in December 2004. We paid a deposit and booked the trip for 8 people on the boat the day prior. We said we were looking to catch a sailfish or something to eat. The next morning, Mark was an hour late to the boat and then had to fuel it up which took another 30+ minutes. When it comes time to leave he tells us he can only take 6 of us due to regulations so we had to put two of the girls with us in a cab and send them back home. We leave the dock and then have to go fish for bait for another 30minutes with sabki rigs. The mate has us helping and gets angry when one of us tangles the rig. We finally get fishing about two hours after our scheduled departure time and we were only about two - four miles from the marina where we departed. We end up catching a 8-10 foot lemon shark. Everyone on the boat states that they don't want to bring the fish on boat and that there is no reason to kill it. The fish is then brought on the boat and beat with a small baseball bat by the mate. At that point the fishing was shut down and we are told that our trip is over because he has another group waiting. We pay by credit card for the cost of the trip and are then held hostage for a "customary" 20% tip. The disaster comes to a close as the shark brings us to a different marina from where we departed (keep in mind our cars are at the other marina) dumps us off on the dock with this fish that no one wanted killed in the first place and business card for a friend who is a taxidermist ($1200 mount). He quickly loads the other group and takes off while we have to fork out cab money to get to our cars. Unfortunately the fate of that fish was to be left behind on the dock. I have been on a number of fishing and hunting charters who have provided a first class service and this is not how it is supposed to work. I highly recommend that anyone looking to go charter fishing in the Miami area find another captain. From the looks of these other posts he is continuing his shenanigans today. read more

I had the worst time on his boat. He literally was choking a bird on the boat. The negative reviews were right. Buyer (and animal life) beware. read more

It was very cold and rainy, but we still managed to catch a small Bonita and a nice big sailfish thanks to Captain Mark and his first mate Ryan. These guys have been fishing for a very long time and they know what they're doing. Was looking forward to catching a big tiger shark, unfortunately the line snagged on something near the bottom and took all the gear. I'm hoping to have better weather next time and a big shark on the end of that rod!!! read more

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Great fishing trip. My son caught a hammerhead and Mark and Ryan were so knowledgeable and guided him every step of the way reeling it in. Great conversation and an overall wonderful experience. read more

A MUST when in Miami. My son caught a baby shark. He also toured us around and gave history Fisher Island, Palm Island, and Hibiscus Island. The kids cannot stop talking about the experience! read more

We fished a half day charter starting at 4pm. Mark and Ryan are great guys. Fun guys to hang with and know a ton about the ocean there off of Miami. While one reviewer yapped about Mark saying the real fishing was years ago..... That's true I got the same speech when I asked about catching a shark. But in reality after learning more you don't catch a shark every day and Mark is trying to set the expectations that your fishing not always catching. I did hook into a very large sail fish and fought it to about 50 feet of the boat but line snapped and we lost it. That was the only fish hooked into that day. I spoke with others on the dock and they all say mark the shark is the only guy to trust in Miami if you want to fish. He's a big fish fisherman. Not going after a day dropping line to get snapper so don't be fooled. Your chartering him for the chance to catch real fish. Give it a shot. He even invited me the following day to join for free since I caught nothing. But I was busy with work. read more

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I wouldn't recommend this guy. I did a surface level search for a charter and saw he had a big following so thought what's the worse that could go wrong? I'm not upset about the trip being a bust because fishing sometimes is good and others bad. What I'm upset about was how he treats his staff, they were great but he's just rude. The way he treats the people he takes out on the boat sucks, he makes shitty comments the entire time, and to add on to it fully expects you to give him beers throughout the charter. Has an insane amount of stupid superstitions and blames those for "why the fishing isn't good". If he sees something he doesn't like or wants to make fun of he will take unsolicited pictures and videos and post them up to instagram so his fanbase can ridicule people and he can join in on the harassment. Check out his instagram. I wish I would've given his deckhands the tip instead of the captain, they deserved it more. My family and friends agreed this is a charter to stay away from. read more

My partner and I booked the charter the day before and shared the trip with another mystery couple. Mark and the crew were all accommodating and experienced. First stop we all dropped lines to catch some live bait for fishing for the bigger species. Then we headed further out and trolled for sharks. We ended up catching two large sharks. The first shark we were able to take a lot of photos with and then released and the second shark was more precious so only a couple photos and then released. Did not witness any littering and had a great day overall. Charter even ran a little overtime at no extra cost. read more