Old Town Charters

(230 reviews)

The daytime cruise is a great time for both adults and kids! The crew was entertaining and…read moreaccommodating, and although the dolphins were being shy the day we cruised, the captain stayed in contact with other boats and managed to find where the dolphins were hiding out. For the kids, they were allowed to drive the boat a bit (under supervision), had squirt gun fights, temporary tattoos, and pulled up a crab trap to let the kids (safely) handle a live crab. My 6 year old grandson loved it! We will likely return next year.

My husband and I booked our Sea Screamer Dolphin Cruise for 12:15pm( it was raining earlier, but…read morehad finally cleared up). We liked that there were plenty of seats on the dock to sit in wait ( first come first serve for your group). When it was time to load, we got our picture taken (pictures are $10), and loaded on to the boat. We sat behind the food/ drinks area in the front row. Unfortunately, because of the weather we only saw 1 pod of dolphins and everyone ran to the side of the boat and we were not able to get a photo. We did enjoy the boat ride and learning the history of the area. The staff, captains, and everyone working on board had excellent customer service, they were entertaining and made the experience enjoyable. All of the food and drinks on board are under $5! So loved how affordable it was. I would say that this cruise was definitely for kids and families. They had a lot of kids activities and we were in the middle of all of it, which is fine- but I think that families should be aware of where most of the entertainment is or what sections to sit in and people who don't have kids can sit or elderly so they don't get run into. For the kids, each child gets a turn to steer the boat in the bay, we got to go to bird island ( and we're swarmed by birds- so if you don't like birds I would not do this cruise), they sell food for you to buy and the birds will eat it out of your hand. Then, the other boat pulled up next to ours and the kids hand a huge water gun fight and got soaked. We had to move out of the way. There are no towels on board so bring your own- but they drive fast after so you can dry off! Last, they caught a crab trap from the ocean they had put out and brought on 2 blue crabs and 1 spider crab, and all of the kids got to hold them. We also enjoyed the mix of music and that it wasn't too loud. If you go on the sea screamer and have kids sit by the snack and drink area under the covering behind the captain for the best experience. If you don't have kids or don't want to do the interactive stuff sit in the front or back.

Emerald Coast Water Tours

(2 reviews)

Fun day of dolphin watching, seashell searching & boating! Thank you @emeraldcoastwatertours for a…read moregreat day!

This was hands down one of my families favorite trips! The Captain was amazing and went out of his…read moreway to ensure our trip was perfect!

Sea Dragon Pirate Cruise

4.9

(150 reviews)

If you've got little kids and want something actually fun for them (not just tolerated), this is…read moreit. The Sea Dragon absolutely leans into the kid experience and the crew does ALL the heavy lifting. Like...full-on entertaining for 2 straight hours while parents can just sit back, breathe, and grab a drink or two. They kick things off with a water gun fight, which the kids loved--but heads up, they will get wet! I wish I had brought a dry sweatshirt to throw on after. But it was ok. Also, wear grippy shoes because that deck gets slick fast...kids were slipping everywhere lol. This isn't a quiet, scenic sunset cruise--if that's what you're after, this ain't it. Half the time I forgot we were even on a boat because it's nonstop pirate chaos (in a good way). We did spot dolphins in the distance which was a nice bonus.

We really enjoyed this activity! We took a 4.5 yr old, two 3.5 yr olds and my infant and it was the…read moreperfect amount of time and activity for them. I felt totally comfortable with my infant on the top deck the whole time. The crew was fun, the concessions were affordable, and the kids walked away with some "treasures" (and totally worn out!) Would recommend!

Capt. Zach's Adventures

We took mourning tour with captain Zach. We saw dolphins turtles stingrays and large red fish…read morecruising the shorelines it was a very good tour. Captain Zack's very knowledgeable of the area took us over an old shipwreck and then parked at a nice sandy beach on the back of Shell Island that we took a short walk over to beach and found lots of pristine shells. Tour was everything it was booked to be. I highly recommend this boat tour

Good Jibez Only Boat Tours

Communication was great but due to weather we couldn't go out on water. Looking forward to booking…read morenext year. Justine was very communicative on plans.

Me and my family went on the dolphin cruise today and it was absolutely amazing! Jaya and Sophia…read morewere amazing on the boat with a ton of fun information. We also saw so many dolphins and right up close. It is so worth it to book this cruise!! I would highly recommend it to anyone who is interested. I will definitely book another one of these cruises. 7/16/26

Papa Joe's Bayside

3.8

We were in town on vacation and found Papa Joes online. We decided to make the drive and check it…read moreout before we headed home and we were very glad we did! I will have to say that I have played at a lot of pickleball courts but this was one of my absolute favorite spots. You can tell the staff/ owners take pride in their courts and facilities. It was a fun atmosphere, clean, really cool location and the courts were really nice! They had tables with umbrellas to sit at on the sides of the court to relax during matches with some great music playing! $5 per person to play here is absolute no brainer! This place is a 5 star pickleball destination!

Not typically bar food on the beach from a food truck. I had a garden salad and added shrimp. Wow…read more The grilled shrimp was wonderful. The salad was fresh. The shrimp by itself was worth the price. Afterwards we played pickle ball and smoked cigars on the beach. Service was friendly. Happy

Dolphin Watch-Shell Island Cruises

4.7

(19 reviews)

Wow! Two hours of relaxation. The crew on board was awesome, very attentive, professional,…read moreaccommodating. We also enjoyed one of the crew members dancing with the kids. Hands down i would recommend this crews to anyone. Oh, the price for snacks and Cocktails was pretty good off and on the boat!

They were both professional and friendly. We had 8 of us. 4 adults and 4 kids, and we were having…read morea good time, and not once did they complain!!!(or they showed great restraint and didn't say anything!!! Lol) great folks!!!

The Scream Machine

4.3

(13 reviews)

Super fun- did have a location issue but the captain was amazing and had a great personality for…read morethe ride!

So fun, I would love to do it again. Literally the SCREAM machine for a reason lol but it's…read morecompletely safe

Grand-Mére - Shell Island & Dolphin Cruises

(5 reviews)

My husband and I took the sunset cruise on the Grand-mere. My hubs is handicapped, walks with a…read morestrained gait with a cane. While the boat is at the end of the pier, it was not a ridiculously long walk for him. We boarded via a ramp with handrails, so that was safe and easy. The mates on the cruise were helpful and it was fun to be able to move freely around the vessel. They offered a snack bar with cocktails and drinks were very reasonably priced, and good. The sunset cruise goes out to the shell island, but does not dock there. We idled around the area in hopes of seeing dolphins and we were not disappointed. There was a pod that was showing off for the people on 3 boats in the area. Great fun! Update: We went back for the Shell Island tour today. Reiterate how helpful, friendly, and professional everyone was.... Both tours!

Super friendly staff, that's the five stars there. Our tour wasn't super big, about 33 though they…read morecan fit over 100. The crew came around and introduced themselves and asked if we needed anything during the tour to let them know. They also have on-board snacks, drinks and a restroom. The tour starts at Papa Joe's which has food trucks, a little store, and even a pickleball court. The ship left at 1:30 and was about a 45-minute journey to Shell Island. I was a little disappointed with the Island itself. The shells were all broken and going out to see and look for shells the water wasn't as clear as other Florida beaches. I saw a stingray which was really cool but also made me hesitant to go too far in the water, also saw some crabs too and didn't want to get pinched. After an hour on the Island, we went to go see some dolphins - there were tons. You will define see dolphins on this tour. After doing a few circles to make sure everyone on the boat saw them, we started heading back. It was after this the crew went around again to ask if anyone was feeling at all seasick because of the turning. Overall the tour was really great. I don't thinknid recommend Shell Island itself but doing the dolphin tour would be worth the visit.

Aqua Water Tours

Great time with capt tristen. We were able to swim at shell island and see some dolphins.read more

From the owner: We’re a private charter with the boat all to yourselves for a party of up to 6 peopleread more

Frank Brown Park

4.5

(25 reviews)

Cute playground in a huge park area! We're from out of town so not using the basketball courts or…read morebaseball fields of aquatic center. But - the playground area is really awesome. There's a building section (gated & covered), 2 younger kid playground structure areas (also gated & covered), and then a massive big kid area - uncovered unfortunately (so I'd go early because by 10am it's blazing hot already). Definitely worth a visit!

This park is huge & perfect for kids and adults. There are tennis courts, basket ball court, a…read morewalking trail, a dog park is on the other side other the parking lot, an entire swim area is next door to the park, there are bathrooms and a small area that sells snacks. The playground is equip with all sorts of awesome apparatuses! It appears to be divided into three separate parks based on age. The toddler park was perfect for my little one, she didn't get bored in this park like other parks we have been to. Our favorite was the different merry go rounds, music area, pretend lemonade stand and the building blocks area, and endless areas for kids to run free and get all their energy out. We will definitely be back!

Shipwreck Island Waterpark

3.9

(62 reviews)

Our family of seven rented a regular cabana so we would have shade. Larry our cabana attendant took…read moregreat care of us, checking regularly to see if we needed anything. We had children ages 2, 5, and 7. There were many areas of the park that had activities for all ages. They loved the area with the castle and pirate slides. The lazy river was also a good size with no waterfalls to force you under. We had lunch in the cabana: chicken tenders, hot dogs, and a pulled pork sandwich. Everything was good. We saw many shaded areas outside of the cabanas as well. Overall we had a very enjoyable day.

I love Shipwreck. However, I was very disappointed today. We stood in the Wave Pool for nearly 45…read moreminutes with no waves. We asked the life guard numerous times if it was still working. No one could give us an answer.

Zoo World

3.8

(194 reviews)

amazing animals. Great environment. Although I didn't have amazing time. When I was standing…read moreoutside of the emu and the peacock. I was pointing and showing my family the Peacock no food in my hands no nothing while pointing, I got bitten by the emu. which hurt and did cause bleeding although I am older and obviously I'm going to be tougher than a kid, but that is really dangerous just to have them open like that where they can bite.

They have a new very young giraffe named Dorothy that came from Kansas, she is so sweet and gave my…read moredaughter all the licks!!!! This zoo is still one of our favorites, I love how close up the animals are. It is so intimate! They offer animal encounters as well. Staff will walk around with reptiles to pet. They have a small concessions stand that sells cold drinks, popcorn, pretzels & nachos. They sell bird feed sticks, goat feed, alligator feed & lettuce for Dorthy. We have memberships. Unfortunately, there is NO member line. So when there is a LONG line, yes you have to wait for anyone who is buying tickets to enter. Hoping they can change that in the near future. We absolutely loved our alligator encounter! So many baby alligators! Staff is so knowledgeable and take great care of the animals here. We learn so much from the staff. I love their enthusiasm for teaching the public about the animals. Definitely come support this amazing small zoo, you won't regret it.

Emerald Coast Zoo

4.7

(58 reviews)

Great small experience zoo, this isn't your big zoo where they really push spending on you and…read moreeating places. 1/4 of it is designed for you to feed all sorts of animals and have an alpaca cut all the other animals off when feeding them lol. The giraffe feeding was fun and they have a great small display of all sorts of animals. If you want a quick 2 hours zoo and have some kind people to talk to where your time is yours alone. This place is perfect and local.

Every time we go on vacation, we have to find a zoo. The Emerald Coast zoo did not disappoint. You…read morecan tell the animals are well cared for and the zoo grounds are extremely clean and well kept. This does not seem to be the norm with many small family run zoos in the US There is a large variety of animals some of which we've never seen in enlarged shoes and this is one of the few zoos we've been to where the animals are active and almost interact with visitors. While we were there, the lions that are penned together or playful and seemed interested in the humans on the other side of the fence. We fed the giraffes which include a young one who is very adorable. We also had a nice interaction with one of the zoo staff who was cleaning out the porcupine pen. She was very informative and was willing to answer questions about the porcupines and gave us some information about other animals that we would encounter in the zoo. Overall, it was a good experience and we would highly recommend the zoo to people who enjoy learning about animals or just want something different to do. On a fun note we appreciated that the signage told us the names of some of the animals like two emus named Karen and water buffaloes named fast and slow, if you're a fan of Veggietales, you'll get that last reference.

St. Andrews State Park

4.6

(173 reviews)

Drove all the way from Santa Rosa Beach where I am very familiar with two State Parks, Grayton…read moreBeach State Park and Topsail Hill Preserve State Park and the Ranger at the gate would not allow us to get in to check the campsites so we could make an intelligent decision for booking next year. When I asked her if we could just drive around OR walk, she refused even when I said we had driven 40 miles just for that purpose. I will have to reserve BLINDLY for next year and be content with whatever site we get shaded or not. Looks like she had a bad night and hope that Karma comes around, it wasn't like we were going to sneak in and spend the night in the car when we were staying in Topsail which I am almost sure is better than this other one. I am sure that if I was a politician she would've extended the red carpet. So this review is not about the Park itself but about the Ranger at the gate and her attitude towards potential customers

This is a beautiful state park. Unfortunately we were just killing time before our flight so we…read morejust got out at a few spots but would love to come back to sit on the beach or take ferry. We saw a gator in gator lake too

Panama City Parasail

4.2

(5 reviews)

Fun experience with Captain Jimbo. We took our young adult kids out to parasail with Panama City…read moreParasail. They had a great time. We were lucky enough to have the boat to ourselves so the crew took their time and made sure kids had plenty of time"Air Time". We got a ton of pics and really was the highlight of our trip to PCB. Would recommend Capt Jimbo. He's a really nice guy.

Our family had a blast parasailing with Captian Jimbo and Makena. They took great care of us,…read moreespecially with it being our first time. 100% recommend!

ScottyBoat Rentals

Things to do in Panama City

(27 reviews)

Great guy to do business with I've rented several boats…read morefrom Scotty's boat rentals fantastic customer service,fair prices and nice boats.

Our go-to rental destination for bay excursions and boat rental in PCB. Scotty is friendly,…read moreactive, and cares about his customers. He gave a thorough and patient explanation of everything we needed to know. The vessels Scotty rents are plush, comfortable, and have working instruments. Our boat was staged, clean, and ready prior to arrival. He has our business for life.

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Shirley C.

9 years ago

We had an awesome day! The Captain was courteous and very knowledgeable. We caught several redfish and learned about the surrounding area. I would recommend this trip to everyone! Next time I am doing the sunset cruise or going out to see the dolphins...can't wait!! read more

Old Town Charters - fishing - Updated July 2026

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Reel Commocean Charters

(3 reviews)

Great charter! Captain Brian and his Deck Hand, Seth were awesome! We had six in our group and they…read moreprovided top flight customer service and made our experience memorable. We even found a great spot and reeled in nearly 30 fish!

AWESOME EXPERIENCE!! Came on a Tuesday with a group of 4 for a private 6-hour trip and everyone…read morehad a blast! Captain Brad and Deckhand Jimmy made us feel at home right away and the boat was impressively clean when we boarded. While Brad was up top the entire trip, guiding us to the hot spots, Jimmy did a remarkable job teaching us the ropes and different fishing techniques. He was very professional and helpful and nearly broke his neck trying to help us when all 4 started catching large Amberjack. There's a cool, clean indoor cabin with a refrigerator and clean restroom as well. Five hours and 75 pounds of fish later, we called it a day and the ride back to the marina was relaxing. We did a lot of research for this charter trip and after hearing about Reel Commocean from a local, we went with them and had zero regrets. Great trip, Brad and Jimmy!

Captain Blacks Fishing

4.6

(11 reviews)

Our family of four has been fishing with Captain Black every summer since they were little! He and…read moreTyler are both fantastic with kids. And pretty personable with adults too! The air conditioning and potty onboard are a must when fishing with kids. My oldest daughter (now 13) is obsessed with sharks and was able to catch her first one with Captain Black when she was 8! Fishing with Captain Black's is a highlight of our family's summer! I can't say enough good things about Captain Black's Fishing! Be prepared to catch a haul and make memories.

Had a great time, caught some fish, and the crew was great with the kids. It was the highlight of…read moremy sons' beach trip. Highly recommend.

Private Charters Sport Fishing

4.4

(12 reviews)

This was our first fishing trip for the 3 out of 4 of us. It was Awesome!!! Capt Steve was…read moreexcellent and put us on fish and kept us on fish the whole time!! Our deck hand was Brandon and he was so helpful and patient with us newby's!! We go enough fish for a nice cookout!!! Thank you so much!!

Expensive boat ride. Fished fewer than two hours on a half day trip. 85 charactersread more

The Reel Contender

(10 reviews)

Four of us went on a fishing trip with Captain Dave and his sidekick Anthony. We had a blast and…read morewill use them again. With their help, we caught over 70 fish including mahi-mahi, king mackerel and vermillion.

Captain Dave took my family and I out for an afternoon trip. None of us had any experience fishing…read morebut he and first mate Ron had us reeling in fish like seasoned fishermen in minutes. We caught so many fish in 4.5 hours we were having to take breaks due to exhaustion from fighting the whoppers we were reeling in. We limited out on Red Snapper in no time and caught Mahi and other types as well, 135 lbs of fish total. All of this was done on an afternoon when other boats were bringing in far fewer fish...they were staring at our bounty in awe as Captain Dave was hanging the fish on the board to take a picture for us. For seasoned veterans or beginners like us I couldn't recommend Reel Contenders any higher. We will definitely be going out with Captain Dave on our next trip back to Panama City!!

Blue Dolphin Tours

(59 reviews)

Captain Todd was amazing. He took us to see dolphins and sea turtles. He showed all our littles sea…read moreurchins, how to snorkel and how to find sand dollars. Even showed us a star fish! Ask for Captain Todd for a terrific experience.

They made the experience tailored and special. The captain was kind and made an effort to know all…read moreof our names. Highly recommend.

ScottyBoat Rentals

(27 reviews)

Great guy to do business with I've rented several boats…read morefrom Scotty's boat rentals fantastic customer service,fair prices and nice boats.

Fly Times Fishing Charters

1st off! Jason is a badass! 2ndly, he is a phenomenal guide who not only knows what to do, but will…read morepatiently teach you along the way. There are a lot of guides these days who are complete jerks and yell at clients... Jason, is not one of those guides. New to fly fishing or not he is your dude. Remember when you fish with a guide that you are trusting them and with him... you should. He can put you on many species! Also remember, there is such thing as bad luck and bad days because well, that's fishing. Don't hold that against your guide! Your a crappy client if you do! I've seen that a lot in this industry! When your guide works hard no matter! PAY THEM! Be loyal! It pays off! I don't fish with anyone else but Jason anytime I come to PCB and you shouldn't either! Been fly fishing for 30 years. He is the best!

The true test of a guide is how hard they work to put you on the fish on days when nothing is…read more working for anyone. Cpt. "Shep" did that for us and we couldn't be happier with our experience. It was my wife's first time fishing with a guide and she has been talking about it all week! If you're in the Charleston area and want to do some flats fishing, this is the guide to call.

OuttaLine Fishing Charters

We had a blast with Matt and Justin on OuttaLine yesterday! It wasn't a fishing trip...it was a…read moreCATCHING TRIP! They will put you on the fish! We caught red snapper, grouper and king Mackerel. It was a fabulous trip!

Good Jibez Only Boat Tours

Communication was great but due to weather we couldn't go out on water. Looking forward to booking…read morenext year. Justine was very communicative on plans.

Heavy Hitter Charters