Great trip with a great captain (Tyler). We were looking to pull on some big fish and that's…read moreexactly what he got us into. Highly recommend this group!

I really hate to write this review because I've chartered a few times with Hot Spots over the past…read morefew years but today, I encountered one of the rudest guys and was really blown away by his attitude. I had a 6 hour private charter scheduled for me and my son for the 28th of this month. We come down for the PG World Series each year and close out our ball games with a fishing trip so as a mom, I plan ahead and booked this trip about a month or so ago. Because of all the rain forecasted, we decided to cancel this charter and take a trip to Tamarindo in July. I called to cancel the charter today, 9 days in advance and the guy laughed numerous times and said "that's 10 days away, but ok." I let him know I was well aware of the timeline and that we didn't want to take a chance on the rain. The possibility of storms was part of the reason but I also decided to just take a trip to Tamarindo and fish instead. The trip to Costa rica is 5 days and only $1700 more and we get a 10 hour fishing day so I thought it would be a cool experience for my son since he's already gone out with Hot Spots several times, this would be a little different. This review is based solely on the poor & rude service of the kid I spoke to today. I have had great experiences in the past but they were with Cash & Jason.

We have been out with many guides on all sorts of fishing trips over the years. This vacation (May…read more2024) we went out with Smitty to learn and do some surf fishing. To add to what the other reviewers have stated, I will say that Smitty is a fantastic person who is clearly knowledgeable, passionate, and respectful of the beach (fish, ecosystem, etc) and people. We learned so much and he gave us 110% the entire time that we were with him. There is no doubt that when we book our next vacation in the Navarre/Pensacola Beach area - Smitty is the next call! Beach fishing is unique and Smitty has top quality gear, excellent skills, and drive for making customers happy. He stays on top of what is going on fish-wise in the area so he always knows where to go. No doubt at all - we will be back! Rob

Rick is a great captain and he insured us that we were going to catch some fish!! We did the 6hr…read morecharter and was just the right amount of time before getting burnt out! Well worth every minute!

These captains and first mates know their stuff. The equipment is top-notch and their knowledge is…read moreincredible. I have been fishing with them on two separate 24 hour tuna trips, and neither one has let me down. I have had some of the fights of my life fishing with them, as was my first tuna and my largest. Coming home with tons of beautiful tuna meat doesn't hurt plus the many other species you catch. Well worth the time, the drive and the minimal investment in creating great memories and I highly recommend them. They're concerned for your safety and the customer service is front and center.

Charlie and Mike were awesome hosts. If you want to see dolphins and the Blue Angels properly,…read morethis is the boat and crew!! Great, fun experience I HIGHLY recommend.

OMGOSH Dolphins abound! They swam right up to the boat & we saw them swimming happily underwater!…read more Took 7 kids & all were engaged! They all learned something which is worth a million to the home educator! Super friendly and funny (clean dad jokes) Captain Boat Daddy and Michael kept us fully engaged and entertained. They took the time to make sure that we had plenty of dolphin sighting time. Two hour tour for a fair price. They also sell reasonably priced drinks and bagged snacks. Bathroom on deck. Clean & well run. Very much worth it!! PS PLZ TIP THE STAFF

Fun day on the water with Captain Willie! Whether it was giving us hints on how to reel one in,…read morepointing out photo ops, taking us to multiple sites to ensure our catch or cleaning our fish, he was Johnny on the spot. He did well with my teenage son, helping him without seeming to do so. Willie is personable and knows where to go. Great charter.

Captain Miles was fantastic. My family of 6 was not sure who to use because there are so many…read morecharter services in Orange Beach. He was recommended by a friend. We was very please with his service and fun Atmosphere. He was great around my 7 year old grandson. We was catching fishes within the first 20 minutes. We had a great day and he took his time with each one of us. I highly recommend him for you next inshore fishing trip. A++++ rating!

This is a nice boat, and the fun ends there. We chartered this boat for an afternoon fishing…read moretrip. 4 adults , two preteen boys and a 12 year old boy with autism who absolutely loves everything about boats. The captain get your money and then has the conversation with you or as he may call "instructions and rules". During this three minute tutorial he explains to you that it's his job to drive the boat. Any attempt at conversation may distract him from getting us the fish. He introduces the deck hand and basically says the same about him. Not that it matters because the captain is a typical salesman and he has already closed the deal (he has his money) he has no interest in us. The deckhand has the personality of a serial killer. They pull out poor excuses for rods and basically explain that it's idiot proof and it is. Don't cast your line just drop it over board and then real it in when something bites at the bait. We will start by catching bait fish and then move up (this never happened). The deck hand is casting away for bigger fish but we just get to watch. I saw the writing on the wall and chose not to fish at all. I spent my time (5 hours) with the preteen with autism entertaining him in the cabin (AC works very very poorly). It was a huge disappointment because the captain nor the deckhand ever tried to interact with him and make his day special. Sorry human beings if you ask me! Anyway, over the course of two hours we caught about 9 red snapper. Finally they said it was time to head in, and the two preteen boys went into the cabin with the boy with autism (who literally stayed in the cabin the entire trip), so that gave me the opportunity to enjoy the ride home as the sunset. Nope, the deckhand spent the entire time cleaning that area (all the way back) with chemicals and such as if we had just landed a freaking whale or something. I was an invited guest on this trip, and I am thankful to have been invited. The fee was paid by the guest who invited me and he covered the entire expense for all of us. Thank god he is a gentleman because had this pricey adventure been coming out of my pocket I would have been pissed! Of course the captain and his deckhand gladly accepted a tip, for what I don't know. I've been fishing offshore a couple of times, and each time we had a blast! This was a joke, a very very expensive joke. I wouldn't do it again with these guys even if it was free. After the way they ignored the kid with autism ((they had a real opportunity to make that kids year)) I wouldn't stop and help either of them if they had a flat on the side of the road. I try hard not to give 1* reviews.... but this is exactly what this crew deserves. Rude, arrogant out of touch people only concerned with themselves. I mean... you guys cater to people on vacation? You really think people hand you thousands of dollars to inhale chemicals while you clean your boat?

Went with them two days ago. Best charter boat/crew I have been on in Pensacola/Destin in 20 years…read more Well done!

PLEASE READ THE REVIEWS AT THE BOTTOM. The reviews at the top are misleading…read more If you are looking up this place on Yelp, I would highly recommend that you turn around and go somewhere else if you value your life. This establishment is run by a shady couple who are racist and just want your money. A group of us went to kayak with this company because we found a good deal on groupon. A woman by the name of Hannah (Finnish accent) who we contacted by phone told us to meet her on the side of the highway and that she would take us to the kayaking site. After we got to the site we had to unload the kayaks from the trucks by ourselves and carry it to the river. Her husband, Will, showed up with the remaining kayaks 45 minutes later. They didn't know any of our names. They didn't have us fill out any personal information or emergency contact numbers in the event of an emergency. They handed us life jackets and told us that we didn't have to wear them if we didn't want to. Before we started kayaking, Will decided to lecture us on his Christian beliefs and how Hinduism & Buddhism were wrong. He kept insisting that the christian in our group should educate the hindus in our group about christianity. He then kept continuing this tirade about Jews, Evolution, 7 headed dragon ? We didn't receive any information regarding what to do in an emergency or how the water was in the river or what to expect. He just kept saying to stick to the florida side on the left. When we started kayaking, we found out that there was a strong current which lead our boat capsizing in the middle of the river. We were stuck in the middle of river perdido with no cell phone reception and hanging on to a tree stump for our dear lives hoping help would arrive. After 30 minutes, a couple who were hiking on the Alabama side of the river (Chelsea and Billy) risked their lives and their 2 dogs to help us ashore. When we called Will and told him what happened, he told us to get back on the kayak and to keep going despite the strong current. Whenever we called him he didn't know who we were or our names because he was bringing many people to kayak. These people have no idea how to run a kayak company and they really don't care about you. For all the troubles we went through he said he would give us a discount for our next trip and gave us sprite as consolation. NO THANK YOU. They use the low price on groupon to lure beginner level kayakers. BEWARE.

Truly an absurd (and, by the end, surreal) experience. I called the day before, was asked a quick…read morebarrage of questions (Kayaks, canoes, or tubes? What time? You know where it's at?), and found myself wondering why the person answering the phone had not asked for my name or phone number. It turns out that these details are trivial to a man with so much on his mind. Cut to the next day. My girlfriend and I are excited (we'd been looking forward to this for a month) as we hurriedly assemble our waterproofed supplies, sunscreen, bathing suits, etc. We make it to Fran's Country Grill (that is the address found above; the official address is a P.O. Box) at 12 P.M. sharp and... nothing. 20 minutes pass, so I give the number another call. "Oh, yep, I'll be there in 10 minutes." Still no inquiry regarding my name or phone number, which still had me scratching my head. I was still scratching my head 35 minutes later (don't overscratch those heads, kids), when we finally see a truck with the company name pull up. By this time we were both pretty steamed, and had been almost ready to cut our losses and spend our day off doing something else. If only he had taken 5 minutes longer, the rest of this... event could have been avoided. We have a bewildering 10 minute talk with a man who did not seem to introduce himself (and who did not ask my name), but who would later turn out to be named Will. This part is kind of a blur, but he apologizes for being late (he had, apparently, been left waiting by another group... understandable, though a phone call would have been nice), gives us directions to a parking area near the Perdido River, and tells us that he will meet us there in ten minutes. 25 minutes later (it is now nearing 1:30 P.M.), he shows up with a canoe, and this part is kind of a blur too. Let me explain: he seems like a personable fellow, but he talks. And talks. He told us about this particular landing, and then about the landing a mile down the river, about the nature trail leading there, and then about the local government agency which was cleaning things up, and then about how there is a place that we can reserve for up to 25 people at the landing down the river, and how we can make these reservations online, all the while occasionally veering back to the issue at hand: the river, how long the trip will take, etc. Imagine all of this delivered very rapidly, with 5 discrete ideas touched upon each minute. Dizzying and time consuming. I think that about 15 minutes passed. We finally get into the car, and something a bit traumatic happened. Will, upon getting a captive audience, becomes part bible scholar and part conspiracy theorist. Ignoring all social cues, he started in on a rich, savory stew of the following topics: the dead sea scrolls; how Jews influenced Google to replace "Yahweh" with "The Name" (these two topics took up much of our time); how the Jews prefer Elohim to YHWH, the former referring to many gods (Ra was one example), which Christians think refers to the trinity (but apparently doesn't); something about how Muslims consider Christians infidels for believing in a trinity, and how Jews consider both groups infidels... I'm going to stop here. I want to emphasize that I showed no interest whatsoever in any of these topics, except that I thought it was interesting that Google had indexed the dead sea scrolls. All he got from me otherwise were a variety of guttural sounds along the lines of "hm." Moving forward (my apologies, gentle reader, but I want you to be prepared): the Mayan calendar, 2012, and how it's going to be a catastrophe. This was all said with a gleam of zealotry that was not present in any of his previous intimations, as I believe that he was genuinely trying to keep us from harm. That did not stop this part from making me feel slightly used and trod upon. Apparently my girlfriend and I were just as "in the dark" as the last couple, as we did not know about the following: that the planets will line up in 2012, and that it will do "all sorts of stuff" to the tides; that not only the planets will lines up, but the SUN will line up, causing who knows what calamity; that astronomers are either ignoring or covering these phenomena up (look up 2012 on wikipedia... there's nothing to cover up, of course); interspersed with these grave admonitions was something about the Antikythera mechanism, an archaeological find that... I'm going to stop again, just because I'm tired, and you must be too. Suffice it to say that we didn't get in the water until about 2:15, and that all we could talk about was Will. We both felt uneasy, slightly disturbed, and more than a little upset. It's no fun to be held captive to social niceties (which I have since discarded, being on the internet) in a moving car with a stranger. We didn't know what, exactly, to be offended about, as his hour of speaking seemed to have no central thesis or upshot. We left the experience feeling drained. The river was nice.