Dolphin Watch-Shell Island Cruises

This is great trip if your looking to take a nice relaxing boat ride on a large double deck boat with restrooms. The cabin is air conditioned and a nice spot to escape from the sun but if sun is what you want the upper deck is the place for you. The boat is manned with a very friendly crew who are constantly inter-​acting with the customers but they don’t over do it, so if you want a little solitude you can get that also. The boat offers hot dogs and chips along with soft drinks and beer. The boat makes a stop to check a crab trap and they walk around with the catch giving the kids a close up view of the creatures that call this part of the Gulf home, today’s catch was a blue crab. Then off to spend a few hours on Shell Island on a mostly secluded beach. I don’t really know how the island got its name but it’s not because there’s an abundance of shells to pick from actually you’d be hard press to find any, this could be due to the fact that this tour goes out 3 times a day and there are other vendors offering similar experiences. The sand is as fine and as white powdered sugar and the water is warm and crystal clear. Don’t forget your sunblock and shades the glare can be pretty intense.
When the time come to board the boat for the trip back the crew is waiting at the dock with a water hose to wash the sand off of you. They take a different route back so you can see the Dolphins and there are plenty of them to see, of course each trip is different and they can’t guarantee the Dolphins will be there but today they were everywhere. I’d definitely recommend this trip they also have opportunities to purchase photos of your group in front of the boat for $ 5 and don’t forget to tip the crew they do a great job.

As someone who is a certified open water diver this was one of the lamest outings I’ve been on. The water in the bay is pretty murky and visibility is very low. As a result there is not much to see. You don’t really get to go to Shell Island. All you do is wade in the water off the island in a snorkel vest.
This is a large boat (about 100 passengers). I did not notice anyone taking any kind of count when people where getting into or out of the water. On just about every dive boat I’ve been on there is some kind of tracking or accountability.
We did not see any dolphins when we were in the water. We only saw a few while the boat was underway. I think we may have had better luck if we were in a smaller group since a group this large is likely to scare them away since they are wild animals after all.