Kohootz Dolphin Encounters

What a great time! My daughter and I had a blast taking this tour! We saw dolphins right away before getting too far out! They do love some Jimmy Buffet! The captain and his wife were great hosts! This was a big highlight for our quick vacation!

My boyfriend and I had so much fun on this tour! The price tag, albeit a bit high ($ 25) was worth it. The guide was knowledgeable and friendly, we saw lots of dolphins! We were afraid that this may be a more kid-​centered outing but it was fun for both of us. Just a tip, the guide told us that the dolphins are less active at the 10:30 am tour but our 12:30 tour was great!

Classy dolphin tour run by mom & pop operation. He knows the area and you should definitely see dolphins.
Deep sea headquarters is the starting point. Pay and check in there.
Our tour was cut short by a storm and the operator was very generous in making sure we were satisfied.

The boat is not a huge one like some, so you get to know some of your fellow passengers better. The captain not only takes you out to see many dolphins, and we saw a ton, but also gives you a little bit of history about the light house and some of the other things you see during the cruise. They play Jimmy Buffett music during the cruise, which is kind of fun. Tip: Wear your sunscreen and bring a small cooler of drinks.

I recently visited Port Aransas, TX for the first time and was able to be aboard for a dolphin tour. I absolutely loved the experience. The owners are very knowledgable about the water and dolphins. They add a great personal touch to it and you can see lots of dolphins.
I gladly recommend this tour to anyone new to Port Aransas. It made my first trip to Port Aransas very memorable and I will be going on another trip sometime soon.
Bravo!

We checked the company’s website at:
The schedule looked good, so we called for a reservation. Sorry, Monday is maintenance day. Huh? Please post that on your website where your schedule is!

first time in port aransas and first time on this type of excursion…
VERY enjoyable! nice boat, well kept, informed and friendly captain and wife run. captain knew spots for best dolphin sightings, and turned ship so everyone could see. I’m sure it’s hit or miss as to how many dolphins you see and how well they «perform», but we saw lots! kids enjoyed too, but smaller kiddos might have trouble seeing. sides are solid. upper deck available too. NO feeding! restroom available on boat. seating was comfy, not much spray — but depends on weather I’m sure. we were fine in flip flops and casual clothes. bring camera! zoom lens a plus.

I’m sooooo happy we did this!!! We were waiting to board the Kohootz and I was a little worried about the size of the boat vs. the number of passengers but there was plenty of room for everyone. The captain was great and very informative! I would highly recommend! My 3 year old son and 14 year old daughter both really enjoyed the experience.

I read on trip advisor that the tour was decent but the Captain and his mate were less than desirable. I decided to look beyond the reviews and book a tour anyway for my family. We were told to be there at 12:30 for a 1:00 departure. At 12:05 less than 30 minutes from the time were were told to check in the trip was cancelled because there were not enough people. Seriously??? We were pulling into the parking lot. How heart breaking to tell my children… sorry the boat trip we talked about all morning… yeah the one you had your little hearts were set on… Well the Captain isn’t willing to take the 4 of us out even though the fee would have well paid for one hour of gas! I suggested in the future perhaps they consider taking credit cards… They could even consider charging a cancelation fee so things like this would not happen in the future. Makes good business sense to me. Besides… who the heck carries cash anymore anyway??? Step into the 21 Century for goodness sake!!! Maybe your business would pick up and you would not have to cancel for no shows!!! Tacky, tacky to cancel less than an hour from the tour… The professional thing would have been to go ahead and take the boat out. Again, 70 bucks is 70 bucks… it would have covered the gas, taken one hour out of the day and they wouldn’t be getting a sucky review. Don’t expect warm and fuzzys on the phone either when you are making your reservations… They are kind of snotty!

A whole hearted «meh». The captain seemed a little disinterested, you could tell he’d been doing it quite a long time.
The trip was okay, I’ve been on a number of Dolphin tours throughout the country and this one definitely found the most dolphins, but due to state law, you can’t feed the dolphins. The dolphins could care less about our boad and were just doing their thing. At one point, my dad and I spotted a dock where you could get an equally good view of the dolphins rather than having to spend the 18 bucks per person on the dolphin trip.
I did not like that the captains wife sat at the back of the boat and smoked.
We did get to see a lot of dolphins, but the whole trip seemed too short to justify the price per person.

Just visited Port Aransas for a beach vacation and definitely wanted to go on a dolphin boat tour while there. I looked up reviews ahead of time and it looked as if Kohootz had the best rating.
When my boyfriend and I checked into our condo (at Executive Keys!), I asked the woman working what dolphin boat tour was best and she handed us a Kohootz pamphlet (even though competitors’ pamphlets were there too) and told us that the captain was very knowledgeable. I was sold.
Called to make a reservation for Monday but no one had reserved for their 1:30 trip. Apparently in the off season they only have one tour a day during the weekdays and three during the weekends. And one downside is they only make the trip if at least 10 people reserve for the trip. :o (I have read that they don’t call you if your trip gets cancelled and I had a personal experience where the woman didn’t call me to say the trip was still on (even though when I reserved it was only me and my boyfriend so far and it seemed likely we wouldn’t go). So I would definitely make sure you ARE reserved and to call ahead of time to make sure the trip is still on.
Luckily, more people had reserved for Tuesday after we reserved, so we got to go. Tickets were $ 18 which seemed pricey but was totally worth it. (Students 6 – 11 years old are only $ 12 and kids under 6 are $ 6).
The whole tour was 1.5 hours long and they took us out on the Kohootz boat all the while playing Jimmy Buffet. The music seemed kinda corny at first but was actually really nice background music while checking out all the wildlife and nature on the tour. It seemed very fitting. The boat itself is pretty nice with ample padded seating but lots of room to move around. There’s also a second story with more padded seating and room to stand.
The main feature of the tour is, of course, the dolphins. And we saw a ton! Unfortunately, they weren’t very playful that day and none were jumping out of the water. It might have been too windy or cold, but whatever. You can’t control the dolphins’ behavior. Nonetheless, it was beautiful to see them playing with each other in the wild. They were rolling all over each other and swimming under the boat. Really brought a tear to my eye thinking about how these intelligent and wonderful animals are caged up in places like Sea World.
This part didn’t feel rushed at all. The captain was on the look-​out for dolphins as were all of us and he went to different areas around the bay so we could see them up close. It felt like we had tons of time to watch them and see everything else on the tour.
We also went by the Lydia Ann lighthouse and the spot where some ship from WWII sunk. The captain was very knowledgeable and funny. His wife was also on the boat with us and she seemed very nice as well. If you’re in Port Aransas, this is a MUST on the activity To-​Do list.
You can also take your ticket stub next door to Fins Grill and Icehouse for 10% off your meal there.
This place is located at the Deep Sea Headquarters on the left just after you get off the ferry.
P. S. Don’t judge this place by their website– everyone’s website in Port Aransas is terrible. Seriously.