River Explorer

Fun boat trip in Vero! A bit pricey and difficult to get more info on the schedule and reservations for the trip. A website with schedule times would be so very helpful. Customer service was very nice and patient each time we called, but I would have preferred not having to call to get the schedule.
It’s a bit pricey $ 109 for two adults and three children plus a $ 10 tip, don’t forget to tip your captain!
The location is tricky to find, we had to call when we arrived as we thought maybe we were in the wrong place, the deck is situated behind a popular «happy hour» watering hole for the locals. And watch out for the sharks on the walk back through the restaurant deck during happy hour if you take the later cruise. Miserable people that don’t want to be disrupted by walk by’s with young children. I’m pretty sure once we got around the other side of the deck I had people shaking their head in disgust that we would be at «happy hour» with our kids. Not a thought that maybe, just maybe we were coming from the dock and riverboat cruise wth them, I found that highly annoying.
We did get to see some dolphins from afar and some really neat birds, the captain was very tolerant and even let my boys drive the boat!
Better website with more info, slightly lower price, and some signs to pointing to the location and it’d be five stars for sure!
Worth a trip just take the earlier cruise if you have kids so you don’t get evil eyes from the happy hour folks…“Grrrrrr…don’t disrupts me’s cheap happy hours drinks!”

I went on this eco-​boat cruise a couple of months ago and I absolutely LOVED it! I strongly recommend if you’re in the area that you go check it out. GREAT price too!
I was visiting my father in the Vero Beach area and we were looking for something fun to do one afternoon. We came across the River Explorer and decided we’d give it a try. We called and Cindy was very friendly and accommodated us at the last minute. We arrived at the dock and were very impressed with the pontoon boat… it was super clean and even had a bathroom! I’ve been on a different eco-​tour like this before and I was less than impressed. Captain Bill and Cindy greeted us and offered us refreshments… another nice bonus. We hopped aboard and set sail.
The river is absolutely gorgeous and we were taking in all of the sights. Captain Bill did a nice job pointing out some wildlife that I never would have seen. He was funny and also knowledgeable about the wildlife and the Indian River area. Our first encounter was an Osprey that had just caught a fish and was flying from tree to tree with the fish in its talons. Very cool! Next up were the dolphins. We could see them in the distance and I got very excited. We were making our way towards them when Cindy spotted a manatee. We got to see the manatee up close and meanwhile, the dolphins were making their way towards us. Again… very cool!
Another thing I liked was that Captain Bill was in no hurry to take us back at an exact time. The tour is 2 hours long (I think) but he wanted us to enjoy the wildlife experience. He made sure to check with everyone on the boat to make sure that no one HAD to be back on schedule for other plans. No one needed to go back, so we got extra time out on the water for free.
Again…5 stars for the River Explorer. You should check it out! Next time I’m in the Vero area, I might do it again.