The Dolphin Explorer

Nov. 2025 This was an amazing experience for us and our grand children alike. The staff of Captain Eddie and the biologist James were incredibly knowledgeable and shared a lot of great information that was truly an interactive experience. It is so important for the public to participate in this experience as The Dolphin Explorer is publicly funded by persons attending these trips. Every trip allows the staff to collect valuable data about these amazing animals. Highly recommend this adventure!

Nov.2025 This was a fabulous experience for our family which included my 4 and 6 year old grandsons. It exceeded expectations and was one of the best tours of any kind that we've been on. Jennifer (is phenomenal) and Captain James do a great job providing a fun and educational experience and we all learned a lot about dolphins (we saw 13 of them). We also enjoyed 40 minutes of shelling on a beach that had more beautiful shells than you can imagine. By participating in this you are actually supporting a 20 year old research program.

Nov.2025 Bob, James, and the whole Dolphin Explorer team went above and beyond providing an engaging, educational, and fun experience for our whole family, including our two year old daughter! Definitely a highlight of our first trip to Marco Island!

Oct. 2025 Had a wonderful tour yesterday on the Dolphin Eco Tour. There were four generations of us together for a family visit and we all had a wonderful time seeing 12 dolphins, which included several babies and mamas. Even the rain was fun. Great hosts

Oct 2025 Out4 th pr6 trip with dolphin explorer and each year it gets better Well run well organised and professional crew Lovely new boat with great views all around Thanks to Jenifer and James out marine biologist and captain we saw lots of Dolphins and learnt all about their ways A truly memorable trip Hope we will back again

Sept. 2025 We had so much fun! Perfect for all ages, even our toddler grandson enjoyed it! Very informative and they are super friendly.

Sept. 2025 We went in the off season and were happy to find this tour still running. Bob and Capt James were awesome , with a true desire to not just show people what we were seeing, but to educate everyone willing to understand the world of dolphins. This was our first time to Marco, but we will gladly go again the next time. We saw 27 individual dolphins this trip. (And then 2 more in Tigertail Lagoons that evening!). First rate!!

Aug 2025 What a fantastic trip....we had a wide range of ages on our boat from babies to the elderly. It could not have been smoother! They're with you every step of the way from assisting you onto the boat, explaining the boat features and safety equipment. Then onto the dolphins by a trained biologist studying dolphins for his thesis. There isn't anything you could ask him about dolphins that he didn't know! It was SO educational, AND we saw 22 different dolphin on this trip. Mothers, dads, youngsters, and grandparent dolphins....it was all explained. We had a bit of time to go shelling and they entertain the children with a little activity booklet the kids loved. When completed, they sign off on it and each child gets a patch-not a sticker, a patch to commemorate all they've learned about dolphins.

July 2025 I went with my boyfriend's family, and it wasn't what I thought it'd be. It was way better. I had imagined being on a boat for 3 hours with "oh look in the distance and you might see a little fin". It was nothing like that. We saw 13 individual dolphins throughout the experience, as our tour guide (James) took photos and could ID them from distinctive nicks and marks on their fins. And don't misunderstand me, it wasn't 13 sightings total. They kept popping up time and time again! They were right next to the boat, showing off for everyone. Even as much as swimming in the current of the boat and leaping up beside us. Now that was so beautiful. These people do so much research for this species in need of conservation, and you can tell they care about each one of them

July 2025 Most informative, entertaining and family fun experience in southwest Florida. Very friendly, engaging, experienced and knowledgeable staff that enjoy their work. Bob and. Captain James sighted nineteen dolphins by name for the crew. Don’t miss this voyage.

June 2025 I would give them 100 stars if I could. This was the best dolphin boat ride ever. We saw so many dolphins and they know and could identify each of them. They are very knowledgeable about dolphins and it was so awesome to see what these great people are doing to help protect these beautiful creatures.