I went with several of my friends on the Samson on a Saturday morning at 7 am to fish for ling cod and rock fish. We ended up leaving about 7:40 Three of my friends had flown in from out of town for this trip. We finally got out to the first reef and did a drift around 8:10. We drifted for a few minutes, caught some fist, then it took about 20 mins and we were able to do a second drift and catch a few more fish. We started a 3rd drift about 10 mins later and the captain came on and said we had to stop and go back because his steering was bad. 7 of us had caught on 5 fish on what amounted to about 10 mins of drifting on 2 drifts. We were back at the dock just before 9 am. OK, assuming the boat had issues, I understand going back, and while this is a frustrating situation what can you do? I hold no ill will over this problem towards Dockside. But their handling of the situation really is a completely different matter. This is where I am very unhappy. Dockside could have done many things to make this right, but they did none of them. Dockside refunded $53 of each of our $75 ticket, and charged the out of staters for fishing licenses! This means you either paid $22 or $38 for 2 drifts totaling 10 minutes of fishing on a 5 hour tour. The owner, who was there to take our money when we left, left someone else to deal with us who just said 'the owner told me to charge you for an hour of fishing.' (Just to confirm the reader's math skills, 1/5 of a $75 dollar trip is $15, not $22 meaning Dockside was charging for an hour and half) So we have 3 people who paid several hundred dollars each to come to Depoe bay Oregon and go fishing, then missed fishing due to no fault of their own and still get charged for it? This really does not make sense to me at all!!! At a minimum, Dockside should have given full refunds including the out of stater's fishing licenses. To make things right, they should have offered to send us back out on one of the other boats that returned at noon, we could have fished and had a good time, no ill will to Dockside. Another option would have been a future trip voucher. Dockside could have called one of the other tour companies in the area and sent us there. I am sure if I thought a bit, I could come up with a few more options to choose from. And the owner definitely should have been there on the dock apologizing profusely when we returned!!! Of course Dockside did none of this, the owner ran away and hid leaving a staffer in place with instructions to take as much money as she could from us. Bad situations happen. A good company takes a bad situation and makes a sincere effort to make it better. I respect when a company makes a sincere effort in a bad situation. Dockside Charters did exactly the opposite in this situation. This is an annual trip I make with my friends, next year we will not be using Dockside Charters. If Dockside had done something to try and make this right, I would probably be writing a positive review right now, however now I must highly recommend everyone avoids using Dockside Charters in the future. read more

My husband and I went whale watching with Whale's Tale - run out of Dockside Charters. The captain was great and obviously knowledgeable about the whales in this area. I really appreciated not having to walked down/up lots of stairs to get to the boat. I think this is the only ones like this at Depoe Bay, so if you have bad knees, make sure you take this whale watching charter. read more

Had a great morning fishing. They were really helpful and everyone caught fish. We'll probably book a fishing trip with them again when we come back to Oregon. read more

This is very professional operation from first contact to returning from the fishing trip. Hubby and I fished for Coho Salmon on the Triumph with Captain James. When we booked with Dockside, the person taking our "order" said he was an "aggressive" fisherman. Now we know why. He was amazing at finding and keeping you on the fish. We recommend fishing with James. We all caught our limit within 1.5 hours, and James even got to fish getting his limit too. Now, this was an unusual day for James...it usually takes longer he says and he normally doesn't get to fish. The boat has room for six fisherman, and we prefer this because the lines don't get tangled nor the fisherman. He had no first mate, so he was working hard. But, he was efficient. I highly recommend getting on his boat. James is in his element and loving it. It's contagious. Oh, this was my first fishing trip ever too. I was amazed at how clean James kept his boat even as the fish were brought on board. Dockside will filet and even vacuum pack your fish for additional costs. We found pricing to be quite reasonable. Oh and for the person that had engine trouble and fussed about not refunding the fishing license costs...once the state has your money, it's gone brother! Not their fault. Some Captains own their boats which are kept in top notch shape compared to anything around the area. They genuinely care about whether you catch fish or not. Mechanical things break - fact of life. Rent some gear and take advantage of where you are. Seize the day! I'm not a local...it's what I would've done. Why waste the moment being grumpy? : ) read more

This was a top notch operation we went on the boat Sampson with captain Lars. Him and his deck hands were exceptional at making sure we had a top-notch trip Captain Lars positioned the boat several times to keep us on the fish totally got more out of this trip than we expected we will continue to use this charter at depoe bay and tell everyone we know to use dockside charters for all there fishing adventures read more

This is the second time we went with this company, and had another awesome experience. We went out on one of the zodiac boats, only got a little wet, but had amazing up close views of whales, got some great pictures. Our captain was knowledgable and personable who got us up close and kept us close to the whales the whole time. The waves were a bit rough, we went at noon, recommend going earlier in the morning, and don't eat before going. Another amazing experience seeing whales! read more

What an amazing experience! Captain Lars and Mate Dave made our week at the coast an incredible adventure. We did salmon fishing and whale watching. They were very patient with us as novice fishermen, and had good advice. The operation is well organized and efficient, and they were funny to boot. I cannot say enough great things about this. A trip for the ages. Thanks Captains! read more

I wanted my family and I to catch salmon, and we did. This business is professional in many perspectives. Any business that is based on the willingness of the ocean to cooperate will have a lot of challenges, but this business does a great job at working around the most obvious challenges. For example, you are required to call a day ahead to make sure the ocean conditions look favorable for your trip before you wake up at 5am for no reason. The captain of the boat "The Affair" was waiting for us when we arrived, and he had the gear ready to fish as soon as we got in the fishing grounds. The fishing roads were set to fish for salmon at different depths. When we were getting no bites, the captain looked for new options. We were successful at fishing for Salmon when other boats were not. On your return you can choose to get your catch cleaned professionally for a low fee. In general, this was a great experience. The captain was very helpful and willing to share his knowledge with us. One challenge that we felt could have been dealt with better was the division of the opportunities to catch the salmon. So, beware - if you go in the Affair, make sure that you and your group understand how these opportunities work or talk with the group and captain early on to come up with a plan that works for everyone. We were told that we had a set up that was meant to be shared, so we thought that meant that we were all going to have equal chances to catch the salmon. But what ended up happening was that one group took the majority of the early opportunities until they maxed out (2 fish per person), and our group of three took the rest of the opportunities (we got 3 fish and lost 2 at the end). This in part happened because the lovely couple that we were fishing with was closer to the rods that had the bites. I mentioned this to the captain at the end and he told me that he would try to do better in the future. If I knew the rules were 'run to the pole first until you max out', my group would have behaved differently than what we did. This was not one of those 'life is like this' situations, but a situation where the business could have had a more clear guidelines for everyone to have an equal chance to fish. One more note - if you are prone to puking like me when the swell is moderate, try to stay on the left side of the boat to avoid the exhaust fumes. It didn't ruin the experience, but I did say hi to the ocean 2 times. read more

I went fishing with captain James on the Triumph for a 5 hour bottom fishing and crab trip. The office staff were friendly and efficient. Captain James had the boat and gear prepped and we went out on time. We dropped the crab pots not far from the harbor and then proceeded to the fishing grounds. We nearly limited on ling cod on our first drift and did end up with limits for the boat. The other bottom fish were not as eager to bite but we worked at it and had some success when other boats were struggling to catch fish that day. We had limits of crab and made it back in on time. The fish cleaners and crab boilers were fast and efficient. I was surprised to see them get the cheeks of the ling cod which often are neglected when deck hands do that job. I will definitely fish with them again when I make it to the area. read more

We plan a yearly trip to go deep sea fishing. This year we decided to go with dockside. We have family come from Colorado and the Portland area, we set up hotel rooms and make a weekend of it. The day of we were all set and ready to go and they called us an hour out from when we are suppose to leave and tell us that the captain was sick. Ok, fine, he's sick but they offered nothing more then, " most people understand, your one of the very few" in a very rude and condescending way. They offered no info on other charters, no help in any way at all. I was very nice on the phone and explained out situation and they we had spent a lot of money to go fishing with them. read more

Had a great time yesterday on the Samson! It was an all around good experience from checking in at the dock (very organized)...the boat...the fishing...crabbing...the people who filet the fish or cook/clean the crab for you...one stop shop....made it easy for us out of towners. Really enjoyed Shad the deckhand....we had a variety on the boat - kids, first timers, and pros. Shad was a busy bee yet remained attentive to everyone, had a ton of patience, explained things thoroughly, and maintained a sense of humor. Will definitely use Dockside again. :) read more

I love going thru dockside charters when I have family in town. The amount of time is perfect and the boat is nice. The only drawback is they book up fast so if you are traveling to the coast and there is traffic or you are late they are usually unable to move you to a later one. I've also tried Tradewinds at the same marina and they were not as good. read more

A great fishing trip. We went out on the Smokin Reel with David Peterson for the five hour bottom fishing. He did a real good job getting us into the fish right away. We also got a great catch of crab - 28 (25 keepers) in one pot. I had some friends that went out to do the same type of fishing out of San Diego - the 13 of them caught half the fish the 6 of us caught. read more

What a great experience ! We saw 4 Gray whales and 1 Humpback whale, the Captain and Crew were great at spotting the whales and very helpful in describing their activity, of coarse no one can totally predict what the whales are going to do but Dockside Charters take you where sightings have recently taken place and may happen again . My wife and I are going to go again but we want to go for the 1 1/2 hour ride , the 1 hour ride goes by pretty quick . read more

Incredible time whale watching! Hour cruise out of depoe bay. Great gray whale sightings right off shore. The whale came right up to the boat. Incredible views of the whale jumping out of the water right by the boat. Best whale watching experience I've had. Also lots of sea lion, seal, and sea bird sightings. Crew was friendly and respectful of the animals. Boat was a nice size and comfortable. Reasonable prices. Highly recommend. read more

I was so excited to go on this trip. We had family in town from Colorado anxious to go deep sea fishing. One hour before our launch time we got a call stating that the captain was sick and the trip was cancelled. Our relative was devastated having traveled so far to enjoy the beautiful pacific ocean. Hundreds of dollars in hotels and trip expenses to end in disappointment. We called to try to reschedule and perhaps receive some compassion for our situation, but they offered no reimbursement. or discount for a future trip. Not even so much as a genuine apology from these people. unfortunately they lost their business from this party of seven and everyone we have referred this charter to. read more

While vacationing near Depoe Bay, I booked a Bottom Fishing trip with Dockside Charters. Arriving there early at 5:30am, it was quick and easy to check in at the desk, with no trouble parking. There were about 15 anglers, including myself, and we went out on the Endeavor. Seas were calm, and it was a beautiful morning. Captain Ken was friendly and knowledgeable. His main concern was putting us over fish, which he did several times. As soon as the bite fell off even a little bit, he fired up the boat and moved to another spot. Everyone aboard caught several nice Rockfish. Three nice sized Lings were hauled in, one of which was mine. The memorable catch of the day was a huge Vermilion Rockfish. The sea stayed calm all day and everyone had a great time. No need to bring anything. They provide all gear. If you hook a fish, (sometimes two!), Either Ken or the Deckhand was right there to assist it into the boat, and into your tub. The Endeavor is very clean and well maintained. The whole atmosphere was friendly and low-key. I would recommend a fishing trip with Dockside Charters to anyone, experienced or beginner. read more

A must do when visiting Northern coast of Oregon. Saw several whales. Even in August. Dockside was wonderful.

Great Charter service! Went out on the Tackle Buster, good gear, great skipper and awesome fishing. Everyone limited out on rockfish and several keeper lingscods were landed. Would go again anytime! read more

My brother an I set up a 5 hour ling cod fishing trip and after a delay for a day due to very large swells on the ocean we showed up for our trip. Unfortunately the boat we were scheduled to go on thought the water was too rough and wasn't going out. The other boat was going out. Long story short the very friendly people at dockside worked their magic and were able to get all of us on the "Tackle Box". Even though the boat was a little crowded, because they combined 2 boats into 1, we all limited out on rock fish. There were not many ling cod caught but we were all catching fish. The captain and the deck hand were fantastic. They ran around the boat helping like crazy men. At one point more than half the boat had "FISH ON". These folks are the best and I am going to schedule another trip very soon. I highly recommend this group. read more

What an awful experience my wife and I had. Signed up for a fishing with crabbing trip, ended up with a poor excuse for a fishing trip. The captain cancelled crabbing when we arrived (Lars, on the boat called the Samson I believe) because he said "there aren't any good crab out there." We found out later from other charter companies in Depoe Bay AND Newport (20 min. south) that the crab were just fine, not molting, and were very good eating. We went out, and he could not get us over the fish for the life of him. The captain had no personality, and all five or six of us souls on board watched helplessly as all the other charter boats around us (NOT dockside boats, by the way) were bringing in fish by the dozens while our boat got maybe 10 fish between all of us. No crab, no fish, seemingly inexperienced captain. What a joke. My wife and I will never go with this outfit again. We both realized that fishing is fishing but really? This guy didn't want to work from the second we showed up. We shouldn't have even paid the money (Overpriced, as we later found out after checking out other local charter companies) for such a terrible service. We found no one on board their boat or in their booking office that could answer any of our questions. read more