So nice, we booked TWICE! My family was out from Arkansas for 2 weeks for their anniversary, and we decided to go out on a 5hr rockfish/Ling cod charter on the SAMSON. Our first trip was so much fun and such a memorable experience that I booked a second trip for the next week and brought 2 more people! The reservations were super easy, I even called and added 2 people later on, added crab at the counter, licenses, and off we went! The check in was pretty fast and painless. They were cordial and humorous while working with everyone. Our group pretty much took over the bow of the boat both times and had an amazing view of the sunrise, fog burning off, seals, sea lions, and a massive amount of little moon jellyfish that disappeared and turned into an invasion of sea nettles literally everywhere. Whales randomly popped up as we went as well. The captain did a fantastic job of keeping us right on top of the fish, and wasn't afraid to move if no one had a bite in about 3 minutes. The Captain handled all of the fish for us so no one would end up getting hurt with the spines, and gaffed the keeper fish for us to bleed them out and not let them ''suffer'' and flop around. First trip, we caught our limit of rock and ling cod for all 3 of us, second trip we caught a few less, but MUCH larger fish, and several were copper or china rock that had to be thrown back, but still a lot of fun to catch! Only a couple of us added crabbing, and we still ended up with limit for those 2. The Captain and Deckhand stacked all of the fish totes up and brought them up for us to the cleaning/cooking stations at the dock. Fully filleted cod and rock for both trips was 30 pound of fish that we had vacuum packed there as well and shipped back to Arkansas for them to have a fabulous fish fry when they got home! We really had an amazing time and intend to make a run or two on the Samson whenever they visit! They truly made it a LOT of fun and had amazingly charming attitudes that kept everyone smiling and pulling fish the entire time! We went home happy and SORE from reeling up so many fish! That's a hell of a fun workout! Thank you Dockside and Samson Capt and crew! We will be back!!! read more

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We booked online, came for our 3:30 tour. Office lady was extremely rude, and informed us all trips had been canceled for the day, treated me like I was a complete idiot. A. Notify customers when you're canceling trips. (You had our email AND phone number) B. Train your front desk girl in the ways of even "semi-decent" customer service. read more

This is so much fun and fun for the entire family. There was 9 of us with 4 children who had a blast!! Even the 9 month old enjoyed it!! Watching the whale come up in fro t of you and seeing the spout of water and tail flip through the air... so cool!! read more

Dockside Charters - Boating Near Me - Depoe Bay, Oregon

Had an amazing day with Capt James and deckhand Theo on the Samson! Crew was great, boat was clean, gear worked great....and we all limited plus those who did the crabbing max'd out! Awesome day had by all. Capt did a great job such that we all kept busy with no unnecessary droning. would absolutely recommend him and go again. Thx for a great day! read more

I had a good feeling about Dockside Charters when we were buying our tickets for the whale trip. Jim at the desk on Main Street was wonderful to talk with and also to get some suggestions for dinner later that night. Trip was as described and we got to see at least 6 or 7 gray whales. Several of the whales came very close to the boat and it was great to see them blow air and show us their tails. (on another note) if any of your group doesn't like steps to board the boat, I would suggest Dockside as it is very easy to board. Close to parking for the ride etc. read more

I really appreciated the efficiency of dockside charters in navigating COVID and still being able to get people out in the water during all of this. We enjoyed our trip, loaded up our cooler, and were very thankful for our deck guy, Matt, for being so helpful, fast, knowledgeable, and friendly. We will definitely be back soon. read more

Took the 1-hour whale watching tour and can't wait to do it again. Very informative and reasonably priced. Crew was polite and helpful.

Met or exceeded expectations. We saw 3 gray whales of which was a Mama and calf. The ride was really fun since the waves were a little choppy. Exiting the bay were sea lions sleeping. Loved the Worlds Smallest Harbor! The price was super reasonable! The checking lobby has a small lounge area and restroom. read more

I had a great time. It was very easy and fun to get out on the water to go fishing. I did the in-shore fishing and had a really good experience. We caught a ton of crab and the owner is very knowledgeable and knew where to go to catch the most fish/crab. read more

Whale Watching in April, was ok, booking on line was easy. Show up, let them know your name and they give you your ticket for the boat. All staff was very nice from the lady with the adorable chihuahua who gave us our tickets, to the deck hand and captain on the Tackle Box. The question you want to know is...did we see whales? Technically yes....but it is literally a few seconds of a glimpse if you look fast enough when someone spots one. You are 100% at the mercy of Mother Nature and luck when it comes to seeing whales. I would not do it again, but it was fun for a vacation experience. As far as the fishing, we saw people getting off the boats carrying large totes full of fish. There is a cleaning and vacuum packaging station which had very long lines. You definitely get fish it looks like. But be prepared to add quite a bit of time to the end of your experience to deal with your fish. read more

I picked Dockside Charters after seeing the reviews, and it did not disappoint. We had such a good time seeing the whales surface, we even saw the flukes a few time. The boat was a nice size and not overly full, so it was easy to see the whales. It was a little cool, so I would recommend a jacket and hat. If you have longer hair you may want to pull it back so it doesn't end up in knots. read more

I had booked a whale watching tour with another company, but they canceled the night before, citing rough waves. The next morning I woke up to sunshine and the sea looked pretty calm, so I called up these guys and was able to snag a spot on their 2pm one hour whale watching tour. We were on the "Tacklebuster," a beautiful boat equipped with a small cabin, bench seating on the aft deck and a platform on the fore. The deck is surrounded by a railing, with thin wire railing strung between the larger ones to create a high visibility, safe-feeling experience! The captain was pleasant and took great care to set expectations and, more importantly, brought us to the whales! We were lucky enough to see 2-3 gray whales spouting. We got a couple of tail sightings and a couple of times we could see their backs. No one can guarantee that you'll see whales on a tour, but we were fortunate and I would definitely recommend this company! read more

Dockside Charters - Depoe bay - Boating Near Me - Depoe Bay, Oregon

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Went out on the Whales Tail with Captain Gary. To sum up our trip in one word AWESOME!!! We went out and had the zodiac to ourselves. We rode down the coast to Cape Foulweather nary a whale in sight. It was a beautiful ride and the scenery couldn't have been better. On the ride back Gary found us a whale that was traveling fast up the coast. We stayed with it and saw it quite a few times. Then BAM!! It breached one two three four times !! It was the most amazing thing ever. If you want whale watching Whales Tail and Dockside Charters is the only way to go. They get 6 stars. They are all that and a bag of chips. Thanks Gary!! read more

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Did not see anything. Made me think the Captain was making up sightings to make us happy. 2 large women sat inside the cabin and puked constantly. read more

This might be a cool thing to do in summer but while the whales are migrating in the winter, it is hit or miss. We went on what they said, was the first trip without a whale sighting in 2022. They took us around some sea lions to give us some sights and it was nice to get out on the water but obviously would have been better to see what we paid for me. We will try again in the summer and hope to get our money's worth at that time. read more

We had such a great and memorable experience on board the The Tacklebuster with captain JT and his assistant. Our group of 24 fit comfortably on the boat. Docside Charters was very easy to work with from start to finish. I let them know what we needed and they simply made the reservation and we secured it with a card. All they ask is that you confirm using a link they send via email, it was super easy. We could have had up to 42 people for a 45-60 minute experience. Very reasonably priced at $200. My family wanted to have a non formal memorial on the sea for my grandfather as we already had a big formal one earlier. JT took the time to chat with me and he said it was something he liked to make sure to do, so he could help accommodate our families needs and wishes. I thought that was really nice and it was very much appreciated. We wanted to go towards Lincoln City, we knew it wouldn't be possible to go all the way there, but the captain got as close as he could and it was perfect. Once we got out as far as we wanted to, JT turned off the boat and let us do our thing in private and with sensitivity. Our family had made peace with it all prior so this was a celebration of life for us. We were dropping off our patriarch to his next destination and parting ways. The day could not have been more perfect. The sun was out and it was clear out. We were handed the exact coordinates where we had let go. That was wonderful to be given that information. Our family had a great time- our ages ranged from 78 to 12 and everyone was very comfortable and none of us got sick. I should mention that none of us had really been out in the sea like that before. We had been on cruises and small boats out on lakes and rivers, but the open sea was something else. I am very glad to have experienced it. We even saw a whale! Up close. The only note I have is that I wish I would have had more cash to tip! After the trip, we were all talking about coming back and using their fishing trip services! read more

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Captain Chris & Tiger are all stars. Hands down! They took exceptional care of our group, despite the slightly rough ocean conditions. They are kind, knowledgeable and went the extra mile to ensure we were all happy and our rods were working properly. I limited out on sea bass and scored a beautiful green lingcod too! Back on land, Dockside Charters cleans and vacuum seals your catch right there at the marina for a VERY fair price. What more could you ask for? Thank you so very much for the wonderful experience in Depoe Bay. I'll be back! read more

Our whole experience was GREAT! The staff was super friendly and our Captain spoiled us with finding 5 gray whales and took us on a tour of Bootleggers Bay...the ride back out of the bay was like a roller coaster. LOL Our whole family enjoyed ourselves. We will be back!! read more

We booked Dockside Charter for scattering of ashes. We were told several times (via email, phone and text) of our check in time. The boat did not come back until 45 minutes after that time and we waited longer for the full boat to unload. We just wish the desk person (two people were sitting at the counter) would have given us a heads up that they would be late (they must be in contact with the captain) or just show some respect for other people's time. In fact, when we arrived, they told us that our boat was the one in the first slip, so we crossed the parking lot and got on the wrong boat not realizing ours was not even in back! Why not tell us, "sorry, we're running late." Once we were on the boat, it was clean and the trip itself was fine and provided us with a memorable event. Once we were out at sea, the captain turned off the engine so we were able to play music while placing our biodegradable urn in the water with rose petals. He circled the area, was very respectful and waited until we told him we were ready to head back to shore. We received the coordinates of the placement of urn, which was nice and other than the late start (with no updates), it provided perfect closure. read more

They are an awesome charter! They provided an excellent first time fishing trip out on the ocean! read more

Dockside Charters - Depoe Bay Oregon - Boating Near Me - Depoe Bay, Oregon

Great fishing today with Captain Turner on the Tacklebuster! This service is great to deal with. Friendly, nice, knowledgeable people making your reservations and the crew on The Tacklebuster was top notch. Not only was the boat nice, clean and well maintained but the crew was extremely helpful and accommodating. I absolutely love the Depoe Bay area and will always request and recommend fishing with the Tacklebuster! read more

We had a great experience! The older gentleman who was running the counter is a Vietnam vet full of humor and knowledge of the area. The deckhand and captain were the perfect pair, making my family's whale watching tour fantastic. We didn't end up seeing any whales, but every penny was still well spent! read more

Yesterday was my fist ever chartered fishing trip. I was nervous about being on the ocean, fishing for halibut (never ocean fished before) and just nervous to be around the crew. (I mean they are professionals and I know nothing about this style of fishing). As soon as we got there my anxiety was eased. The lovely people working in the office were friendly and knowledgeable. The crew was amazing and explained how everything would work and what to expect. As a woman they did not treat me like I was unwelcome or stupid like many other "masculine geared" places would. All around I had an AMAZING time and cannot wait until my next trip out. I highly recommend Tyler Turner and his deckhands. A perfect blend of relaxed and funny, and Professional and helpful. read more

Dockside Charters - Me and my amazing 43" halibut! - Boating Near Me - Depoe Bay, Oregon

My son booked a 5 hour lingcod/rockfish trip for close relatives. Ages ranged from 12 to 72. I was the 72 year old and took my motorized wheelchair on the charter. The 12 year old is my grandson and caught several good sized rockfish. We came within 3 fish of limiting. The boat was splendidly kept...it was easy to see the crew was proud of their boat. The crew of the Tacklebuster were extremely professional and Captain JT was adroit positioning the boat to get maximum time over a biomass each drift. If I ever get a chance to go again it will be Dockside Charters and the Tacklebuster will be requested. read more

First time on the water here. Spend many weekends here and always say we need to do the whale watching trip. Dockside charter is one I highly recommend. From office to boat all were very helpful and nice. Great atmosphere. We saw our share of grey whales. Captain and mate were very helpful. The Sampson was roomy. Not overbooked and very comfortable. Even has a restroom on Board. Kids who are a little prone to motion sick took some Dramamine about an hour before the ride. Zero issues. The Bay is beautiful. Some times we don't realize how our work impacts others. This simple trip confirmed my daughters interest in marine biology. Will be back and highly recommend. This is a no miss and this charter is down to earth and good customer service. So don't put it off like we did. If you know my ratings I typically only rate when the service is amazing like this one or really bad. The five stars would have been ten if there was such a thing. read more

We recently took a whale watching excursion and Dockside Charters was amazing! We got to see a few different whales on our hour long trip and the captain was great. Even better was the guy working the back of the boat. I wished I had gotten his name (I do remember that he recently welcomed a baby girl), but our son got scared during the trip and he was helpful and reassuring. I can't wait to go back to Depoe Bay and will definitely be using Dockside Charters again! read more

Dockside Charters - Boating Near Me - Depoe Bay, Oregon

Don't ever book a salmon charter here if you are a couple or in a group! We had 10 people on our boat and I caught the 2nd salmon and my husband caught the 4th. They would not tag my husbands fish, or give him a number because they said we were a group and everyone on the boat had to get a fish before we could have a 2nd one! We each paid full price just like everyone else on the boat, we never agreed to fish under 1 number, we always wager on who will catch the biggest. When my husband had a fit about it, they threatened to turn the boat around! The deckhand screamed at people who didn't follow his exact instructions, to the point I was embarrassed for an old man who he kept yelling at! He was mad at us so my husband and I spent a good part of the day with our gear out of the water because he wouldn't allow us to put it in, but he would ignore us and not put it down. Almost everyone on the boat had their limit of 2 before he would let us have a second fish together! There were people who couldn't land a fish and people just sitting watching and we caught 6 or 7 of the salmon, but didn't get our limit until last, also did not get the largest of the salmon we caught! We have since found out that this is illegal to force 2 paying customers to share a number and not allow them both their limits until everyone else on the boat has theirs! Really spoiled our trip, we moved to Texas and have not been salmon fishing for 3 years, so we were really looking forward to it! Should've gone to Ilwaco or Westport! Dockside also will not return a phone call. Also office staff are uneducated on fishing licenses and will tell you Oregon ONLY gives out electronic licenses since Covid. Whale watching might be fine, sure wouldn't recommend fishing with them! They don't gut or bleed the fish either, been on dozens of charters and this is by far the worst ever! read more

Absolutely fabulous tour! This was my first time ocean fishing and something I have wanted to do for a very long time, and I'm glad we used this charter company. We did the rockfish charter but they also have salmon fishing and whale-watching. Their prices were incredibly affordable and the captain and deckhands were helpful, funny and friendly. We also got to see a couple of whales and a seal surfing our wake to boot! We caught a pretty good variety of rockfish and a couple of ling cod. The captain was very dedicated to finding us all the best fishing spots, from 30 feet to 150 feet depth. The best part is that there was a team of professional fish and crab processors who filleted the fish and processed the crab when we got back from the tour for a small fee. All in all, a great way to spend a half day. This definitely will not be my last trip with these guys! read more

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Customer service was excellent. Our Salmon fishing trip was canceled due to weather the first time but they rescheduled us for the following weekend and put us on our own boat (we had a group of 5). James was our Captain and we had a great time. The only advice I would give is if you are purchasing day passes for fishing don't buy them till the day of. We bought ours in advance at $23 each for 5 people. There is no refund from odfw and the tickets are dated. read more

Dockside Charters - Dockside Charters Salmon fishing July 2020 - Boating Near Me - Depoe Bay, Oregon

I brought my two sons who are 11 and 13 years old on the 5 hour inshore rockfish and Ling Cod charter. We had a great time and caught a lot of fish. We went with David on Hot Pursuit. The staff was great and very helpful and I thought the price was very reasonable. The fishing poles and tackle are provided and set up and ready to use. We will be back to dominate again next year! read more

This company is great! Jim who works in the front area of booking was friendly and knowledgeable and even let me borrow a coat so I wouldn't be cold. The crew of the Tackle Buster were friendly, fast, polite, and made this fishing trip a memorable experience for anyone looking to sport fish. From desk to dock these guys were consistently stellar in performance. I would absolutely book this company again! read more

Dockside Charters - Boating Near Me - Depoe Bay, Oregon

Great boat & crew. We saw a number of gray whales, learned about their habits, and enjoyed the ocean. My son got very seasick, and Jack (first mate?) was compassionate, kind, and helpful. Great value; good people. read more

I am NOT a fisherman... or fisherwoman rather. I don't like to touch slimey fish, smell like a fish, gut the fish, touch bait... you get the picture. But I DO love new experiences, adventure and boating! So when I got an invitation to go to Lincoln City with friends on Saturday and go out Bottom Fishing on Sunday morning, I was IN! This would be so fun. I'd never been out on the Oregon coastline. I've caught trout before but never anything else. Sunday morning we rise at the butt-crack of dawn, like 5:15am. Jam on some warm clothes, scarf a doughnut and chug 2 cups of coffee. And off we go. 10 of us heading to Depoe Bay, about 15 minutes away. My girlfriend, who was hosting this shin-dig, and I, went in the office to check-in, get our boat name and buy our 1 day fishing license. The process took a whole 5 minutes. The boat was fantastic. A 50 foot white and teal beauty. The Captain greeted us, gave a short instructional, introduced the crew (Captain Lars and 1st mate James) Then we were off! We cruised North about 40 minutes. Captain would find a good school of fish, cut the engines and yell "Drop your lines!" Within a few minutes people would be hollering "Fish on!". James would run to each one, unhook the fish, put it in your bucket and run to the next. This guy could take care of 10 fish, broken lines and questions, all with a smile and good humor, in under 3 minutes. He was amazing! As soon as the fish stopped biting, we'd pull up our lines, move the boat, and do it all over again. Captain made every effort to find us areas with big Ling Cod. He did great. We know they were there because we would feel them on our line, but the big ones always let go. The were usually holding onto a rockfish that we had on our hook. Lars and James took care of 16 peoples lines and catches around the whole boat with ease. We ALL limited with 7 fish each. The boat had inside cabin tables and seating, outdoor seating and plenty of room to walk around the entire boat. Riding on the bow was my favorite. What a rollercoaster! Riding up the big swells then dropping down into the troughs was a blast. You hardly felt it in the back of the boat, but I liked it up front. Hot coffee was available in the cabin and a clean restroom was offered. We headed back to the harbor with a 30 minute ride. James bleed out, scrubbed and hosed all of our fish for us. At the dock was a cleaning station where for only $1 per fish you could have your catch cleaned, filleted and bagged. They even sold styrofoam coolers and ice if you needed. This one lady there could clean and fillet 14 fish in less than 5 minutes. She was amazing! Dockside Charters is easy to find, has ample parking, friendly staff in the office and on the boats and can't be beat! I've heard stories of rude charters, uncaring crew and dirty boats. You won't find that at Dockside. They are great. They have 3 or 4 boats, never overcrowd and also do salmon, deepsea and whale watching excursions. I can't wait to go back. I'M HOOKED! (BTW, we went straight to the rental house, beer battered the fish and ate the freshest, most delicious fish and chips that I've ever tasted!) read more

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I would not even give them one star. We booked a trip of 11 - they cancelled us the night before at 7:30. We should have seen it coming because they called us the day after we booked to confirm we booked a morning trip. We said - no we have to have an afternoon bottom fishing trip because we are driving down from Seaside. They called the next morning to ask if we wanted to rebook. No We booked the only day and time we could go. Our kids, in laws, and grand kids were extremely disappointed. Their excuse was the boat broke down. Sorry that does not fly here. We come from the charter business on the Gulf Coast. If you have engine problems, you do you best to find your group another boat even if it means using the competition. They made no effort to accommodate us. Do not use these guys. read more

We had a great time doing the whale watching tour! We went at the end of March and it was 100% worth it! We saw about 4 or 5 whales and the crew on the boat were very informative and made sure that we were able to see the whales! read more

We went out on the whale's tail today with captain gary and it was AMAZING! We stopped in last minute just to get some information and ended up on a boat 15 minutes later. There was only one other couple with us which was nice because it wasn't crowded at all. We saw two grey whale's shortly after leaving and they hung out around us for quite some time. It was awesome. We were able to get so close to them and watch as they came up and then went under the boat. It was seriously so cool! The captain was great too, so enthusiastic about the whale's and did his best to keep up with them for us. When we got back in I just wanted to stay in the boat and go again! Definitely worth the extra $7 a person to take the zodiac instead of the bigger boat! read more

Dockside Charters - Boating Near Me - Depoe Bay, Oregon

This is good old fashioned customer service at its best. Many options for fishing trips and we chose the half day bottom fish trip on the Endeavor, a 50ft boat. We had a great day and limited out on crab but bottom fishing was just ok. Seems to me that these close in trips are at fishing holes that have been over fished for too long. Most of the fish were kind of small. I'd recommend a full day trip to the further out holes where I'm guessing you would have a better chance at halibut or full grown ling cod. The skipper and deckhand were friendly, knowledgable and very helpful. Would definitely go back. read more

On a windy choppy day we headed out on the Dockside Charters boat for whale watching. It was so fun and even though the waves were enormous and the boat was rocking side to side we were not disappointed. The captain was set on finding whales and did not want to give up until we found one and low and behold a huge grey whale emerged near Cape Foul Weather. Beautiful and magnificent! The crew were friendly and knowledgeable and made the experience fun for everyone. There were lots of families on board the boat and we all enjoyed each others company. Dockside Charters is a family friendly charter boat and i highly recommend them. Maryjane read more

Fantastic experience! Capt tyler and his crew on Tacklebuster were awesome and made the experience unforgettable. I didnt know that you can and are suppose to tip! So don't forget to tip the crew they work hard to make the experience incredible! 10/10 would recommend to a friend 10/10 would do it again read more

We had such a great time and saw 2 whales on our trip. We took the hour long excursion which lasted for more like 1 1/2 hours and allowed us plenty of time to enjoy the bay and boating. My friend got seasick towards the end of the trip and the first mate on the boat was very helpful and would constantly check to see how she was doing. Overall, we had a great time. read more

Dockside Charters - The docks - Boating Near Me - Depoe Bay, Oregon

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