BUYER BEWARE: This excursion looks appealing because it promises a small group and a fun, fast boat…read moreexperience. However, booking with this company comes with a real risk: if the boat isn't completely full (6 people), they may cancel your trip. We planned a special outing around this excursion for our wedding anniversary, only to have it canceled with less than 8 hours' notice. Ironically, their own policy requires customers to give at least 24 hours' notice to cancel. If you don't want your plans disrupted at the last minute, I strongly recommend booking with a more reliable company.

My husband and I took our kids and my mom on the "Up Close Dolphin and Whale Watching" and we…read moreabsolutely loved it! We had a wonderful time. It was a more intimate setting, and we basically had the entire boat to ourselves. Nate was our tour guide / driver, and he was awesome! He was very personable and sweet to our kids. We saw a school of dolphins and they were swimming right under our boat! If we hadn't seen any wildlife, we would have been happy with driving along the coastline enjoying the weather and ocean. We had an absolute blast!

Such a great experience for our first Whale Watching trip, great even with our 3 year old! Worth…read morethe cost, we were out for a bit over 3 hours. Check in process was easy, just follow the email instructions, all very clear. Bring sunscreen, a hat or sunglasses. You can bring your bags and snacks. There is plenty of space under the benches for your belongings. Lots of options for seating all around the boat, both inside and out. Also 2 restrooms available. As well as a Galley with snacks and souvenirs! I didn't realize, but they also sell photo packages of the wildlife from the trip. So you can focus on documenting your group and the good time, They'll capture the animals! :) This crew was Captain Vanessa, Naturalist Ruth, Deck crew Colleen and Sara, and Galley Oscar. They were all so helpful and accommodating. I cannot tell you how warm and inviting they all were. You could definitely tell they loved their jobs. For me...So, despite Dramamine and sea sickness bands I got really nauseous; and I think my 3 year old did too but couldn't verbalize, because she passed out about 1.5 hours into the trip-so I was just kind of sitting towards the back holding my toddler mid trip. Which is about the time when the whales appeared! (Up to that point we saw different birds, pods of dolphins and sea lions.) So these whales on our trip were on the starboard side when they appeared, but I was on the port side, kinda stuck sitting with my sleeping toddler. At one point Colleen came and asked if she could help me move to see the whales, but that was easier said than done, especially not feeling well. I let her know she was sweet but we were okay. Well as the boat tracked the whales, I guess Colleen and Sara both mentioned to the captain that we were kind of stuck in the back on the Port side and the captain ended up turning the boat towards the whales so I could see them. It was the sweetest thing and I felt so seen as a mama. :) I didn't know how a whale watching trip could go above and beyond, but they did! We did a 12:30pm tour on a Monday and there seemed to be a good crowd, but they were not at full capacity, which meant moving around was an option for those that wanted to. We will be back, this was a great choice!

Overall I come away from this whale watching group less than fully impressed…read more It had both positives and negatives. The positives of the trip were that it left on time, the price was reasonable, and that the boat was clean. However, one significant negative is the crew, both on the boat and on land. The entire crew is white (all of the owners and managers probably have not even realized this fact until this very moment). On the boat, there were three blue-eyed blondes (one male and two female), and a guy with brown hair. One land there were two brown-haired females. Every single person is white. How about hiring a person of color? There were tons of customers who were persons of color (myself being one of them), why can't you hire a minority? Your staff is a reflection of you, your biases, and your business. I would strongly encourage you to to take a company picture, then see if you can find a person of color in the picture (you could think of it as an employee game of "Where's colored Waldo?"). Even though the trip is officially called "Whale Watching", we didn't see any whales on my recent trip. Since that's not entirely in the hands of the operators, I'll give them a pass on this. We did, however, see a lot of dolphins, and many were very active. In order to possibly makeup for the trip having not seen any whales, the tour operators get VERY up close and personal with the dolphins. A bit too close, because some dolphins, including baby dolphins, were forced to swim under the boat (which had two large size propellers blasting). A number of passengers expressed concern about the safety of the dolphins with the boat being so close. Wildlife can get injured by humans getting too close. That's what we all hear about when large ships and container vessels get too close to whales and other marine life. If it got out in the media that some tour operator got too close to the wildlife and injured the wildlife (which, to be clear, did not appear to happen here), the PR crisis would be severe. It would go viral instantly online and the whole world would scream, "Don't get too close to the animals/wildlife." That's what happens at National Parks, and it's bad PR. So, here's a rundown of what could be improved regarding the animals: 1. Hire some people of color. I realize you probably terrified of us, but we're not going to steal your family members, your boat, and/or your money. We're also not going to scare you so much that you end up jumping off your own boat, Skipper! 2. Not seeing whales is not justification for getting too close to dolphins and putting their well-being at risk. Anybody, yes, anybody, with a hint of common sense would know that having infant dolphins swimming so close to 2 fully-horse powered motorized propellers is not safe. Maintain a safe distance. You did a good job by offering to rent out binoculars. Good job on that one Skipper!

My wife and I recently decided a great way to spend a holiday Saturday with our son, his wife, and…read moretheir daughter, would be to spend some time on Lake San Marcos - and what better way to do that then a gondola? After some quick research on Yelp, we made our reservations (VERY easy to do) and met everyone on said Saturday at the Black Swan dock. (side note - they want you there 20 minutes early...this does NOT mean you can check in 20 minutes early...chances are very high that the person checking you in is your gondolier, and he/she will be on the water at that moment). We had Conner (VERY traditional Italian name....cough) - and he was awesome. He shared some great details as we made our way along the shoreline, including some of the local nicknames for the houses on the water. He was VERY knowledgeable about when the lake was created, the various depths, and gave us tips on when to avoid being on the water (July 4th was high on that). We brought along our own drinks and snacks, and thoroughly enjoyed our ride. Highly recommended!

What a great experience. Drew was very good. I highly recommend this service. We did the sunset…read morecruise, and was fun for everyone. Thanks again Drew!

Chillaxing ride to Coronado Island…read more About a 15 minute pleasure taxi with great views of the downtown cityscape and a half loop around the island. Plenty of bike racks for the pedal commuters, spacious seating inside & out, but how can you not sit out on the upper deck bask in the San Diego summer? Saw dolphins cruising on the way back at no extra charge ;)

For our wedding anniversary, we decided to try the sunset dinner cruise - we both were very happy…read morethat we did, it was a truly enjoyable ~3 hours. The service level was outstanding and all team members were very welcoming and accommodating. The food - the 3 course meal was great and was not rushed (this was very much welcomed). We had opted for the cocktail package and we were glad we did (if having more than two drinks, it makes good financial sense). During the cruise they have a DJ and open a dance floor. This is a good addition - we stopped by a few times waiting for a slow dance, but unfortunately we were not able to catch one. All 'n all, a great mini romantic getaway that helps you "forget about life" for a while and focus on what is truly important! We definitely plan on a revisit in the future!

Captain Paul made a very unique first time visit to Big Bear. He had many facts about Big Bear…read moreLake. He made the trip very interesting and not boring. He made sure to connect with the guest and made sure we had a sweater/jacket for the boat ride. The value of this ride was very remarkable.

excellent boat tour with captain Paul for Big Bear lake, We will recommend our family and friends…read moreabout this boat tour..

My broworkers and I were planning a joint team outing for our teams. Most other duffy boats have a…read moremaximum of 12 people and we had a bigger team than that so we searched for a larger option and stumbled upon the Paddle Pub that fits a maximum of 16 passengers. The 90 minute Private Brew Boat ($590) which includes a captain and a deckhand, bluetooth speaker on the boat for you to play your jams, and you can bring your own brews, limited to closed canned beverages. Good times! They have a parking garage, no validation offered, but the majority of us just lyfted/ubered down for safety. Prior to the event, we were provided the waiver links to share with our team. Everyone had a change to review the waivers and sign prior. On the day of the event, they ask that everyone arrived 15 minute early, and they will be checking IDs to confirm the names of the waivers signed. We had Lily as the deckhand who was helping us for the day. After we were all checked in, we were lead into their docks and boarded the board, where we met Captain Joe. Captain Joe started off with a safety speech, and from there we were ready to party. Keep the boat fairly balanced, don't all run to one side, not too many people at the front all at once, the front is on the opposite end as the Captain. There were 10 pedaling seats and an area in the front. There was one broken pedal. This boat has a motor so the pedaling is optional but it's for funsies. One of the pedal seats were broken and not in operations. Also these bike like seats were not very comfortable. After the first hour folks got off and stood around, but they were over-it with the bike chairs. Good for groups of 12-16, but if we had a smaller group I would have prefered the standard size duffy boats. It was hard to mingle since you were essentially stuck in the seat and spread pretty far out from everyone. Still a fun time, but I just had better. Also remember to Tip. They have their venmo information up, or afterwards they send you an email asking you how your experience went, and there is an option to tip after that fact if you were unable to on the day of the event.

Terrible service! We booked this boat for 13 girls for a bachelorette party where we all traveled…read morefrom out of state. They confirmed our reservation multiple times and called us less than 24 hours before to cancel for no reason. They said they could no longer do business in Newport which seems very shady. Do not book here! Tiki boats is way more professional and we're able to accommodate us on such short notice.

Do yourself a FAVOR & BOOK THIS YACHT!!…read more We had the best experience with the Champagne Yacht! The entire crew was absolutely incredible and made the whole trip so fun, relaxing, and memorable. Brittany, the bartender, was especially amazing -- she was so hands-on, attentive, friendly, and truly went above and beyond to make sure everyone was having a great time! The captain was professional and made us feel safe and comfortable the entire trip, and deckhands Jeff & Drew were awesome as well. Everyone on the crew brought such great energy and hospitality. You can really tell they care about creating an unforgettable experience for their guests. Highly recommend Champagne Yacht for an amazing day on the water! A day I will cherish forever & wish I could relive again & again!

this is the second time i've celebrated a friend's birthday with champagne yacht. their crew is the…read morebest. they're beyond nice and attentive. when it was time to dock, the yacht was cleaned up and everything was packed for us to take home. the yacht itself was super clean and well kept. brittany was one of the crew members that remembered my friend and i from the first time we attended a friends birthday party. looking to book my own birthday with champagne yacht next year because of the service !

We had such an amazing experience. Captain Dani was waiting for us when we arrived, and we left for…read moreour excursion early. We went on the whale watching experience, and he worked to find locations where we could see both dolphins and a whale. The size of the boat was so great because you are close and can really see the marine life around you. He took time to teach us about the animals that we saw and answered all of our questions. I cannot recommend this experience enough!

My husband and I booked a 1.5 hour whale watching tour for my birthday yesterday. It was…read moreincredible! Dani was so great and informative about all the wildlife we saw which included bottlenose and common dolphins and fin whales! We saw a pair of whales breaching the water many times and then dive down for awhile but they resurfaced and we were able to watch them for several minutes. It was the best experience I could have asked for for my birthday! The weather was perfect and we just had the best time! I highly recommend using O'side Whale Watching Tours!