we took the two hour tour that included going through the canal. What an excellent experience. The narration was good. The guide was on the lookout for wildlife. We saw a golden eagle, many great white herons and blue herons, a family of turtles sunbathing on a log. many others. Our untrained eyes would not have been able to see many of these so we were pleased that the guide had such a good eye. read more

Had a great time on our 30 minute tour of Lake Dora. The captain was informative and entertaining. We learned a lot about the lake in that short amount of time.. can't wait to do it again read more

Rusty Anchor Mount Dora - Real lighthouse - Boat Tours Near Me - Mount Dora, Florida

If you are looking tor a fun few hours around the Mount Dora lakes, check this co. out. Entertaining captain and crew provides informative information from Lake Dora through the canal to Lake Eustis. Very kid friendly and we saw lots of wildlife. We'll be bringing more guest next time. Good value. read more

Captain Bob was a great! He gave us a beautiful sunset cruise. We learned a lot about the area. We will do the dinner cruise next time.

We chose the sunset dinner cruise. There was only one other couple so we got the small boat, which only has a small Bimini top over part of the boat. Luckily I slathered on some sun screen and wore a hat. We went across the lake to O'Keefe's for dinner and we sat at a table with the other couple that was on the boat. Very nice people. O'Keefe's was very slow in serving us so we got back to the boat barely in time to see the sunset. Our pilot, Michael, was super friendly and informative, and went out of his way to make our trip a good one. Because of the lateness of the hour (after sunset) and because we were on the other side of the lake (in Tavares), it was a fast, windy and cold ride back in the dark. I was not happy about that. I thought the cruise would be a more relaxing time on the boat. However, not to be a complainer, overall we enjoyed the experience and e joyed Mt. Dora. read more

The boat trip was awesome! The captain knew the area well and shared a lot of information!

Booked this last minute - we were surprised there were spots left. Good pricing and it was over an hour experience. Our guide was knowledgeable and we will be taking visitors from outside the state to show off Mt. Dora. Nice little find. Thank you. read more

We originally bought a Groupon for the 1 hour shoreline tour, but not enough people reserved (4) to take the boat out. We decided to refund the Groupon and buy the 2-hour canal tour and I'm SO GLAD we did! It was a wonderful trip! The lake and canal were beautiful, we saw so much wildlife (including a bald eagle in her nest!), and learned quite a bit. Our captain was very funny and knowledgeable and everyone involved was so nice and accommodating. I will definitely take any future out-of-town visitors, and maybe go for the sunset tour on a date night with my husband! read more

We totally enjoyed our two hour boat tour with Captain David and first meet Melissa. Their color commentary of the lake the canal and the local flora and fauna was spectacular. We enjoyed our trip so much that we will make a repeat visit. Highly recommend! read more

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There is NO mask required by this Company!! All guides without mAsks!! Nos distance on the boats!!! What a mess!!! Zero protection for COVID-19 read more

Don't expect too much from this arrogant, petty group. We had to reschedule due to COVID-19 sickness in March. We asked them if they wanted us to ride with the passengers after we discovered one of us was potentially positive with COVID, or if they would reschedule. At first they said no, we would lose our money. I even told them I would forfeit the money vs. exposing someone on the boat. After talking with the owner they reconsidered and assured us we could reschedule and I was very impressed they would work with us. Now, when we called to reschedule along with 4 new paid guests in September, the "dockmaster" is too proud or forgetful to remember what her email meant confirming we should contact her when we needed to reschedule. As a local for over 20 years I will be sure to never recommend them again. We would recommend Premier Boat Tours instead. Not even the natural beauty of a Mount Dora lakeview sunset with a cool breeze and the lowest humidity would entice me to choose this company again. If you are looking at this tour, pray you don't have any emergencies last minute.....they don't play well with others and they definitely don't keep their word. My impression is that they would have preferred a potentially positive COVID-19 patient expose their passengers than provide a $25.00 credit. Enjoy your $25.00, signed a Disappointed guest. P.S. Groupon credited the redeemed coupon you claimed when we tried to reschedule (in spite of you being notified about COVID person boarding your boat). I also asked them to refund my other groupon with your tour because there is no way out of principal we will ever use your tour again. Buyers beware!!! read more

Great summer boat ride. Crew was informative and funny! Beautiful canal! We did the two hour and it was just perfect. read more

We took a sunset tour on Lake Dora and it was as peaceful as the website suggests.....very calm, very relaxing. Captain Bob was very informative and polite, telling us all about what we saw, but also knew when to just let us soak up the serenity and quiet. A very solid and experienced Captain who exudes experience and maturity...cant say enouph good things about him and the whole experience. read more

We did a 2-hour tour of Mount Dora. The ride was beautiful ride and Ted, our Captain, was extremely knowledgeable about the area and earnestly interested in providing relevant information as well as answers to our questions. I highly recommend this company and tour - as well as Ted! read more

Thanks for a lovely afternoon! We enjoyed learning about the wildlife and relaxing on the peaceful and nature filled canal ride. We will be back for another cruise very soon. read more

Just finished with a Sunday sunset tour. Beautiful sunset on the mount Dora lake. It became a little chilly and they had freshly cleaned blankets for guest to use. Very friendly tour guides.Lots of gator sightings and bald eagles! Deff worth the $20 read more

What a nice impromptu day! We had no idea when we walked to the waterfront that we'd be enjoying a ride on Rusty Anchor along with a great narration of what we were seeing! Loved it! Highly recommend. read more

We booked a boat tour with Groupon for 2 people. When we called to book, they were already rude to us, saying that they could only go out if there were 4 people for the tour, but they couldn't tell us when there would be another couple available. So we drove 45 minutes, and then the ticket woman was texting on her cell phone and completely ignored us. They then told us that there were no other people, so they couldn't take us. We asked if we could go on another boat (a 2-hour tour vs. the 1-hour tour we had paid for) and just pay the difference (an additional $28). The owner came out and said he only got $10 from Groupon and therefore wasn't going to accommodate us unless we paid the full price. We ended up having Groupon refund our money and taking a boat cruise with a lovely and very accommodating tour company instead. read more

This was our 4th boat tour with Rusty Anchor and highly recommend this company. The captain is extremely knowledgable about all the lakes in the region so you get a bit of an historical perspective as well as an enjoyable tour. read more

This was a wonderful experience and one of the highlights of my trip. I definitely recommend!

we had a large group and filled all the boats! the staff was awesome! beautiful night on the water

Great tour & Dog Friendly. Very Pleased.

I had previously been on the same 2 hour mount dora canal tour with another company and this tour paled in comparison. There was only 1 person both driving the boat and giving information. He spoke very little (despite a microphone) and gave very little information. In addition, he never lowered the plastic so it was extremely windy when we were going more than idle speed. So it was basically a boat ride. Choose another company. I gave 2 stars instead of one because at least it was a safe ride. read more

Took my girlfriend and her 11 year old son on a great trip (2 hours) with Rusty Anchor. The captain was very knowledgeable and entertaining. the price was extremely affordable. The only reason this is a four and not a five star review was the girl selling tickets. Typical millennial on her phone at a table didn't greet us as we walked down the dock, just kept playing on her phone. I had to ask her if she worked there, where do I buy tickets,length of tour and so on. It was like pulling teeth to get her to answer, still never looking at me as she answered questions, staring intently at the phone. So we bought the tickets and I asked her when we should return...hello, when should we return to board...hello when should we return to board? the forth time I actually walked up and put my hands on the table and asked again sternly .."Oh, yeah that time should be fine" she said . I said "I didn't say a time, I asked when should we return to board"..."oh 1:45 IS GOOD" she said. Wow...we almost were just going to ask for our money back,but in the end we are glad we didn't because it was a great trip...TIP to owner ..have ticket girl work at Chic Fil A to learn some customer service skills. The trip was wonderful especially the canals. highly recommend read more

They took us out on the tour even though we only had us and one other couple (4 total). We did the canal tour and it was awesome. We live in Florida and we thought this was real Florida. Really cool. We saw lots of alligators and other wildlife. read more

Excellent captain & cruise after a nice dinner downtown. Within walking distance of all the restaurants.

Tour was awesome, old Florida! The captain was entertaining, knowledgeable and funny. Our whole family enjoyed!

Lovely two hour tour of the boathouses in mt Dora and the Dora canal. Saw gator, 4 bald eagles, snowy/white/green and blue egrets, turtles, ibis, and wood storks. Captain and crew were very helpful getting my mom and her wheelchair in the boat. Fantastic day. read more

This was definitely worth the $50. Kids under five ride for free so that was great. The captain was super informative and we learned so much during the boat ride. Even if you aren't a "nature person", the boat ride was very relaxing. When we went through the canal, it felt like we were hundreds of miles away from civilization. read more

I went on the tour with Rusty Anchor Mount Dora a few months ago. Not only was the Boat Captain GREAT "Scott" he showed us wild life I have NEVER seen before in my 54 years of life! VERY PROFESSIONAL! I would recommend this tour to ALL! Thank you again for a GREAT time you showed myself and my friends Gina read more

We had a most enjoyable boat tour. Our guides were great and our captain was very adept at piloting the boat through the Dora Canal, which was very busy with lots of other boaters. I would recommend taking this tour to see a piece of natural Florida. read more

This was an amazing experience. The Captain and guide were funny, extremely knowledgeable, and devoted time to each of the passengers. The scenery was exquisite. We have lived in Florida for 30+ years and toured a lot of the state, but this gave us the best taste of true, natural Florida. We will try to come back in the late fall to see how it changes with the cooler weather. I encourage everyone to try this tour. You will not regret it and will cherish the memory. read more

I will have a dilemma writing this review but I drove a long way and was very disappointed over what happened. Mount Dora is a delightul antiquing, New England style town located on Lake Dora. The downtown area is a gem! The town is beautiful and a definite must see. One of the attractions in the town is the Canal Tour. I guess one part of the lake has a hooded tree lined, canal that is labeled the most beautiful water way mile in the entire world. Ok, with a tag line like that ya gotta at least check it out, right ? Besides, they filmed the African Queen there so I was definitely in. When I got to town it was early so I had time to kill. I went to the, " 5 Yelp stars from me," Windsor Tea Room and shopped around in all the many glorious shops. I received a call mid morning saying my tour was cancelled. By the time I listened to the call it was too late to book with the competitor. I missed the boat ( literally and figuritively I suppose-lol) by 20 minutes.The other company was cheaper and I hear a better tour too- Wahhhhh! Oh well. I was very upset since I was really looking forward to the tour and the bridge was closing the next weekday for rennovations. The person who answered the phone said the captain was walking around town trying to drum up business but since it is off season don't hold my breath.( Ok she did not use those exact words-lol) She did tell me she did not know if the boat would get to go out. I guess what happened is that a party of three cancelled. The boat can not go out with under 6 people. Not sure why since I have been on scuba excusions with just two or three people. The lady told me to walk over and see if the boat was leaving or not. I walked the block over and waited on the dock. I kept an alligator company. lol. Ok, so here lies my dilemma. I know things happen at times so I hate to write a bad review. StilI, I think people should know this can happen. I also think they could have handled it a bit differently. Why does the boat need six people? Why did they not tell me this was a possibility over the phone before I made the long drive? ( I booked the day before), Why was I not offered a free or at least discounted return trip voucher? They did offer to book me on their next day 10am tour at full price. However, AAA advertised this company as a "Day Trip" gem. I was not staying the night in town. I am still sorely dissapointed that I missed the tour. With the price of gas these days I was not pleased that I drove all that way. On the positive side the captain did try to get more business which shows huge motivation. He was very nice and truly sorry. Also, I had the most lovely conversation with the young man who works there as a helper. He just graduated high school. What a superb sounding young man who seems to truly care about the place and his future. ("Teacher ME" says, " Yeah!" ) Thank God the town is sweet to visit so the entire day was not a waste. read more

Great sunset cruise!! Beautiful sunset over the lake. Thanks for a great trip Captain Scott!!

Tour was very pretty and I would say worth the Groupon price of $64.00 for 4 people. Tour guide was very rude to our party and nice to other guests. Nobody in our party felt welcome and we all left upset at how we were treated. There are other tours that go this route, I'd shop around more before finalizing with Rusty Anchor. read more

Took a sunset cruise with a large group recently and we had an awesome trip! The boat was comfortable, and we were free to get up and walk around for better views of the passing scenery. You will see so many interesting places like the nature trails, Mount Dora lighthouse, the town skyline, backyards of waterfront mansions, and of course the sunset over the lake (great photo opportunities all around). The crew were both polite and knowledgeable. read more

Had a great time. Tour guide very knowledgeable and polite.

This tour was a Must Do when visiting the area. It's only a couple hours long on the water (Just right for Florida heat) and takes you through one of the most beautiful canals in FL. Strongly suggest for all nature and scenic view lovers! read more

The setting is gorgeous but it's the narrative and service that added so much to my memories. Nature and wildlife, setting, boating ... what a great experience! I highly recommend others take a cruise, and if you happen to be there during the holidays be sure to take in a holiday lights cruise. read more

A wonderful trip on the water. Owned and operated by a native resident, this is a perfect lazy trip through some of the best scenery in metro Orlando, accessible only by water. read more