Twin Dolphin Marina — Attraction in Bradenton

This marina was not a good fit for us. I have a Catana 50 catamaran (52' in length plus a bow pulpit, 26' wide, 80' mast, 4' draft). We were assured when making the reservation that our boat would fit. In the end, we did, but barely, and we gave the poor guy in slip A45 a heart attack (my sincere apologies to the gentleman). We only had the slip for one night, so our arrival and departure times were not negotiable. In other words, we could not wait out the wind.

The approach to this marina is difficult. It reminds me of the pac-man video game from 1982. You have to head in as if you are going straight toward the restaurant, then turn 90 degrees into a fairway. There are T dock slips on one side of you, and a large rusty corrugated metal seawall/breakwater on the other side of you. There is very little room for error. And once you're in, you're in. You're committed. We were assigned slip B14/16 and reached the marina when a small squall line was pushing through (not ideal, but out of our control). We passed the yacht in B33/34 with very little clearance on either side of us. No wonder that boat has several very large fenders out, I suspect they have been grazed before. As we tried to make the turn into the next fairway, we knew our bow pulpit was going to come dangerously close to the bow rail of the yacht in A45, so we powered down a bit to reposition and the wind pushed us right into the rusty metal seawall. We bounced off of that for several minutes causing damage to our gel coat. Why are there no old tires or something similar placed on the inside of that seawall?

Fast forward to the next morning when we had to leave. Again, the weather was not cooperating and we had more strong wind. We headed out the fairway straight toward the rusty seawall, anticipating where the wind would push us, and hoped that once we rounded the corner back into the main fairway that we could shoot straight out and exit right in front of the restaurant easier than how we came in the night before. (We did.) We couldn't wait it out. We had a check out time and many of other reviews here show how strict the marina is with those times and extra fees.

We did talk to some other marina residents on the dock during the evening we were there, and every one of them said "oh no, we don't come or go out of here unless it's perfectly calm weather!" which is very telling. We also noticed that once we were med-moored, we were sticking out into the fairway significantly more than any other boats. Our bow cleats were out beyond the large post and end of the floating dock.

Large motor yachts with bow thrusters likely don't have these problems. They also appear to be moored on F and G docks, which have wider fairways. Shorter catamarans with keels are also likely to have an easier go at it.

The pool was nice, bathrooms and showers were clean (although very little water pressure in the shower, I see that on another review as well), the restaurant and bar were wonderful, and I was very pleased with the wifi access that stayed connected and allowed me to complete some work online. I also really like the security and gates that locked and need a digital security code to be unlocked.

Unfortunately, our size was an issue, as well as the timing of our arrival and departure coinciding with a bit of weather. I don't feel that we should have been put in the slip we were given just because the math worked out on paper. I am VERY glad we did not hit another boat, and only caused fixable damage to our own. One star, will not be back. --Jennifer Macdonald S/V...

Not the best Memorial Day Weekend trip. We've been to the marina a couple of times in the past and had a decent experience. This time, the marina sent an unprompted note the day before to remind us that if we showed up before 1300, we would be charged $50. The tone of the note just struck me as off. I understand that checkin is 1300. It always had been. It's annoying that the marina has decided that trying to grab an extra $50 on top of premium holiday dockage rates is more important than good customer service. Of course, when we arrived, the slip was open and we docked without incident. From prior visits, we knew better than to expect a hand docking.

Our companion boat asked to be docked near us due to their draft, and was told the marina was full. The slip next to me, which would have accommodated our companion vessel easily, ended up being used by an outboard runabout. The marina could have easily swapped those boats, but didn't bother. My friend's boat ended up hard aground for a couple of hours each day during our stay. No need for that if the marina had bothered to help.

Some of the other guests enjoyed themselves too much in the pool area and we arrived at the pool on Sunday night to vomit in the bathroom and mess on the pool deck. Twin Dolphin seems to be attracting a more trashy element the last few times we've been.

We'll probably look for other options the next time we do a staycation or a cruising club event in the Tampa Bay area. If Twin Dolphin's premium dockage rate came with premium service, it would be different. Unfortunately, it's just not worth the level of...

We have stayed here many times in the past and always enjoyed ourselves. Previously we've always been on A dock.

On our last stay we were assigned a slip on B dock. We draw 7' and I enquired if there was sufficient depth. Assured there was we docked. On the morning of departure we woke up to find ourselves HARD aground. Not only did the office staff seem unmoved by our predicament they threatened to charge us a late check out (we were physically unable to move).

This past holiday weekend several friends wanted to go, so we booked again. Both of their boats (who draw 5 and 6 feet) were assigned A dock. I was assigned C. When I asked I was told they were entirely full and it was not possible to move. On the morning of arrival we received a curt message that if we dared show up before 1300 check in we would be charged a $50 fee. We knew the check in time, this wasn't a welcoming start. Also the morning of we were moved to B dock. Both nights of our stay there were empty slips on A dock right next to our friends, and both nights we found ourselves hard aground.

The staff and the amenities just aren't worth the premium pricing. They generally have excellent clean bathrooms and that was still the case, except for the pool house men's room which was covered in vomit.

We've never once been met at the dock for help docking and we just don't receive the service expected at this top end pricing.

We will be going elsewhere...