Olin Marler's Dolphin Cruises & Fishing Charters — Attraction in Destin

My husband and I booked a charter weeks in advance with Olin Marler’s Dolphin Cruises & Charters, when we got to Florida, the morning of our trip it was cancelled due to not meeting quota. There wasn't really clear communication on what to expect, whether we should expect a refund or if they had planned to reschedule the trip. When I asked, I was told, “There are other boats on the dock. I can cancel and refund through tripshock.” So that was kind of frustrating. They did get us in on Sunday though, the fishing experience itself was fantastic. There were two deckhands, Jack is the deckhand I’ll leave my review on and is the reason why I’m giving the experience a 4 star rating.

From the get, he an attitude. From providing rod & reel operations, bait & tackle instructions & fishing instructions to the charter attendees. During the trip, my line got caught in another persons line because the charter boat was rocking in circles. When Jack assisted the other person in getting their line up, instead of communicating to reel in, he just threw my weight into the water and unfortunately, the hotspot we were stopped on had massive amounts of seaweed so then I got snagged in the sea weed. He yelled not to jerk the pole, but nobody jerked the pole, it was the motion of the charter and the seaweed.

My husband caught a trigger fish, they pulled it up to put in our fish basket and left it there after providing clear instruction to “let them do the fish handling” and after it died in the basket, my husband took it to Jack and asked him if it needed to be on ice and he kind of snatched the fish and threw it in the Ice. He didn’t even say word to my husband. Only to be told later by the other deckhand that the fish wasn’t big enough so the fish died.

Overall. We wound up catching 8 Vermillion Snapper, and a second trigger fish. It was worth the experience and I would do it again. I would just remind the Captain that his deckhands are representative of him, people book beginner charters for a reason, and if his deckhands don’t have the patience for inexperience then they shouldn’t be working in this business. Word of mouth goes a long way, and while everyone has bad days, being condescending and arrogant isn’t acceptable and is representative of poor business operation and speak to the customer that their investment in him is invaluable.

The charter boat was...

We had the most amazing experience for my families first “true” deep sea fishing trip. I have been on several myself but my boys had only been on a very small, short trip before. Our deck hands, Jack and Will, were great!!! Very knowledgeable and attentive to fairly new fishermen and the more experienced as well. I highly recommend this fishing trip because of the semi-privacy part. There were only two families aboard which made it feel like a private trip. Captain Randy was even better!!! He showed the kids around the boat, how it works, and all the processes of fishing along the way. He made sure we caught fish that were in season the entire time! We caught several different types of fish as well.(not just the regular, everyday ones). They made sure to show everyone the different types of fish, how to bait the hooks, even the different types of hooks and lures. We had bait for days!!!!! We could’ve literally stayed out for 10 hours! It truly was the best trip I’ve had yet. Now that my boys had this experience, they’re already planning our trip for next year! We can’t wait!!! Hope you have as much fun and...

I would steer clear of this one. This felt like a scammy money grab right from the get-go with their paid parking lot. The booking info recommended showing up 45 minutes early. Well if you do that, you'll technically be parked longer than their 2 hour limit, so instead of paying the advertised $10 for parking, the scowling, bloodshot-eye parking lot warden will sternly strong-arm you into buying the all-day parking pass for $20. All-day parking pass for a short cruise? Shame on you guys. The advertised "glass bottom boat" was a gimmick. They are tiny scratched up windows at the bottom of the boat. You aren't going to see anything through them. Even the tour guides tell you at the start: you'll see more on the top decks. The tour was advertised as a Destin history and dolphin tour. The captain is talking, but absolutely nothing can be heard due to the noise, music, seagulls that they bait in with chips, and having the PA system turned way down. We were lucky to get a glimpse of a small group of dolphins that got pretty close. I would go with another...