Silver Springs State Park Glass Bottom Boat Tours — Attraction in Ocala

I normally only write 5 star reviews, however, this won't be overlooked for the good of all future customers. I don't want you to be let down, like we were. Our reserved extended boat tour (90 min) was cancelled 1 hour and 10 minutes prior to boat departure time at 11 AM/Sunday/19 Jan 2025. The employees were nice and refunded us our money quickly at the ticket booth, however, the problem is the Cancellation Notification Procedure. Before booking, be aware of their Wind/Inclement Weather Cancellation policy and their procedure of communicating cancellations is via EMAIL. They had our phone number, but, chose email. We drove 3 hours to get to Ocala, booked a hotel for 2 nights, all primarily for our reserved glass bottom boat tour that we looked forward to. You would think in the year 2025 they could have Texted/Called us to confirm that we were notified of the cancellation, but they chose to email an hour and 10 minutes prior to boat departure. Very Frustrating when you finally get a chance to take a trip when the kids are out of school. After talking with one of the very nice boat captains, the boats cannot make turns in winds, even when the winds are LIGHT. It was raining/storming that day, but, the wind wasn't bad. So, our suggestion for other customers is to have a BACKUP plan, something to do if the winds are blowing too hard for the boats and this event is cancelled. For the policy makers, use Group Text or Make an Automated Call (just like schools do for parent notifications) with individual replies so customers confirm they have been notified of the cancellation. This prevents customers from the shocker at the ticket booth and prevents customers from going to the park altogether, decreasing stress on your ticket booth employees. Another possible solution .....install More Powerful Boat Engines; you all are losing a lot of revenue because the boat engines you have cannot push the boats in light winds. Maybe there is another solution, maybe smaller boats? Less weight/people onboard? There has to be a better solution, because people are not going to return just to get let down twice. Lastly, if people who have booked a boat tour find out it's cancelled at the ticket booth, you'd think the policy could be "since your trip was cancelled, you can walk around the park for free today". No, the policy makers still want an entrance fee to go walk around the boats, springs, etc. So that is something that needs to be addressed by the policy makers. Lastly, this review has ZERO to do with boat captains or ticket booth employees, they were all professional and helpful, this is only about POLICIES that need to be improved. People travel long distances and spend a lot of money on hotels, gas, flights, food, take time off work, etc, to come to the Silver Springs glass bottom boat tour. Treat Others as You Would Like...

We visited Silver Springs for the first time in the end of October, 2024. Although there is a good amount of things to do there, we mainly wanted to take a ride in the glass bottom boat. We will be returning to spend more time in the park itself. But today, it was limited on time. We booked our boat tour time on line, and checked in at the entrance hut. Although the boat tour was already paid for, we still needed to pay the $2 per person park entrance fee. It wasn’t a big deal since we needed to check in for our ticket anyway. Silver Springs itself is a beautiful park. I was surprised just how many of the glass bottom boats they had at their disposal. They are electric boats which probably have limited battery life and may need time to recharge. So having a very small fleet probably allows more tours than just a couple of boats. With the electric motors, the tour was quieter than gas powered motors probably would have been. Plus there is less chances pollution that are possible with fuel. Not that batteries cannot cause hazards. Anyway, we had limited time, so we opted for a 30 minute tour instead of the other options. Our boat was basically full. Our captain was named Luke if I recall correctly. Captain Luke said he was a retire fisherman now in Florida after many years fishing out of Dutch Harbor Alaska (which is in the Aleutian islands of Alaska) He was pleasant and made our tour decent. He explained what he was showing you and of course, where to look. Although typical to our story, we didn’t have any alligators make an appearence . The tour was enjoyable and I would like to return for the longer tour in the future. We were on the later part of our tour when one person on our boat had a medical emergency. The Captain immediately headed for the dock and radioed in to have help standing by. There was a little confusion of whether someone on the boat was supposed to call 911, or if the staff would handle it. But, either way, EMT’s arrived and the person was attended to. They seemed to be much better the last we saw. Although the first folks to debark the boat had already left. Captain Luke took us back out to finish the last part of our tour. Although I don’t think anyone left on the boat truly expected, or would have demanded it. Finishing the tour was nice and made the boat tour company and the Captain show their professionalism. So although our tour was only a half hour. It did wind up being a little longer and we experienced more than the normal tour. We debarked the boat all enjoying our little tour. We spent a few minutes just taking in the views and such. Then of course we had to stop in the gift shop on the way out. :) There were food and such available besides the gift shop. Although we did not eat there to comment. As I said, we will return and spend more time at Silver Springs. It really was...

If you’re looking for a peaceful, respectful experience on the glass bottom boat tour at Silver Springs State Park, avoid Captain Mark at all costs. What should have been a serene trip turned into an incredibly uncomfortable ordeal due to his shockingly rude and unprofessional behavior.

As we drifted through the springs, we were privileged to witness a beautiful, intimate wedding ceremony taking place by the water. But instead of respectfully quieting down, Captain Mark cranked up his microphone and loudly interrupted the ceremony—right in the middle of the bride and groom’s vows. It was jaw-dropping, to say the least. The couple looked horrified, and everyone on the boat was visibly mortified by this blatant lack of respect.

Captain Mark seemed utterly oblivious to his surroundings, or worse, he just didn’t care. His actions were the epitome of disrespect and insensitivity. It’s beyond me how anyone entrusted with representing the beauty and tranquility of Silver Springs could act with such thoughtlessness.

Save yourself the frustration and avoid any tour with Captain Mark and the Silver Springs tour company. He seems more interested in hearing his own voice than in giving guests the peaceful, respectful experience they deserve. Silver Springs management should seriously consider rethinking their hiring practices if they want visitors to leave with positive memories, rather...