Captain Derek's Dolphin Adventure — Attraction in Tybee Island

Upon recommendations, we chose Captain Derek’s Dolphin Adventure. Easy online booking and clear instructions on how to find the location and parking were provided with the confirmation email. The check-in procedure was smooth as could be and the operation seems to be a well-oiled machine.

Once we were aboard, we were introduced to the captain and his first mate, Emmy (the captain’s name escapes me, but it was 6/23 @ 9:30am). Both were a pleasure and helped an otherwise quiet and lethargic boat full of passengers get energized and enthusiastic. As we embarked towards the shrimp boats (where I learned dolphins like to gather), Emmy keep the conversation going with chatter and random facts about dolphins and the Tybee Island area. My wife and I were particularly impressed by her knack to interact with the children as well. Her ability to bring a smile and some much needed confidence to the face of an obviously nervous child was cool to see.

We saw a ton of dolphin, perhaps fifty, along with some “babies” which was cool.

The captain was able to navigate and turn the boat in such a way that that everyone on all sides of the boat were able to get an unobstructed view. A+ navigation!

You will be amazed how quick an hour and a half goes by. What an enjoyable ride though! If we had more time, we would have probably come back and done the tour again at sunset. Maybe next time.

Overall, this is a terrific value for the...

What a treat. Captain Gator was mostly quiet once the initial safety stuff was done except for the occasional additional bit of knowledge. He was an amazing boat captain. He had unbelievable control of that boat and made it seem effortless. Miss Emmy? was entertaining, informative, and incredibly knowledgeable. We ended up interacting with two pods of wild dolphins totaling more than a dozen individuals. There were at least two mothers with their calves in tow. The calves were so curious, sticking their heads up out of the water to watch us. The captain kept the boat circling safely so everyone on the boat got to see everything but kept it gentle enough that the dolphins were unbothered by it. At the very end of the tour he teamed up with the captain of a sister boat and they did a wake run to see if any of the dolphins would be interested in wake jumping/riding. There were five or six that seemed to think it great fun and proceeded to put on a heck of a show. A couple even followed us all the way back in to the doc. I think they wanted to play some more.

Words can't really do the experience justice. The fact that these were not captive or trained dolphins and were interacting of their own accord made it all the better. If you at all into this sort of thing you owe it to yourself to give it a go....

i've gone in the distant past and remember it being really cold with the wind and definitely some motion sickness when the boat isn't moving and sloshing around. we prepared better this time and took motion sickness pills and that worked fantastic. the trip was somewhat different than i remember, i think a smaller boat this time with fewer seating. it was a light rainy day and that probably affected the experience some. groups tried to huddle around the waiting area by the beer fridge with the profanity magnet (around kids?) but the lady told us to go wait back out in the rain for some reason. apparently we were crowding her. i don't know if she was tone def to the circumstances or what. the boat had a make shift tarp roof and i sat at a seam where water dripping in and right on me and also there were a lot of diesel exhaust smells that i didn't recall on a prior trip. anyways, the dolphins were plentiful and fleeting, i'm sure everyone saw enough to be satisfied. sort of a game of whack a mole where if you look away, they show up and were gone less than a second later. i would suggest to book ahead online because they do sell out and go on a warm, completely sunny day or you will leave damp and...