Banana Bay Tour Company — Local services in Cape Coral

Update 4/21/24: After reading the response from Management, I booked an Ecological Dolphin 🐬 tour for 11am-3pm for yesterday, April 20, 2024.

The best person to talk to about accommodations for a tour is the captain of the boat.  I was fortunate to book a tour with Captain J.R. and Don.  Captain J.R. is an advocate of access and an ally of individuals who need accommodations to participate fully in the tour.

I met with the captain to create our access accommodation plan.

Captain used the Google Live Transcribe app on his phone and I skimmed the information to see what was said.

If your access needs and preferences differ from mine that is alright.  Let the captain know what your needs are and work with the captain to come up with a plan that meets your needs.

We saw up to 7 dolphins swimming together.  I was excited to see a mother manatee and her calf swim alongside the boat and we saw a huge pelican. There was an osprey nest on top of one of the poles with young birds in it.

Captain J.R. and Don provide much needed education on the marine life in the area and answer questions from guests. Captain J.R. emphasizes the importance of estuaries and the red mangrove tree to the ecosystem. He does a demonstration with the support of young guests of dolphins' echolocation.

I appreciate the timely response from Management My experience when I interacted with an employee in the office left me upset and angry about the lack of accommodations and knowledge about ADA. Once I received the response from Management and I could talk to the captain directly I was okay. I am revising my star rating to reflect the effort that the Management, Captain J.R. and Don made to ensure that I could have an enjoyable experience.

Thank you.

Original:

I stopped in to find out about tours and asked about the accessibility for me as a Deaf individual. I was informed that they are not ADA compliant for Deaf and Hard of Hearing individuals. I was then told that the docks are not accessible for mobility disabilities and that Europeans who go on the tours don't necessarily know English. Decide what your own opinion is of this and other businesses that provide tours and do nothing to accommodate the access needs of Deaf and Hard of Hearing Americans. I asked why the employee was bringing up the fact that the dock is not accessible for mobility/wheelchairs and Europeans who don't know English when my concern is specifically "what accommodations does this business provide to Deaf and Hard of Hearing patrons who need access to the narration of the tour?". The answer is "We do not follow the Americans with Disabilities Act and we do not provide access for Americans who are Deaf and Hard of Hearing.". We could add, "We only cater to sighted, hearing, and mobile individuals." It has been over 30 years since the ADA went into effect. Whether a company must follow it or not, because there are all kinds of loopholes, a company can choose to follow the ADA. This company is one that has chosen not to follow the ADA. I know I'm not paying full price without full access. The Deaf and Hard of Hearing individuals who would like to tour with the Banana Bay Tour Company need to advocate for themselves and make their access needs known when booking a cruise and when writing a review. That is the way change happens. If we don't let businesses such as this know that they are neglecting the access accommodations of Deaf and Hard of Hearing individuals then they will continue to do so.

The best part of visiting here should have been the adorable Corgi. I just didn't have the time to enjoy the dog when I was advocating for my needs then getting push-back/resistance for educating the staff member since she didn't understand the difference between mobility disabilities and Deaf and Hard of Hearing and the difference between a hearing European who doesn't know English but can still access the oral language versus a Deaf/HH American who knows English and does not have full access it...

Do not waste your time or money going on any cruises provided by this company. I went on the 11am Dolphin Ecological Cruise yesterday (1/5/19) and what a disappointment. We were there 20mins early to make sure we didn't miss the boat but Robert and the captain decided to inconvenience all of us by waiting for another group that was late because they decided to get Subway on the way to the boat instead of paying the extra $10 for a supplied lunch. So we left at 11:15 instead of 11am.

I went with a group of friends and we were told that if you don't see any dolphins you will get a voucher for another cruise to make up for it, well don't believe it, there were no dolphins anywhere yesterday and the captain kept stopping at usual areas where they see dolphins and staying there for 10mins in hopes we'd see something so they wouldn't have to comp another cruise. Towards the end the first mate said he saw a dolphin but only 2 other people of the 20+ on the boat saw it, I know I didn't see it and a passenger asked about the make up pass and the first mate, Robert said, "we saw one so that counts, sorry buddy sometimes that happens" and laughed! What a joke!

I just moved here and my friends were visiting from Chicago so I thought this would be fun and something I can plan to take other visitors on but I won't make that mistake again. The other annoying thing was this was supposed to be educational and even though it was, the info that Robert gave us was doom and gloom. He started by saying how beautiful the waters used to be in the cape, crystal blue, you could see through to the bottom, but then people made man made channels that ruined the eco system and created the ugly murky brown fresh water that's there today. He also said how man moved an entire island just so we could build a bridge and ruined that eco system. I don't remember one positive thing about his talking points and it was actually pretty depressing!

Save your mine and your time, the tour was $56, I had a $2.50 off coupon and it still ended up being over...

My wife and I just took our 4th tour with this company, and as in the past, it was a great tour. Captain J.R. and Anya love what they're doing, and make it a fun tour, especially for the children. Each one of the children gets a chance to drive the boat during the tour. Captain J.R. makes a special effort to talk with each of the children on the tour, beyond letting them drive the boat.

Although tours like this can't guarantee wildlife sightings, as in all our previous trips with them, we saw multiple dolphins, some actually swimming right alongside the boat! And, to top the day off, there were 8 or 9 Pink Flamingos on one of the rookery islands in the bay! Because there weren't any dolphins until near the end of the tour, the captain extended our tour by 30 minutes, so we could spend more time with the group of dolphins swimming around us!

They are now using an assigned seating plan, so there is no need to worry about being first in line, which we feel is a good change in their program.

Give yourselves a treat, and take their...