Kelley Deep Sea Fishing — Local services in Surfside

THIS IS A SHAM .... DO NOT PASS GO DO NOT BOOK THIS ...

DO NOT GO ON THIS ATROCIOUS EXPERIENCE

ITS AN ABSOLETE DISGRACE

DO NOT STEP ON THEIR SHAMBLES OF A FISHING TEIP

.........We flew half way round the world to experience Miami and the caribbean

I really wanted to take my wife , daughter and son on a deep see fishing boat experience ..

Unfortunately I picked up a Kelleys Fishing Fleet leaflet from a place in South Beach

This is the worst holiday trip I have ever been on .... it was a complete , messy , disorganised , unhealthy unprofessional shambles of a trip

Firstly the extremely rude , ill mannered uncaring woman who sits in the kiosk where you confirm your booking charges you $4 for 2 litres of water ... the most expensive we paid in Miami

On the website it says snacks and drinks are available on the boat ... NO THEY ARE NOT ...

We were shown rods and a dirty place to leave our bags

We were then ignored for the next 3 and 3/4 hours

WE WERE NOT SHOWN ANY SAFETY ( in the event of ) PROCEDURES

There was no head count The very young children were not made to wear life jackets

WE WERE NOT TOLD OR SHOWN WHERE LIFE JACKETS WERE

THE GRUMPY - lAZY STAFF DID NOTHING TO HELP 12 PEOPLE WITH BAD SEA SICKNESS

We were not warned about sea sickness

Considering over half the people on the boat were actually sick .. no one that was sick was approached , no one was looked after by a member of staff NO one was offered water NO one was offered empathy NO one was offered tissues NO one was offered advice on what to do about the sea sickness NO one was even acknowledged that was clearly ill

Now ... what we spent almost $200 on Oh yeah FISHING

There were 21 people fishing !! Most of us were squeezed along one side of the boat

HOWEVER the 2 only ( and one very young looking guy with s kellys T shirt friends and clearly obvious regular fishing friends were all fishing at the back of the boat

The staff had their own rods out there

Whilst the 2 staff members, were exchanging hunting and fishing stories for the whole trip , whilst the rest of us WHERE LEFT TO TRY AND CATCH FISH ON OUR OWN AS COMPLETE NOVICES

An experienced fisherman caught , we were later told was a nursery Shark.

The staff members only had one shabby looking Gaf The bent pole had , what looked like a curtain tie back hook stuck on the end of it

The staff members failed to land the shark I as devastated as they then just cut the line with the large hook and what looked like a spinning lure still stuck on the front of the sharks mouth

I WILL BE SENDING A COPY OF THIS TO THE COAST GUARD AND FLORIDA FISHING AUTHORITIES

SO after half the people of the boat 13 were no suffering really badly with sea sickness the rest of us were left to fish on our own.

No one offered to change our bait ( I had to ask ) There were tangles with lines with so many people trying to fish within inches of each other

Us novices were continuously ignored

No one came up to us to ask if we were ok or wether we needed anything to help with the fishing

The toilets were disgusting One was blocked for the whole trip

We all had to watch the 2 only staff members and there fishing friends continually catch big fish using a variety of different baits , different lures and different tackle

We were told by the Kelly members of staff to Allow the line to drop for 30-40 seconds We were then told by an experienced fisherman on the trip to allow 1-2 minutes !!

So to summarise

There was not enough staff per person which I would think is probably illegal The 2 staff were only interested in THEIR own fishing and their friends fishing. There was NO MENTION of health and safety There was no being told where ( in case of emergency ) what to do There was no mention of life jackets There was no empathy , water or tissues etc offered to sea sick customers There was no bait changing There was no advice given There was no interest shown in the paying guests

All in all this was a shockingly bad experience to have...

This was the most disappointing headboat experience I’ve experience to date and I’ve been on a bunch. The boat was late leaving the dock by over 15 minutes then ran at no wake speed the whole way out to the fishless area the captain continued to drift over all morning long. Seemed like we spent more time with the motors running than we had line time on this day. Calvin was the highlight of the experience and would love to fish a boat he’s working any day. Unfortunately my son and I came home empty handed fishing off the coast of Miami in late April. First time getting skunked on a headboat In my life. Still shaking our heads in disbelief!! To top it all off... they didn’t honor their advertised online booking discount and then learned once arriving to the dock with reservations and our own equipment that we also overpaid for our trip by booking online, as window walk ups receive a nice price break if you bring your own stuff. They were unwilling and claimed unable to offer any money back. Fishing is supposed to fun and this experience fell all the way short!

Eric P. & Son NC

In response to the owners comments: After being invited to review our experience via email we took the time to read prior reviews which we wished we had done before booking with your operation. It was apparently clear through the numerous responses to other not so favorable comments that you would take the low road in response to our review. As predictable as the sunrise! I again can’t compliment Calvin enoughon for his contributions to our otherwise disappointing trip. But to refuse any owed refunds on overpayments at the dock, but then hide behind a less than adequate refund after we posted our review is just plain classless. We purchased eight additional rigs during our boarding and was given one at no charge. We were thankful, but really... I didn’t even mention in my previous remarks that we paid four full admissions as a family and only two anglers that fished as intended. My son and I are seasoned, salty anglers and fully understand and respect the sport. However I will suggest to a anyone who takes the time to read this far to avoid this pathetic excuse of company as respect is something the will never receive from us. You should be absolutely ashamed of the way you conduct your follow-up business.

Eric P. & family

You want to keep this dialog going on this forum after I’ve had private conversation with Daniel and seem to have come to an understanding to put this behind us. Bring it on! This has everything to do with how you conduct business and your follow-up, which you should have nothing to do with as you take everything so personal. I would never have left a review for not catching as you say everything I’ve ever dreamed of. You seem to continually miiss that point. Why did the boat leave more than 15min late from the dock? Any discovery from your investigation there? Anything turn-up as to why the captain drove at no wake speed for miles going out in calm conditions? You start addressing the real complaints and perhaps this would get somewhere on this forum. Keep coming at me like you have and I’ll spread this information everywhere and we’ll see what it cost you then! My suggestion: Leave it alone...

Where to begin. $43 bought me a ticket on the Atlantis on Thursday, August 14th. The only person giving glaring reviews before the boat launched turns out to be a friend of Captain Jaime, our vessels captain, along with First Mate Chris. So we were supposed to leave at 1:45, but ended up waiting for a last couple to show, so we didn't leave until closer to 2. The captain's friend was fishing off the back of the boat with his own two rods and caught a mackerel before we even made it to the first fishing spot. Once we got to the first spot, we sat for 20 minutes before we were told the fish were too small and were stripping the bait. Sure enough, pulled in an empty triple hook setup they were using (three hooks to each other in a straight line). So we move on to another spot and are told to let the lines drop. All 15 of us on the same side of the boat, while the captain's friend fishes along with the captain and the first mate at the back of the boat. Another blank, so we move on to another spot. People were dragging bottom, snagging up, myself included. The line broke. Another customer had his line run out before it broke, only to be told it was a 400lb nurse shark. The woman next to me pulled up a seven inch cluster of coral. Meanwhile, the captains friend, who I am fairly confident did not pay like the rest of us, did catch four fish. A mackerel, a king fish, a remora (inedible), and some fish I can't remember. The rest of us paying customer caught nothing. Now. There was a whole cooler at the back of the boat full of snapper. Any self respecting businessman would say, "Hey, sorry about that folks, but here, have some fish for your $43". Instead, we were told that the first mate works for tips and be sure to take care of him. Talk about salt in a wound. Here is a tip. Don't run people out to grounds you know are no good and let your friend get the good spot, the good lures and bait that actually works (squid, vs the ballyhoo which caught nothing) while paying customer get the shaft. So despite the late launch and the lackluster fishing, the boat sure made it back to the marina on time, if not a bit early. This is, in my mind, a serious scam and you will save money buying fish from Casablanca Fish Market or you might actually catch something fishing from shore. Shame. I was looking forward to...