Nearly every dolphin boat on this side of the harbor leaves from the same marina at 25 Causeway Blvd, at the beach end of the Memorial Causeway, so where you board barely matters and which boat you pick matters a lot. Clearwater boat tours split three ways: a fast speedboat that makes dolphins chase its wake, slower narrated boats with a sandbar stop or a cheap sunset seat, and a pirate ship full of water guns and free beer for the adults. Below is what each one costs on its own website, how long it runs, and who it suits.
The marina sits about 0.1 miles east of Pier 60, so a boat tour fits easily into a day on the sand around Pier 60.
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If the boat is one stop on a longer list, plan the rest of the things to do in Clearwater Beach around your boarding time, because several operators want you at the dock an hour early.
Fast dolphin boats
For speed, Sea Screamer is the pick: a 73-foot speedboat that runs over 20 knots and turns its wake into a playground for dolphins, with an hour on the water and a dolphin guarantee. Read the status note at the end of this section before you plan around it.
Reviewers say the payoff is how close the dolphins get, jumping right behind the stern in the wake. One parent held off thinking it was too fast for small kids and found the ride far calmer than feared, while another wished for more shade, so bring a hat and sunscreen.
Now the caveat. The Sea Screamer website still carries a notice that the boat came through Hurricanes Helene and Milton but its slip and booth were badly damaged, with tours due back "sometime in mid February" and no year given. Google reviews describe trips from March through June 2026 and Tripadvisor reviews run into October 2026, so it looks to be sailing again, but we could not confirm that from the operator itself. Call 727-447-7200 before you build a day around it.
Mega Bite Dolphin Tours is the other wake boat, a 50-foot tour boat dressed as a shark that sails from slip 7 and is built to throw a big wake for dolphins. It points out celebrity homes along the way, runs a sunset trip, and in January sails on weekends alone.
Its site doesn't post a fare or a run time, and it makes no sighting guarantee; one unhappy reviewer learned that after paying, so ask before you book. Reviewers describe about an hour on the water and a ride gentle enough for one who gets seasick, and two of them say to bring cash.
So which kind of boat? Pick the speedboat if your group gets bored easily and wants dolphins up close inside an hour, and a slow boat if you have a toddler, a nervous swimmer or someone who wants shade and a drink. Fares barely differ, with adult day tickets on the dolphin boats running roughly $27 to $32, so choose on the ride, not the price.
Slow, narrated dolphin cruises
For a relaxed trip with small kids or grandparents, Little Toot Dolphin Adventure is the safe choice: two boats, departures every hour or so, a written dolphin guarantee and day fares around $27 for adults. It posts every fare, including the sunset run, on its own site.
The guarantee is real: one reviewer saw no dolphins on a sunset ride, got a free seat for the next afternoon and watched a whole family of them jump in the wake. Get there early, since early boarders get the back of the boat, which is where you want to be.
Encounters With Dolphins is the slow boat with a beach break: its narrated trip on a 40-foot boat runs about 1.5 to 1.75 hours and includes a 20 to 30 minute stop at Compass Island for shelling, swimming and a kids' treasure hunt. Tickets are $27.50 for ages 12 and up and $19.50 for ages 3 to 11, and every child ticket comes with a free dolphin toy.
It sells no alcohol, but you may bring your own and drink it in moderation, which makes it the BYOB pick at the marina. The onboard restroom is meant for emergencies, so use the marina building's restrooms before you board. Reviewers say the opening stretch is mostly waterfront homes and the dolphins come later, and that the island is tiny and covered in shells.
Flippers Fun Boat sails at 11 am, 1 pm, 3 pm and 5 pm, then 7 pm for sunset from March through October, at $28 for adults and $19 for ages 3 to 11. There's a 9 am run Friday through Sunday, chips and drinks are $2 aboard, and there's a bathroom. It promises no guarantee, just that it almost always sees dolphins, and its site doesn't state a run time.
It has more than 3,500 Google reviews, more than either of the other two, and one family singled out how the crew boarded a guest with a walker before everyone else. Another reviewer noted the company asks you to arrive an hour before your slot, for parking.
Captain Memo's Pirate Cruise
If you have kids between about 3 and 12, book Captain Memo's Pirate Cruise: two hours of water gun battles, a treasure hunt and face paint while the adults get free beer and wine. It costs more than a dolphin boat, and parents in the reviews call it worth it.
Book ahead in spring and summer, since the cruise can sell out two to three days early, and arrive an hour before sailing; check in with less than 20 minutes to spare and your seat can go to someone else. Grandparents in the reviews admit they expected to put up with it and ended up enjoying it, with a sunset and reasonably priced drinks. Without children aboard, the dolphin boats are calmer and cheaper.
Dolphins are a bonus here, not the main event, though one family with kids aged 3, 4 and 12 said they saw them up close. A 22-year-old who went for a birthday had a good time too, so it isn't strictly for families.
Sunset cruises from Clearwater Beach
For a Clearwater Beach sunset cruise on a budget, Flippers sails at sunset every night for the same $28 adult fare as its day trips. It leaves at 7 pm from March through October and at 5 pm from November through February.
On Little Toot II, the sunset trip is $31.78 for adults and $24.30 for ages 3 to 12, plus tax, and the time moves with the season. Reviewers on the evening runs at Encounters With Dolphins booked the 7 pm trip, so the Compass Island stop comes at golden hour, though one storm cut a trip short before the island. Captain Memo's 6 pm cruise this fall is the evening option for families.
Watch the sky in summer. Afternoon storms build fast, and one Mega Bite customer got a call about an hour before a July departure with a weather update. If the weather forces a pirate cruise back to port, Captain Memo's says you can rebook. If you would rather watch from land, the crowd gathers on Pier 60 Park just west of the marina.
Paddle and kayak tours
To get on the water under your own power, take Paddle Out Adventures, which carries you and your boards by boat to sheltered water away from the traffic, wind and waves, so you paddle the good part and skip the slog. It is the calm option for beginners.
Paddle Out Adventures charges $85 a person for two hours, $115 for three (the one it says most people book) and $135 for four with several stops, plus a $5 fuel surcharge it calls temporary. Book online for later dates, and call 727-223-4900 for anything leaving within 24 hours. One family who went for three hours were boated to quiet water by a state park, then paddled a short way to an empty Gulf beach, and their 8-year-old managed a paddleboard fine.
Get Up And Go Kayaking runs guided clear-bottom kayak tours from the Clearwater Beach Boat Ramp, about 0.6 miles north of Pier 60, in groups of up to 10 paddlers. This one is open water with some wind, chop and current, and the company asks for moderate fitness. Tours often pull up at a boat-access bird preserve island where you can walk the sandbar, and reviewers mention pelicans, dolphins and fish under the hull.
Its page posts no price or run time, so check the booking calendar, and remember sightings aren't guaranteed from a kayak either. If paddling sounds too slow, the marina also sends out parasailing and jet ski trips from the same docks.
Where Clearwater boat tours leave from, and parking
Every boat in this guide except the clear kayaks sails from Clearwater Beach Municipal Marina at 25 Causeway Blvd, at the beach end of the Memorial Causeway. Plan the parking before you plan the boat.
Get the code before you pay. Check in at your operator's booth, then enter the code at the kiosk; Captain Memo's notes that its code goes in through the kiosk's CODE button and won't work in the mobile parking app. Construction has cut the number of usable spaces, and Encounters With Dolphins warns that Causeway traffic can back up badly at peak times, so give yourself an hour.
When the marina lot is full, the Pier 60 lot at 160 S Gulfview Blvd has 141 spaces at the same $3.50 an hour, and the garages on S Gulfview are close; parking near the marina and Pier 60 is the bigger puzzle to solve before a summer weekend.
Or skip the car: Captain Memo's suggests riding the red-and-yellow Jolley Trolley or the Clearwater Ferry to the marina instead.
Two last tips from the reviews: bring cash for drinks and tips, and pack a light layer, because it gets cool once the boat is moving.
Frequently asked questions
Published July 20, 2026
