Whilst visiting Fort Myers last September (2016) I was lucky enough to do a Dolphin boat tour with Good Time Charters out on the Estero bay. It was such an amazing experience to see Dolphins in the wild, instead of jumping through hoops and living there life in a dirty shallow tank, in some marine park.
Good Time Charters – Dolphin Tour
If you have read any of my previous blogs you will know I’m a very big animal lover, and would have loved to have had a career working with them. You will also know and maybe even have read my blog that I am anti Seaworld. So when I found out that they did Dolphin boat tours just 20 minutes from our hotel, I couldn’t contain my excitement! We decided to do a morning tour which set off about 8am, we got the boat from the Good Time Charters 4765 Estero Blvd, Fort Myers Beach, FL 33931, USA. There must have been about 20 people on our early am cruise, although the boat was pretty spacious so it didn’t feel cramped at all, and everyone had a great viewing spot. Our captain and his mate were great (I think their names were Captain Steve and Captain Ryan) they were very friendly, interactive with us all, and very very informative. Telling us about the Bay and the wildlife that is found around these areas and the surrounding waters, as well as the importance of unique ecosystem.
It really didn’t take too long until we were lucky enough to see a pod of dolphins, including a baby, swimming behind the boat in the waves that were made. You have to keep your eyes glued to the water to see them, because they are so quick, and there was one point where I kept missing them! When I did get them in my sight, I was actually overwhelmed, seeing these beautiful animals in there natural habitat, playing in the waves with there pods up close, is something that I probably will never forget.
The boat takes you to a small island and you then get an hour to explore and look at the amazing shells on the beach, maybe have a swim if you want, and just have a bit of relaxing time. There are strict rule as to what you can and cannot touch OR take in the way of shells and I believe that taking some shells can carry a $500 fine! Click here to read more information on this. We saw the most amazing shells and starfish whilst we were walking along the shore, the beach was full of the prettiest shells I had ever seen!
Whilst myself and Luke were wading in the shallow part of the Bay there was a dolphin playing about 10 meters away from us, Okay at first I’ll admit Luke was like “is that a shark?” but we soon established that it wasn’t a shark, but was in fact a little dolphin playing around. We stayed and watched him for about 10 minutes until he Disappeared further out to sea, such an unforgettable moment.
Our experience all together lasted around 90 minutes, I thoroughly enjoyed every moment of it, and it was lovely to have your own time to go off and explore and too. A highly recommended tour if you are lucky enough to visit Fort Myers.