Holiday Adventure Tours and Boat Rental - Fort Myers Beach, Florida

Joe D.

Capitan Mark was fantastic! He took us on the most wonderful pontoon ride. We were literally surrounded by dolphins and the shelling was amazing! He was so informative about the area and had many great stories to tell. Definitely the highlight of our Florida trip. Would for sure book with them again! Thanks Capitan Mark!

Lynn K.

We had a wonderful late afternoon Pontoon boat tour with Captain Caleb!! He was extremely knowledgeable about Estero Island and we even saw a pod of dolphins swimming up close. Not to mention the bald Eagle! I highly recommend chartering your next family cruise with Holiday Adventure Tours!

Tim L.

We rented this AWESOME Skiff from Holiday Adventure 5-10-22 and with the LORD as our Charter. did some amazing fishing.

Mark and Peter were very friendly and helpful. They provided a nice blue tooth speaker, good advice on where to go. And the boat had a landing net.

I highly recommend
HOLIDAY ADVENTURE BOAT RENTALS 😎

Rick R.

These guys did a great job. They were very friendly and got us on the boat quickly. I booked a pontoon boat for two 8hr days. I took the family out to the sand bar for swimming, we saw some dolphins, stopped for lunch, and enjoyed exploring the waters. When we returned they meet us at the dock and helped us unload. We didn't have any trouble. The boat had some wear and tear but it worked perfectly and had all the necessary safety gear. I would definitely rent from these folks again.

Chris H.

Reserved a boat after reviewing the website. The morning of the rental while checking in they notified me that I couldn’t go up towards Cape Coral. It doesn’t state that on their website. Rent somewhere else. I went to Smugglers across the bridge and had an excellent experience. Being straightforward and upfront is important in a service business.

Patrick M.

We rented a pontoon boat here for a full day in early January. In general, it was a good experience and a great day out on Pine Island Sound but I wanted to pass on a couple of clarifications and insights.

THE CONS:
First, the 22 foot tritoon boats are not pictured on their website, so be aware that it isn't quite as comfortable as those presented. (Those look more like the 24 ft. pontoons advertised) The 22 foot boats are VERY bare bones. I didn't think to take any pictures of the whole boat to share, but you get a sense from one of the attached photos. Seats are very rigid and seatbacks are not very comfortable. This is NOT a luxury pontoon - no cup holders? That's almost hard to believe these days. There were only 4 of us so everyone was able to easily move around to get into sun or shade, but you'd be very limited with more than 6 people.

Second, when I phoned to check availability and verify price, I mentioned that we were planning to get to Cayo Costa State Park. This was very clear since the person on the phone even gave me a time estimate of 3 hours each way (that works with 8 hours of rental, allowing 2 hours on the island).

Unfortunately, upon arrival I learned that Cayo Costa is listed on the map as being "out of bounds" for their rentals and the chart provided doesn't even show how you might get there. The reason provided was a concern over fuel, and because I was cautioned that the more-comfortable looking 24 foot boats had an even less-efficient engine, upgrading to comfort would require refueling even to go to Cabbage Key.

Finally, if you plan to venture anywhere outside of the Intercoastal Channel, invest in a better chart of the sound and pay attention to tidal charts. In retrospect, I would have bought one and I'm not sure if they have them at the store (didn't think to ask, not knowing). The one they provide is a laminated sheet, probably 11x15 and has no detail of any value. I'm a fairly experienced boater but the challenges of shallows in the sound were still a surprise.

THE PROS:

Having said everything above, we had a great day out. It was generally cool and turned cloudy so there wasn't as much lounging on the boat as we anticipated so the bare bones boat worked.

The attendant was very nice (name escapes me), he was helpful with any questions, and had some interesting insights on where to refuel (we didn't) and some other good directions on things to watch for on the trip.

The rental shop was easy to find and certainly easily accessible by car.

We were under power for most of the day and decided to do a picnic at Cottage Key instead of the state park. We toured around Useppa and had some incredible dolphin sightings north of the island. The Cabbage Key dock was very crowded and busy but the dockmaster was a great guy (be sure to tip!). We enjoyed seeing the many osprey nests at the channel markers, particularly in the morning.

If we decide to venture out to Cayo Costa in the future, I think we'll need to rent on north Sanibel or Captiva and pay the extra price. It would require more driving time but less long-haul boat time: a decent trade off. BUT I will definitely explicitly confirm this on the phone.

I was pleasantly surprised to have a full tank of gas included in the cost of the rental - no shocks in the end. And we made the most of it. I kept an eye on the gauge (as best as bumpy ride allows) and we didn't need to refuel to return, despite the full distance. We probably benefitted from having only 4, so I'm not suggesting you risk it, but the prospect of refueling and estimating how much would have been a challenge.

On a sunnier day, with more chances for lounging or swimming, I'd have wished we upgraded the rental to the pontoon.

Karson H.

We called to rent a boat from them for my birthday, and they failed to mention that they are one of the only boat rental companies that doesn’t allow you to take the boats onto the gulf, so you can’t get up to captiva and Sanibel. Would have been nice, and more honest, if they had told us that up front. We found out after we unloaded all of our stuff onto the dock. We canceled the reservation (and the guy working there this morning was nice which is why I’m doing two stars, not one), and had to go to a different marina, delaying our day by an hour and a half.

B B.

Caleb was the perfect Captain for our private pontoon excursion. Thank you for a wonderful sunset cruise!