Adventures at Sea

Great pontoon rental, best rate in the area. Very friendly and professional. Terrific way to experience the bay and Shell Island.

Very Disappointed! We had a great day on the water which would earn a 5 star, 2 stars is for Adventures at Sea. First the $ 30 coupon is worthless. I called and ask pontoon prices, was quoted for a full day and half day, we took the full day knowing we had a $ 30 off coupon. When we expected to pay $ 150ish tax and all and then ended up over $ 200 I wasn’t very happy. I was told that we got the coupon price? Was also told we would get a very nice 2015 Model and we got a junk older boat with a 40hp motor that I could almost swim as fast as. Last year we rented from Lagoon Rentals and was very pleased. The day on the water was a great time. I would not use A@sea again. Shop around first. You also have to pay $ 20 for a damage waiver.

I’ve spent the past 2 yrs literally battling for my life in and out of hospitals, unable to walk or go in direct sunlight. Coming to Panama City was my first time away from home… {Part of my healing process} And I was beside myself bcz of it! In addition, It was my husbands first time at a beach here in the U.S. Since he is from Ireland. We stayed at the Palmetto, (which I loved) we waited that morning for chair rentals and for my husband to rent just ski’s. We were told the lifeguards were there earlier but didn’t see anyone for a while. I asked the girl at counter in hotel how to rent, she said «pick your chair and when you see lifeguard go over and pay». Simple enough, right?
When he finally pulled up he immediately started yelling at me and accused me of «touching his box» whatever that meant. I mean this was not a «hey how are you, what’s going on, can I help you. for future reference please don’t do that». No, This was straight up aggressive unusual yelling? Then he realized we didn’t touch his box. Oops Duh. #epicfail
We also explained my husband wanted to rent jet ski’s … Yes that’s right, we wanted to spend $ on a quiet dead Sunday. So he acted nice for a minute, I explained I didn’t want to go with my husband bcz I’m terrified of water, but maybe we’d double up if I got the nerve.
My husband went out and 10 minutes later came back because he saw Dolphins and wanted me to see too … I reluctantly went with him. Less then 5 minutes later I had to come in bcz I couldn’t even open my eyes out there…(out of fear) I told him to drop me off and to just go enjoy himself for the remainder of the 15 minutes. Upon coming in… Matt started yelling frantically and waving his hands at us… At one point I thought there was a freaking shark or something bcz of how he was acting? No, he was yelling bcz he said we couldn’t come back in like that (keep in mind we were crawling in-​unlike his jet ski stunts onto the shore) but it turns out it was not our speed… He actually said we were… «Making him work to hard!». Um seriously??? Then the insults of my fears of the ocean started coming from him bcz I «couldn’t handle a calm waveless day». That’s when I had it! Due to my illness and limited motor-​skills… I’m terrified of water… I doubt I need to explain further, not that I need to explain myself to anyone anyway. I said, «dude .You can’t go yelling at people for no reason when they are trying to relax on vacation and haven’t done anything wrong!» I’m sure that fell on deaf ears. It was bizarre? So I walked away and the ragging continued and my husband and him had a spat where he told my husband he should «pull the plug and make him get off». Well he didn’t have to make him … My husband was done at that point! Sadly he wanted to rent a paddle board and parasail that day too… but after that, it wasnt happening!
Not that I care about the money, but he still had the audacity to remind me (as if I’d run off?) that I owed him another 10 $ for my ride! No problem, paid! So $ 50 for my husbands 15 minutes of getting yelled at, $ 25 for chairs ½ day since left at 1 on the dot… And 10 $ for me getting insulting on my ocean fear! In addition, he told us that we should thankful that he was giving us a discount since he was working so hard? (Says the man doing wheelies on the jet skis on an empty beach-​I should add we were the only people who rented a JetSki that day) Seriously, I didn’t bat an eye at costs, I never once questioned the cost in fact! So what did that have to do with anything? He told us cash was cheaper then credit card… so I’m confused, was that policy or doing us a favor-​who knows??? Like I was to know he was doing more then his job discription for me? (Ahem sarcasm)
I’m from Ft. Laudy… and I was in customer service/​sales for 20yrs (my husband now owns 2businesses) and I never ever spoke to anyone like this… Not even aggressive people. It was the worst treatment I’ve actually ever received anywhere. We actually joked at one point that thank god nobody was drowning bcz they would NOT have been saved~“to much work”.
This is a great type of service you have, and I’m sure a fantastic business that you have pride in… you monopolize that beach. Unfortunately this type of customer service in this day and age is bad… Yes sure people will still use the service, and it might not affect your business numbers with all the terrorist, but who wants negative feedback, honestly? Besides you never know when you insult the wrong person with a disability and get slammed with a law suit bcz of emotional damaged. Uh ya that stuff happens. Lastly, My favorite part was when I checked out of Palmetto and we spoke to lady in charge about it, she was a doll btw, and they told us that another person came in to complain. Coincidence I think not.

Sweet! We called last minute because the ferry at shell island was not running that day for some reason. We rented our own pontoon. It was a bit pricey considering we were originally going to do tandem kayaks ($ 159-​ish). The total was $ 210 and we got half a day 1 – 5:30.
The website was advertising at $ 229 but we called and it was $ 179 so definitely call. Do not book online! They were super nice and rental/​check in was quick and easy. We were in the boat within 20 minutes of arriving.
This ended up being the highlight of our vacation. We had the freedom to go where ever we wanted and stop at any place near the island or random sandbar. The kids loved it, bring a cooler with your favorite drinks and enjoy. We would totally have gotten the entire day if we could have. I recommend no less than the full day.

We rented a pontoon boat for a half-​day. Through research, we found that was the best way to experience Shell Island — you control your schedule and what you do.
Adventures at Sea matched the best price I could find before I even asked for it. That was nice. They were close to our condo and very convenient. We showed up in time to get checked in and to our pontoon boat right on schedule. So far, so good. The dock hands helped us load our stuff onto the boat, gave us a quick tutorial, and we were on our way. We motored out of the marina, under the highway bridge, and into the backwaters. That’s when a beeping alarm sounded in the throttle control. Very annoying. We called the number they gave us «if we had any troubles» and they answered right away. After some basic troubleshooting, they told us to return to the marina (with GPS tracking, they knew we weren’t far). Upon returning, they fiddled with the control and got the alarm to stop, but had no assurances that it wouldn’t start again, so they gave us another boat. It was a little bigger, which seemed nice (but more on that later).
As we returned to the water, we had no alarm issues. We hit the end of the slow-​no-​wake zone and I told the kids to hang onto their hats as i was going to «hit it». I «hit it» and was disappointed. See, the boats are equipped with 40hp outboards. Not much when it comes to pushing a lumbering pontoon boat — not to mention the slightly larger boat they gave us when we had the alarm issue… Our cruising speed was disappointing, but we enjoyed the views and made our way.
Shell Island was a good time for us, but that’s a different review. We’re talking about Adventures at Sea and their boat rental, so fast-​forward to our return trip…
Knowing we had a slow crawl back to the marina, we headed out with plenty of time left in our half-​day rental. The trip back seemed to go a little faster (currents? tail wind? dunno). As we pulled into the marina (with everyone else), the dock hands were good and managing the traffic and landing us properly. They helped us unload our gear and asked us how the trip was, where we went, etc. Those guys work hard — remember to tip!
In hindsight, I wouldn’t flinch at using Adventures at Sea again. I would definitely look for a motor upgrade. Boats from other marinas had 90hp motors and made quick work of us on the open water. Faster motor = less travel time = more time on Shell Island. I don’t know if Adventures at Sea offers bigger motors, but others do. I’d shop around more next time to see if we can find a better deal.

My two kids went and I paid to record them with a go pro that the parasailing company provided. Got a CD with video on it. When I got home, the video was not of my kids. Called the company and the girl insisted that she didn’t make mistakes even though there is one file on the disk and it’s definitely not of my kids. So annoying! Make them check your pictures and video before you leave to make sure it’s your group!

Went parasailing and I took the go pro up with me to take a video and it didn’t record I was pissed

Great price on a jet skii tour. $ 80 for 2hrs
Two can ride, but you have to follow the guide. Great place to stop and plan your whole trip. The staff was amazing, plan on going later to check out the bar next door.

My family and I were out with a competitor tour company renting jet skies and doing a dolphin sighting tour. We were having a fantastic experience… until my tour group had an unfortunate run-​in with a tour-​guide from Adventures at Sea. The tour guide was on his own wave runner and approached my jet-​ski — my girlfriend on the back. He proceeded to yell at us, citing that we were scaring the dolphins away and was so angry that he threatened us by getting very close to the front of our wave runner. He then antagonized us as he sped away intentionally soaking us with water sprung up from his craft. Great way to entice new customers and to treat a lady who was on the back.
Our tour guide, who was great by the way — his company is AAA Jetski Rental and I highly recommend them — had to race after the other tour guide to warn him to stay away from his customers.
Overall, one of the worst displays of professionalism I’ve ever witnessed. I hope they fire this person (name was Cole I believe, literally looked like Vanilla Ice’s clone) in order to maintain the integrity of their brand. Being a business owner, I know I would if got wind of something like this.

Had a great time with billy the tour guide was so fun we did it wendesday at 3 then Thursday at 5 ! It’s not for the faint at heart they do go fast and expect some waves ! 5 – 10 minutes in and out of bay !! Saw dolphins so close swam under our jet skis ! Then to shell island for 20 minutes where we found star fish sand dollars aquatic fish and just awesome time !! Recommend over others !!

We have visited twice now and enjoy the experience. When renting a boat, be cautious to get directions from a person who is understandable. A few of the staff have English as their second language and the barrier can be significant if they are giving final directions as you cast off.
My advice: rent a pontoon boat for a half-​day and head out to shell island. With minimal boating experience, you will have a blast and get to explore shallow beaches on the gulf and bay side of the island.

Word of caution: The online reservation system does not have a secure connection so your credit card info is more likely to get stolen.
Other than that, they have the best boat rental prices of anywhere around. The staff behind the counter at the reservation/​check-​in area were rather rude. Yet the guys manning the docks were nice and helpful, save the guy just standing there smoking cigarettes by the gas pump. The boats weren’t kept up the greatest but got the job done. For instance, none of the gauges worked on our boat and the guys said that was typical of all their boats. However, the boat was clean and the motor ran so it got us to where we wanted to go. I would have given this place four stars if management would have spent the extra hour it takes to set up a secure checkout process on their website. You can save more money if you rent online but risk hackers getting a hold of your info. It’s up to you if the risk is worth it. If we come back to PCB and decide to rent a boat, I’d probably come here again as long as they fix their online payment system.

Great price for 10 hours out in the bay… which is too long with kiddos. I would recommend this to any larger group instead of a Shell Island Shuttle. Only 4 stars because the boats are very worn and very slow.

We had a awesome day! Despite the rain in the beginning our guide rocked, a must if u are vacationing here my daughter was five and loved the dolphins and we would do it again!!!

Wonderful experience. Spent 9 hrs on the boat fishing and swimming. Pontoon boats were nice and coupon made the price even better. Staff was helpful and respectable. Off the hook bar and grill is on site and yummy. Inexpensive beer and food with a very cool playground on site for the kids to play while the parents relax.

Wonderful experience! We rented a pontoon for the day and had a blast! Explored the area, went to Shell Island, did some paddle boarding, snorkeling, and even found several sand dollars. The people were great to work with and the boat was super nice! Highly recommend!

We have used Adventures at Sea for our bookings for the last few years and have no complaints at all. In fact, quite the opposite. We have booked parasailing, dolphin tours and rented a boat in the past; this year, again the dolphin tour and wave runner tour. They have rescheduled us when weather had caused a problem, have honored their coupon when we added an additional rider and have been extremely informative. Captain Jennifer is the BEST for the dolphin tour. She is awesome! We will continue to use Adventures at Sea as they have always treated us great.

We bought a Groupon for a two-​hour Waverunner tour for $ 89. For two people, the price for this excursion was really fantastic and totally worth it (considering we saw many places advertising jet ski rentals at about $ 60 alone). We didn’t mind sharing a jet ski (all the other couples did as well) but were told that you can have your own for a fee. We had Wes as our tour guide, who was very friendly. Not terribly informative, but very nice. He was patient when we couldn’t really keep up with the group on the jet ski! :)
Overall it was a lot of fun. The jet skis are exhilarating, we got some pretty sea shells, and snorkeled for sand dollars. My main complaint — I wish the dolphins weren’t so heavily advertised. We saw some and it was lovely, but we wouldn’t have been disappointed had they not really emphasized the «likely» possibility of swimming with them. Obviously, we did not.
Unlike many other reviewers’, my experience was that they answered their phone pretty promptly and were helpful. Nothing they told me over the phone ended up being untrue.

This place is incredibly rude for a place of business. It sounds like you’re talking to a 16 year old boy and when you call for anything you get a «WHAT?!» or a «Huh???»
We decided to cancel our reservations with them and they cussed us out because they were losing business.
Where is the management at this place? Ridiculous.
I would give this place ZERO stars if I could.