Osprey Cruises

Highly recommend!!! We went out on the 8 hour deep sea fishing trip. Our captain was so nice (think his name was Tom-​but there were so many new names to learn I may have him mixed up) and helped my husband deal with his horrible sea sickness (that we didn’t know about til 3 miles off shore lol). Fabian (spelling?) is an amazing deckhand-​all the crew were spectacular. They took us right to the fish and were very helpful. They provide all the tackle and bait and even set up your pole for you. You bring your own lunch so the food is great (lol) and make sure you bring plenty of water to drink. Bring a cooler (but leave it in your car cause you can’t have it one the boat) to put all your fish in! Word of advice, tho-​carry cash to tip the crew!

We searched all around for a Tuesday afternoon Dolphin watching tour, one was closed, another was only going out at 5 so we paid in advance for this 2 pm cruise. Not a new boat, but well maintained. The Captain welcomed my 3 yr old into the cabin for a photo at the helm, but she suddenly got shy. They would chase any dolphin sighting and even got the dolphins to ride the bow. We saw nearly 2 dozen dolphins on this trip and got to ride into the gulf of Mexico for some rough waves which my daughter just loved. This was a better trip than the tour outfit next to Ocean Ranch was 3 years ago.

Booked a cruise with them online, which they then cancelled without contacting me at all (either e-​mail or phone). I had no idea until I showed up to check in. They started to offer rebooking the following night, but apparently that one was sold out. They refunded me, but the whole thing was just a big disappointing waste of time.

The staff are sweet and super knowledgable about what they teach. You WILL see Dolphins

I purchased my tickets for the Black Dragon Pirate Cruise at Pirates Landing and the staff there offered me a $ 5.00 discount per ticket, even though I was eligible for the $ 3.00 senior discount per ticket. I then purchased the tickets for $ 36.00 per ticket. When I later questioned the price I was charged, they insisted I was given the promised $ 5.00 discount. I learned the next day that I had paid the full price of the cruise $ 36.00, no discount given, in spite of what they promised. They lied to me! Watch what they charge you. Seems like they tend to charge whatever they want!

Best Eco tour I’ve been to so far! Clean boat! Knowledgeable, nicely uniformed staff! Men/​Women restrooms that are clean! boat is not used for fishing, so no remnants of fish smell! This will be my go to Eco tour from now on!

We did the Thriller Speed Boat, and it was so much fun. It is worth the price! We sat about 3 – 4 rows from the back and got wet some, but by the time we got back, were dry. We saw some Dolphins along the way and got to stop and take pictures. The music was fast paced and the boat actually went really fast. It wasn’t scary at all, there were 5 year olds that had a blast. It’s completely safe AND you get to go to the Gulf of Mexico. It’s really cool and you end up about 6 miles from the coast of Mexico. The staff was very nice and exciting. Loads of un!

My only complaint is the caption did not talk to us he was ether driving the boat or tucked away in the corner of the boat fishing with his own fishing rod telling loud story’s about all the fishing adventure in Mexico also they would not let us throw the really small fish back but to tell you the truth I could have caught all those fish for free on the shore but I would recommend it if you are traveling and don’t have a rod and reel for fishing it was a good charter for the price

After just getting to South Padre Island as part of our 3 day road trip this past weekend, we wanted to do a Dolphin/​Echo Tour but the 2 main tours that we had on our list had already embarked for the day and it was 1:30pm. I did a quick online search for any other tours in the Area and luckily found Osprey who had theirs at 2pm. We called and they told us to be there before 2pm so we rushed over and got there just before the ship was set to leave. They were understanding and accommodating and got us on the boat just in the nick of time!
Our Tour Guide was «Harley» who was absolutely awesome. He was a cool, laid back dude who had tons of knowledge about the Sea, the animals in the bay, and fishing. He was basically a white version of Katt Williams (Sounded just like him too!) The other crew members were all very nice, patient, and helpful to us all. Our boat’s captain even let me daughter steer the boat and wear his cap! We took pics and video of all this… it was amazing!
They had snacks and drinks aboard in the Air-​Conditioned center cabin, which was an enormous welcome. We got to see so many Dolphin pods with some of them coming right to our boat. It was amazing to experience with the family. They even casted a net and picked up some sealife for us all to see, touch and learn about. We got lots of Star Fish, some Squids, tiny jelly fish, crabs, and some other small fish. We had a wonderful time and would definitely recommend this Company to anyone!

It was just ok. We went on an eco tour. It is a fair price for what you get. The staff was friendly and knowledgeable.
The thing that really ticked us off was that there were a lot of people on our boat which was ok but during the part of the tour where they pull sea creatures up these rude people crowded around the tub and wouldn’t take turns or step aside for other people to see. They wouldn’t even let the little kids come up and take a look. I understand the staff can not control other people’s behavior. However, I think they could of made somewhat of an effort to make sure everyone got a chance to experience the sea life especially the children. They didn’t really do anything about the inconsiderate people.
Despite the rudes we still had a fun time.

If all you want is a boat ride for $ 60 then go ahead. Took over 3 hours to get there and back, 20 miles out, for 1hr 20 mins fishing. Too crowded, everyone fished off the same side, lines got tangled, then we kept moving to different locations that took 5 to 7 mins to sail there. Didn’t catch a thing, not even a bite.
Both myself and kids got sea sick and threw up. Toilets were nasty, one was blocked from the day before.
Should have saved money and gone bay fishing,

If you want your moneys worth don’t go deep sea fishing with this company. We left at 8 am and returned at 3 pm It was supposed to be 8 hrs. NOT 7 hrs. We bought a full day for $ 90 and got cheated an hr. All together we only fished for about 2 hrs. If we would’ve known that we were only gonna fish for 2 hrs. we would’ve gotten the ½ day with the company that we wanted and it would’ve been cheaper too. It took 2 ½ hrs. to get out there 2 ½ hrs to get back. You also have to keep in mind the time it takes to change fishing spots. We all caught the 2 Red Snappers that were allowed per person & then we left. Why couldn’t we stay there & fish for other types of fish like Grouper, Mahi Mahi etc. Besides that at the end of the trip when they gave us our fish they DID NOT give us the fish we had caught. At one point someone in my group caught a huge Red Snapper & for whatever reason they gave it to some girl even though it was on his hook. Don’t you think its common sense to give the person who actually caught the fish on their own hook the fish that they caught? Other clients were also complaining that they didn’t get the fish that they had caught. I think that there were some friends & family of the crew on board bc we didn’t get ANY of the big fish that we caught.(I guess they gave them to their friends/family).We were gonna go on Captain Murphys but they were full that day, this was our 5^th choice. Now I see why they had room on their boat & nobody else did. Don’t pay to go with this company, there are several others that got better reviews than this one. Normally I listen to the reviews but in this case we only went with this company bc no one else had availability for the day we wanted to go on. The staff was nice though. I don’t know if Osprey has other charters in other places but the one in South Padre Island was NOT worth $ 90, definitely go with another company. I WILL NOT be going deep sea fisshing with this company ever again. I have a group of 25 friends that are coming in town next week and I told them that I didn’t recommend this company, I don’t want them to get cheated an hour like we did.

We went on the Dolphin /​Sea Life Cruise. It was fantastic! We saw about 10 dolphins… not just saw them, but they come up to the boat and swim along side it. The Marine Biologist was very informative on many things. He told us a lot of great things, not only about sea life, but about the island as well.
The tickets are $ 18 per adult while other boats may only be $ 10. We went on a cold day and were on the only boat with an enclosed cabin area. In my opinion, the extra $ 8 was worth it.
While my children were too young to really love this cruise (6 and 4 years old), my husband and I did.

(Bay fishing) Nothing has apparently changed in a year, except the rods are a year older. The boat was less crowded (15 people) since we’re in the off season, but the fishing was still dismal. We left ten minutes late and came back ten minutes earlier. The catches were mostly whiting and catfish, with a couple jack cravalle thrown in. The ‘highlight’ was a (barely) keeper black drum. Nobody left with too many fish. At least one stop was in such a swift current that the line was way out there and still didn’t hit the recommended bottom position. One regular was issued an additional 3 oz sinker so he could drop down. $ 25 and a morning wasted.

Took advantage of their 5 hour afternoon deep sea fishing charter. Set up was easy simply calling and making the reservation. When I arrived at Pier 19 I went inside, paid and waited to board the boat.
It’s an old boat but mighty reliable and sturdy as it took the choppy waves out in the Gulf with ease. There is plenty of seating either outside or in the air conditioned cabin. The fishing guides were really friendly and very helpful-​especially if this is a first time fishing trip.
It took about 90 minutes to reach our first destination, which I believe was about 10 miles out. The water was a deep blue hue but clear enough to see fish swimming close to the surface. We dropped our lines and someone caught a Mahi Mahi, Ling and Grouper. Several Red Snappers were caught, including two by my son but since they are not in season we had to release them back into the water. The crew took us further out to hit another hot spot, but all that was caught was more Red Snapper. After 3 hours of fishing it was time to head back to shore.
The ride back wasn’t as choppy as we rode with the waves, but the crew allowed a few of us to stand at the top of the bow to experience our very own «I’m on top of the world» Titanic movie moment. Great view of the island as the sun set behind it. A most glorious moment accenting a great father/​son bonding outing. Will use Osprey next visit to SPI.

If you want a fun family dolphin watching cruise at reasonable prices, this is a good place to get it. The crew was relaxed and fun-​loving, you get to handle marine animals, and if lucky, you can see some dolphins. Leave a tip, these guys earn it! We even fought off some pirates! Good experience for the kids as well. Bring some cash for the snack bar.

Let me start off by saying the Captain was very loud and very disrespectful. First, we headed out to the end of the jetties and we were there for 2 hours and all that was caught were 2 king fish. We finally moved a few miles from the jetties, and about 30 minutes of catching nothing (10:30), the caption hooked two sharks. As soon as the sharks were on the lines, our fishing trip was over. It was all about the caption catching the sharks from that point on. The first shark was lost within a minute, and that is when the caption started getting angry. When the second shark was hooked, very shortly after the first one was lost, the caption started to freak out. Sorta seemed like it was his first time ever encountering a shark. At that point, he started yelling at everyone to reel their lines up and had us move all our poles to the middle of the boat. The caption started chasing the shark with the boat so he wouldn’t lose the shark again. After about 45 minutes of running around the boat like a chicken with his head cut off, we could finally see the shark from the boat. During the time he was reeling in the shark, the caption was yelling at his deck crew, trying to teach them how to get the shark into the boat (very young guys, getting paid off tips). The first attempt went very badly so he started to yell a little louder and got even more mad then he already was. By the 4^th attempt, the shark was free and that’s when the captions anger really kicked in. As he was yelling about how pissed he was, he threw the pole as well as his cowboy hat on the ground and drove the boat as fast as it possibly could go back to where we caught the sharks. When we got back to the spot, we finally started to catch some fish (11:20). The first fish I caught (white fish), the caption took it without even asking and used it as bait to hopefully catch another shark. After about 20 minutes, it was time to head back. Good thing we didn’t catch another shark or we probably would have been out there all day, and my fish would’ve not been mine anymore. I never recommend going on this boat ‘bay king’, go to Danny B’s instead, very friendly caption and actually cares about your experience instead of catching sharks in the bay.

While I have heard that the fishing trips from this same company are terrible, I was very happy with the Eco Cruise my family and I went on! The cost was very reasonable, and we were able to see a lot of great ocean wildlife up close. They drug a net along the bottom of the Gulf and brought up some animals for us to view (humanely, of course) and the man showing the animals was very knowledgeable about the local wildlife. We were even able to hold a few of the animals, including a puffer fish and a sting ray! Afterwards they brought us to an area where they guaranteed we would see dolphins, and we did; they came right up near the boat. We spent 2 hours total on the boat.
My only complaint (and it is a small one) is that they had a photographer there and they made us take a group photo before we got on the boat, which they try to sell you later. First of all, the photo wasn’t even good. Second, maybe it’s just me, but I hate that gimmicky crap and I found it to be a huge annoyance.
Overall I would definitely recommend this cruise!

My husband and I and 8 kids had a great time bay fishing. The staff was great.

While in South Padre for several days I decided to go on a fishing trip. I grabbed a bunch of brochures and did some research on the internet and thought I’d try this one because it was inexpensive at $ 25 a person.
I boarded a large, run down boat around 7:30 in the morning and heard «the captain» remark that the fishing had been terrible for nearly 2 weeks straight. They had a bunch of really crappy rods and reels stationed along the edge of the boat with cut up squid and mullet for bait. I tried to be optimistic as 25 of us headed into the bay.
We stopped and they told us to start fishing. I grabbed my rusty reel and we started to catch small whiting fish and a few catfish. Nothing worth keeping, but people did keep some of them. Some kid caught an eel. I was hoping to catch something different with a little size to it, maybe a Redfish or a Trout, but the fishing was pretty dismal. The day before I stood on the beach and caught plenty of whiting and catfish for free.
The Captain was just a guy who drove the boat around and the deck hand basically got the fish off your hook for you, which isn’t really needed if you can do it yourself. We hit a few different spots, but the fishing was all the same, sad. The boat is crowded and you can only drop your line into the water over the boat. After an hour I sat down on the boat and waited for it to be over. It wasn’t that fun or exciting. This might be good for small children. If you go make sure and bring your own water and snacks as they told us they were sold out of everything except candy.
To sum it up you basically putt around the bay on an old boat and use crappy gear to catch tiny little feeder fish. This is not for anyone looking to have a real fishing experience.
You would have more fun simply standing on the beach, casting out live bait and fishing there. In fact, stop at the Quik Stop bait store on Hwy 100 in Port Isabel and get everything you need to beach fish. It’s much more enjoyable and the guys in the store can tell you exactly what to do. If you already have a rod and reel then you can get everything you need to fish for a few days for around $ 10 (rig, bait, etc).
I was kinda mad that I wasted my morning on this trip and wished I’d just have headed out to the beach instead, but at least I know now.