Pensacola Beach Sailing Tours

eone else does by calling me, Captain Bruce Yates at 850-525-8808 between 7am and 7pm Central Time, 7 days a week. Please leave a detailed message if no one is able to answer the phone. Dolphin Viewing: We make a great effort to watch and listen to the wild Bottlenose Dolphins in our area. Since they are not confined in a small pen, everyone on-board helps to find the dolphins. We’ll be looking for an unusual splash in the water or a small dorsal fin in the shape of triangle, either silver or black depending on the lighting. Bring your sunglasses to help spot these intelligent mammals. I’ll also be using our on-board sonar to locate schools of fish. Where there’s fish, there’s often dolphins having lunch! Dolphins seem to have as many personalities and behavioral characteristics as people. You’ll quickly notice how some dolphins are curious and some dolphins are shy. If you hear them exhaling through their blowhole, you’ll know we’re close! Exploring a Deserted Island: We are very fortunate to have a beautiful deserted island in Pensacola Bay. We’ll anchor the boat right onto the beach of “Sand Island”. It’s covered with millions of shells so bring a bag to collect your favorites. It’s a fantastic experience to realize that we’re all alone, surrounded by beach and water. Don’t worry though, your phones will still work from atop one of the tall sand dunes. These sand-dunes also present a fun challenge for the kids to climb up and tumble down. Bring your camera for family photographs with spectacular backgrounds. There’s a shallow (2-3’ deep) area to swim, play around, float or collect more shells as well as a deeper area. Bring some type of footwear for walking on the sand or in the water. (If you want to buy nylon stretch water-shoes, they cost about $9.00 at local stores). Of course you might just want to lay down and relax or have a picnic if you remembered to bring lunch. Depending on the season, you are likely to encounter Ghost Crabs, Blue Crabs and the harmless Hermits Crabs. Here on the island, you’ll likely see more bird life than anywhere else in our area. Snorkeling:
Although the water visibility varies from day to day, the Santa Rosa Sound offers beginning snorkelers the chance to see a variety of fish, shrimp and crabs. While we do not have the brightly colored tropical fish known to inhabit the Florida Keys, this area is the breeding grounds for the Gulf of Mexico. Our snorkeling trip will be in shallow or deep water depending on swimming and snorkeling experience. Children or those who don’t swim will be able to explore areas where they can easily stand-up when desired. I’ll be glad to offer a free snorkeling lesson to everyone. All gear provided without charge. Catch and Release Baby Fish, Shrimp & Crabs:
With a little guidance, you’ll learn how to use a hand-net to find all these creatures and other marine life. The Santa Rosa Sound is the breeding grounds for the Gulf of Mexico. Small fish, shrimp and crabs will be hiding in the shallow grass-beds. We’ll have a floating aquarium to place our catch, be able to take a very close look at all the sea life we found and take photos before returning them back to the sea. This experience is similar to a lab-class in marine biology. Both young and old will be amazed by what we find. Sightseeing: Our experiences with Mother Nature changes every day. Some of the sightings we may observe include: an Osprey diving down to catch fish, Great Blue Herons walking the beaches, a manta-ray or sea turtle swimming in front of us or a giant school of fish churning up the surface of the water while flocks of birds dive-in for a meal. We’ll also see the civil war era cannons from Ft. Pickens face directly at us as they did 150 years ago, the “haunted” lighthouse of Pensacola Bay and the home of US Navy aviation Naval Air Station Pensacola. We might also find hidden bunkers and anti-aircraft guns from WWII, the Blue Angels or other jets flying overhead or get a close look at any of our beautiful and remote beaches. Sunsets on our Sunset Tour is a fantastic way to end a day of sightseeing along the Gulf Islands National Seashore.