Good to know

Tickets and ages

• Adults are 16 and over. Child tickets are for ages 4 to 15.
• Children under 4 go free and don't take a place. Book at least one adult ticket for each child under 4.
• Children under 16 must come with an adult.
• The Sunset Sail on the Bay is for ages 12 and over, so its child tickets are for ages 12 to 15.

Booking and cancelling

• Online booking opens 60 days ahead and closes at the end of the day before your trip.
• For trips today, ask at the ticket booth from 9 am. We sell any places that are left.
• You can book up to 8 places on one trip, and up to 4 trips in one reservation. For groups of 9 or more, please call us.
• Cancel online under Manage my reservation until the end of the day before your first trip. Cancelling is free.
• Cancelling cancels every trip in the reservation. To keep some of them, cancel and reserve those again.
• Reservations can't be changed online. Cancel and reserve again, or call us and we'll help if we can.
• We don't run private hire or fishing trips.

Weather

• The captain decides on the morning of each trip whether it is safe to go out.
• If we cancel a trip for weather, we call or text the phone number on your reservation by 8 am, and you pay nothing.
• The Channelside History Walk goes ahead in rain, but not in lightning.
• We can't tell you days ahead whether a trip will run.

Prices and payment

Each trip's ticket prices are on our home page. Prices are in US dollars. The port sets the port fee. You pay at the ticket booth before you board, by card or cash. We don't take payment online, and we don't sell gift vouchers or take discount codes.

Meeting point and getting here

• Meet at the blue ticket booth at the Ybor Channel dock, 15 minutes before your trip. Boats leave on time.
• The booth is a short walk from the streetcar stop.
• Boat trips leave from the floating dock behind the booth. The Channelside History Walk starts at the booth.
• We don't offer hotel or airport pickup. Taxis and rideshares can drop you at the dock gate.
• There's no parking at the dock. The pay garage two blocks north is a five-minute walk from the booth.

What to bring

• Sun protection, water, a light layer for the breeze, and flat shoes with grip.
• We have life jackets for everyone on board, in children's sizes too.
• The Hillsborough Bay Dolphin Watch goes out into open bay water, where it can be choppy. The Ybor Channel and Port Loop stays inside the channel.
• Dolphins are wild, so we can't promise you'll see them, but we see them on most trips.

Accessibility

The Rooster, which runs the Ybor Channel and Port Loop, has step-free boarding by ramp, space for one wheelchair and an accessible toilet. The other boats need a step down or a climb from the floating dock, and the crew can help. The Channelside History Walk is level, with one short brick-paved stretch. Tell us in your reservation notes what would help.

Dogs

Dogs on a lead are welcome on the Ybor Channel and Port Loop and the Channelside History Walk, at no charge. We don't take dogs on the Hillsborough Bay Dolphin Watch, so the dolphins aren't disturbed, or on the Sunset Sail on the Bay. Assistance dogs are welcome on every trip.