Action Outdoors, United States

5Kaeli W 5:00 PM Jun 27, 2014

Enjoyed the sunset cruise
We really enjoyed the sunset cruise. We took our 4 yr old and 2 yr old. Our kids saw so so many dolphins on the cruise that they actually got bored of looking at the dolphins! The adults in our group loved all the dolphins. The crew did take us out to see the oil rigs which was interesting, and we drug a drop net and pulled in the catch. They remove any dangerous animals and the kiddos can touch the safe parts of the catch in the touch tank. The cruise is very laid back, but I asked the captain questions through out the trip and he was very knowledgeable. You may find a trip that looks cheaper in Orange Beach but with the drive, or ferry, the hustle bustle, and over commercialized Orange Beach, I truly believe you will regret not going out with Action Outdoors! Our expectations were meet, and exceeded. Very laid back, but that's how we like it!

5A K 5:00 PM Aug 5, 2021

Affordable & Fun inshore fishing
On a beautiful July morning we boarded the Duke for the inshore fishing charter. We were a little hesitant because 5 years ago we took a fishing charter in FL that made my husband and I quite ill! However, in this case we did not feel seasick at all. The Duke is an outstanding vessel that can take the waves in stride. It was a comfortable, enjoyable fishing trip. Our 2 sons, ages 11 and 14 caught many trout, couple catfish, and couple small sharks. They enjoyed their time out, and enjoyed watching others in the group catch fish as well. The 2 fisherman/deckhand/captain in charge were Brian and Joshua. Brian was very conversational, easy going and educational. Josh had a bit of a pirate charm to him. Both men were great to be out on a boat with. They knew what they were doing, extremely helpful and worked well together.
I recommend this tour to anyone, but especially those who do not want to go miles out to sea, and do not want to pay as much as smaller, private fishing charters cost.

5weijers1 5:00 PM Jul 15, 2014

probably the highlight of our trip!
we really enjoyed this little evening dauphin cruise. we went from 5:30-8:30 because when we called to make reservations they said that was the best time to see dauphins. the captain and his deck hand were both so friendly and talked and talked to my kids. the highlight for the children was seeing what the net drug up. They got to hold a squid, a puffer fish, sand dollars galore, shrimp, flounders, and many other different kinds of fish. we did see plenty of dolphin. the birds try to get the fish as the children throw them in and this scares away the dolphin. you will have much better luck if you do not let the birds get any fish. throw the fish hard and straight down. they need to fly in to that water like a little torpedo! then the dolphin will come right up to the boat.
the best thing to do at dauphin island is to relax on the beach or in a beautiful beach house and do nothing! but if i was join g to do one thing it would be this.

5MGoodin79 5:00 PM Aug 9, 2014

Fun and educational trip!
We went out on a private charter of the Duke. Our group had 11 people including 4 children between the ages of 7-11 and two 18 year olds. Everyone had a blast. You are allowed to take a cooler with 'adult' beverages and snacks. We just went out for the sunset cruise.

We did see dolphins and they drug the net for us to catch sea creatures. The term 'aquarium' on the boat was used very loosely as they never put water in it. All the little creatures we caught were fed to the seagulls. (Kids loved this, even the big kids!) The deck hand was very knowledgeable about the different animals and explained alot about them.

We got up close to the 'oil rigs' you see out in the ocean and they are actually gas rigs and very awesome to see lit up close.

The whole family enjoyed this trip - nice to just get out on the water in my opinion!!

4WALTER G 5:00 PM Jun 30, 2015

Great Family Fun
We took a trip on the Duke. We ranged in age from 6 to 80. We had a great time. Caught a few sharks, a couple of catfish, some sting rays, and trout. They actually know how to clean the shark and we had fresh grilled shark that evening. Delicious!
They pulled the troll net on the way home. I don't know who was more interested in the catch, the kids or the adults. It was a great adventure at a great price. I would do it again. Thanks

2John D 5:00 PM Jul 8, 2016

Ho Hum
I had high hopes for Action Outdoors. Paid for a cruise from 8-12 with the expectation of fun and fishing. I was not impressed by the late departure, 8:10, but we arrived at our fishing site wishing 15 minutes. Low speed vessel, but comfortable ride. I caught two very small, baby shark pups, my son caught one and my wife caught a croaker within the first 30 minutes and then the fishing action died. We moved to a spot closer in to the marina and caught nothing. The deck hand told us about the previous outing that caught 80-90 pound sharks, and a dozen fish a piece. I was under the impression that they would drag a net on the way in and the kids would get to handle some sea life as the website advertised, but the deck hand said that was only on the evening cruise. We pulled back into the slip at 11:40. When the excursion was advertised as 8-12. $189 including tip, is not too expensive compared to other charters, but it was a huge disappointment. The deck hand apologized about the fishing action, and I know you can't make fish bite, but I would think that they would have checked the tidal and lunar tables before taking people out on a fishing trip. Based on my experience, I would avoid this charter if you really want to catch fish.

1RK4747 5:00 PM Sep 20, 2017

painful cruelty
Signed up for the dolphin cruise. The dolphin cruise is advertised as 4 hours but upon arrival, find out it is really only 2. They attempted to overcharge us when we paid. When we questioned the increased charge, it they said, they thought we were going on the 4 hour dolphin cruise (so did we but turns out it is not as advertised) The Duke is not the nicest boat but the pictures show a trough down the middle of the boat, full of water and sea creatures with interested children standing around, supposedly learning. When we first started cruising the first mate cornered me and my date up front and started talking about his faith and eventually got increasingly intimating and loud demanding to know if we had accepted Jesus as our personal lord and savior. He also gave us his family history about is gambling mother stealing his fish when he was younger so she could sell them for gambling $$. The cruise started with dropping a net to catch stuff to attract the dolphins, however this net was pulled up well before the halfway point in the cruise. How could we ever see dolphins without bait? The contents of the net were dumped in the trough I had seen in the pictures but there was no water. The sea creatures just floundered and flopped, clearly distressed. I am all for the circle of life and learning but this was poorly done and not educational other than what had to be thrown back. He cut not just the barb but also the tail off the stingrays, other fish were thrown about, everything was slowly dying. At this point my group was getting upset because the dolphin bait was gone and obviously not going back in, the cruise was now some hack job attempt at entertaining the kids on the boat under the guise of education. This first mate was clearly not a teacher, educator, knowledgeable, empathetic. I have gone on educational marine cruises and none were at all this uninformed, cruel, crass, ridiculous. WE PAID FOR A DOLPHIN CRUISE, NOT HIS. When we questioned the first mate and asked why there was no water in the trough, why cut off the tails and the barbs he got defensive and attempted to intimidate my mother yelling, have you ever seen a shrimp boat, shrimp processing?! So now he has yelled at my mama. The Captain has seen everything and does nothing, just said the tails would grow back. This place is a rip off, rude, not scientific, YELLED AT MY MOTHER. TRIED TO OVERCHARGE US. There is no 4 our cruise as advertised. The 4 hour cruise turns out is only 2 hours. TOURIST TRAP

1cabinluvers 5:00 PM Aug 23, 2016

Waste of money and crew does not care about your experience
The Captain never introduced himself and stayed in the cabin smoking the entire trip. Deckhand pointed to where life jackets were but never reviewed how to put them on. Deckhand said a few other instructive things for boat and then drank coke the rest of the trip and smoked with captain. There were small children and a baby on board. When we started the trip and got into the channel, there was a storm with lightning starting but nothing was mentioned about our safety or was there concern from the crew. We went to the lighthouse and once there neither captain or deckhand gave any information on it. We slowed down so people could take pictures and then turned around to head back. We did not get very close to the natural gas rigs as the website led you to believe. We also did not see any dolphins nor did the crew try to find any. The deckhand then announced that because the captain was concerned about the storm he previously was not concerned about when we left for our trip, we were going to take it slow going back in to see if we could miss the storm. This seemed false since we had not seen any lightning for some time and it was.much worse on the way out to the lighthouse than when the deckhand made this announcement. The lightning had stopped and the rain was nowhere to be seen. Basically we did idle speed from the lighthouse to the marina on the way back and it was the longest, most boring trip. We did not cast the shrimp net again due to the 'weather' though there was no weather. It seemed the captain did not want to work and get back early. We got to the marina after 2.5 hours on the boat and it was not worth the money. We asked to be credited for part of our tickets and were offered free tickets for the next time and when we said we would never be back in dauphin island and we wanted our money back because we did not get the trip we paid for, they did nothing. We hire private charters and use party boats frequently and never have we experienced such poor customer service and lack of experience in captain and deckhand. Captains, at least good captains, always at least introduce themselves and then the crew before taking the wheel. The trip that is advertised is not the trip you will get....expect just a boat ride with no narrative or true safety concern from the crew. They could care less if their customers get what they pay for. There was no excuse to not look for dolphins. The only thing we got on this shrimping, lighthouse, dolphin cruise was the lighthouse and a very, very poor experience we will never recommend to anyone.

1dustcin 5:00 PM Jul 20, 2016

Cancelled without calling
Drove from Illinois Friday and Saturday to Gulfport, MS. I had called Action Outdoors two weeks prior and made reservations for the morning fishing trip and afternoon dolphin cruise. We got up very early Sunday morning (after driving 11.5 hours Friday and Saturday), packed a lunch, and drove about an hour and 20 minutes to get to Dauphin Island. Once we got there and I said we had reservations for the day, the young lady said "They didn't call you yesterday?" Evidently, they only take the boat out if there are more than 10 people which no one informed me of when I made the reservation. It would have been helpful to know that so I could have called myself to double-check on the reservation. Instead, we wasted our time driving almost 3 hours for absolutely no reason and the kids were completely disappointed that we didn't get to go out on the water. Disgusted!