Tampa Bay · Naples
A 48-foot catamaran built to a Kurt Hughes design, carrying up to 48 from Port O Call Marina on Naples Bay. Narrated shelling, sightseeing and sunset trips daily, year-round, sailing into the Gulf when the weather allows. Private charters too. Sister boat to the Naples Princess.
Miss Naples is a 48-foot custom catamaran built to a Kurt Hughes design, Coast Guard certified for 48 passengers, and she runs daily and year-round from Port O Call Marina on Naples Bay. She belongs to the company behind the Naples Princess, the motor yacht that has worked the same waterfront for more than a quarter century, so check which boat a ticket is for.
The day starts with a three-hour morning trip, sold as the Island Eco Tour, through Naples Bay and Port Royal that stops for about an hour on a local beach for shelling, followed by a two-hour afternoon sightseeing trip and a sunset trip. All three are narrated, and on a fair day the boat goes out into the Gulf under sail; when it is too rough, she stays in the bay. Beer, wine, soft drinks and snacks are sold at the bar, no outside food or drink comes aboard, and the two heads are down a stairway in the hull. Private charters take groups of up to 48, with the captains able to perform a wedding ceremony, and tickets are booked online or by phone; parking at the ticket office is free.
Featured Tampa Bay · Cape Coral
Charlotte Harbor and Pine Island Sound bareboat operator working out of Tarpon Point Marina in Cape Coral. Sister to Florida Sailing & Cruising School, whose ASA courses run on the charter boats as well as on a school-only Beneteau 38.
Featured Daysail Tampa Bay · Naples
Naples's longest-running sailing catamaran by its own account, a 53-foot Gold Coast cat carrying 44 passengers from the Naples City Dock since 1991. Daily sunset, shelling and sightseeing seat sails and private charters. The company's Sweet Tiki is a motor boat.
Tampa Bay · Bradenton Beach
Gulf-front beach rental on Anna Maria Island, family run for forty years and, by its own account, the only place on the island renting sailboats. Hobie Wave and Hobie Getaway catamarans by the hour or half day, first come, first served, with a short lesson for first-timers.