Orlando Deep Sea Charter / Party Boat Suggestions?

Hello all. My wife and I are heading to Orlando for a weekend before the end of the month. I have only been deep sea fishing once about 25 years ago and she's never been. Can ya'll recommend anyone in that area? We don't mind driving a few hours from there.
Any and all information is welcome - not just what boat to go on, but also what to expect, how much it costs, and such. THANK YOU in advance.

If you go south of there you will be able To find a Carter for sportfish. You won't have to go far offshore as the Gulf Stream is only 15-20 miles offshore which usually makes the charters a little more affordable. You will be able to find some Mahi off Daytona as well as some good bottom Fishing.

From Orlando to:

Miami: 3 hr 36 min.

Homestead: 4 hr 7 min.

If you are going to lay out that kind of cash,
those are your best bets.

Been there, done that.. Many times.

As for what to expect try Florida Sportsman forums.
(google it, don't want to link back)

Much like GON and if it's not there, you don't need it.

Charters, WHATEVER!

I think I forgot to mention that we'll have to go on a party boat as we just don't have the funds to do a private charter. I appreciate the tip as maybe that's something we can do in the future.

Some online research shows the Ocean Obsession, Orlando Princess, and Canaveral Princess all sailing out of Port Canaveral. Prices range from $75 to $95 for a full day trip.

Can anyone recommend one over another? Another boat entirely?

Isn't the fishing supposed to be better on the gulf side than the Atlantic side? I'd think there would be better luck leaving from St. Petersburg, Tampa, or the Spring Hill area?

Sorry for all the questions, but I wasn't even a teenager yet the last time I fished saltwater.

Clearwater will work too..

I used to live there back in the day.

There is a huge marina where Fla. Hwy 60
dead heads at Big Pier 60. Most of them go out through John's Pass.
Excellent access from the marina. Good fishing from that pier too.
Pay to play. NO LICENSE NEEDED!

There are charter and party boats. (bunch)

I would say the off-shore is better on the Atlantic side
simply because the continental shelf is a shorter run to deep water than the gulf.
Less riding, more fishing.

Up-side to the Bay Area is the old Sunshine Skyway Bridge
has had the center span removed and two fishing piers
have been made out of what's left. Lifting hoops and gaff
are there for the public to use. If you want to do the DYI thing.

Good spot for Grouper, Mackerel, Snapper and more.
Free too.. All you need is an out of state temp. license,
bait and tackle. I've caught many there as well.

All that is available on the Florida Sportsman's Forums
too.

I fish off the Blue Heron out of jupiter or vero beach. Its a party boat and they are always on the fish. On the worst days there at least Bonito's for the newer to offshore fishers to catch! Probably a 2-3 hour drive from Orlando but they are probably the closest to the gulf stream too. They fish reefs just 3 to 5 miles offshore. Right now looks like they catching everything. Kings mahis tunas snappers......

I have fished off of the Canaveral princess and it was a pretty good boat and crew.

If you are going to make a run over to the Tampa area instead book with Hubbards Marina for a 10 or 12hr trip. Best crew and captain I have ever experienced on a party boat. I have been on a ton and these guys impressed me.

I forgot to mention that the princess does all you can drink beer on some of their trips! Also Red Snapper is in season on the Gulf side.

As far as what to expect...

About $100 per person
Long drive out and back
Some tangles
Circle hooks (so real quickly for a few turns when you get a bite, don't jerk up)
Take Dramamine if you haven't done this in a while
Bring a tip for the crew

Thanks to everyone for all the information and keep it coming!!
Hubbards Marina looks like it might be a really good one. I see the 10 vs 12 hour trips give you about the same amount of actual fishing time. Do you recommend the longer trip to get out where the better fish are?

61BelAir said:

Thanks to everyone for all the information and keep it coming!!
Hubbards Marina looks like it might be a really good one. I see the 10 vs 12 hour trips give you about the same amount of actual fishing time. Do you recommend the longer trip to get out where the better fish are?

Click to expand...

Yes.

61BelAir said:

Thanks to everyone for all the information and keep it coming!!
Hubbards Marina looks like it might be a really good one. I see the 10 vs 12 hour trips give you about the same amount of actual fishing time. Do you recommend the longer trip to get out where the better fish are?

Click to expand...

Gulf coast is a longer trip. Further north in florida you go from the treasure coast the longer the ride. depends what species you target at what time of year as the party boats go. the more expensive private charters can get you anywhere but cost more depending on the location. Either way. fish or no fish its always a fun cool boat ride on a party boat if you dont do it all the time and still worth the money to me. Even though I do it really often I still have a blast on slow days.

Half day on the Orlando Princess is a lot of fun, especially if black sea bass are in season. I like the 8 - 10 hour charters, but they are not for everybody/.

THANK YOU TO EVERYONE who took time to reply and advise!!

We ended up going out Saturday on the Orlando Princess for an all day trip. We left just before 8 and came back a little after 5. Ride time was just over 2 hours each way. We had bacon, egg, and cheese sandwiches for breakfast along with hamburgers/hotdogs for lunch. All the soda, water, and beer you wanted. Rod, reel, and bait (squid & cigar minnows - I think) were provided. The boat and crew were great. The weather was really nice. The fishing wasn't very good at all. I honestly think the captain did his best to put everyone on fish, but the fish just weren't cooperating. I overheard him talking to one of the crew and the captain was genuinely disappointed in the bite.

There were 4 of us in our group - myself, wife, her brother, and his wife. I'd guess there were about 50 people fishing on the boat. The first fish of the day was a Cobia and I'd guess weighed 12-15 pounds. It bit within the first couple minutes of fishing and was the "big fish". Second in size was a Dorado (Mahi Mahi/Dolphin) that was longer than the Cobia, but lighter. Someone caught a Bluefin (?) Tuna in the 10 pound range, and several snappers were caught. Some were red snappers and had to go back. Some people caught sea bass and small grouper.

Out of our little group, my wife Shannon caught the only keeper. A snapper just over 2 pounds. My sister in law caught nothing besides the same guy's line over and over.....and they had several people between them. We can't figure that one out. LOL
The rest of us caught several "grunts" and other small fish that we just used for fresh bait. Shannon and her brother each hung fish that I'd bet were each well over 100 pounds. They both took off pulling drag like you'd hooked a top fuel dragster for awhile before cutting the line. It was all Tony could do to hang onto the rod. Reeling was impossible as he'd have just been reeling against the drag. Shannon's went in the opposite direction towards the rear of the boat. A deck hand assisted her and most of the people gave way for them to move down the side, but it ended up cutting her line too. We hung a few other really big fish that ended up breaking off, but they stayed deep and didn't run like the other 2. Mine went under the boat and tangled me into someone on the other side. If he hadn't started yelling I may have pulled him overboard. LOL I never saw a shark, but my brother in law did.....he said it was about 8 feet long. Someone on the back of the boat had a good size red snapper get bitten into just behind the gills. A deck hand carried it all the way around the boat warning everyone to reel fast when you get a fish on or you may end up feeding it to the sharks.
We got to see flying fish, dolphins, and getting to watch the Dorado being caught was cool. It was beautiful and we could see it enough to know what it was probably 5 minutes before he got it in the boat. The water was as blue and pretty as when we went to Nassau and Cozumel.
Also surprisingly we weren't fishy smelling at all after being out there all day. Even our cut bait didn't really stink - which may be why we didn't have better luck?
Anyway, we had a really fun trip and can't wait to go again. Maybe out of Savannah or somewhere else on Georgia's coast. We only went from down there because we were in Orlando anyway.

The OP is usually a good trip. The tuna was probably (should say definatly) not a bluefin, but a black fin. Blue fins are extremely rare anywhere in Florida. Glad you guys had a good time, if you do it again try a west coast trip like Hubbards. Not necessarily any better, but different.

A lot of good fishing charters out of Sebastion Beach Inlet and Vero Beach. About 10 years ago, I went out on one of the boats in the Blue Water Brawl fishing tournament as a cameraman. It was awesome watching them bringing in some nice fish. Of course, it would have been nicer if they tipped the camera guy with one of those Yellowfins

slow this week on jupiter party boat

Went out on blue herron sunday and fishing was very disappointing ,the fising reports were great inshore and offshore but we managed just 1 little fish each.I would recommend going out on a private charter and have a better chance of catching fish .