Celebrations
Celebration Cruises Out of Marco Island & Naples
Birthdays, anniversaries, the rare weekend everyone is finally in the same place. You know you want to do something on the water — this page tells you which boat, which dock and which kind of trip fits it.
Start with the fork that decides everything else: seats on a scheduled cruise, or the whole boat to yourselves? A shared departure is the simple version — book the number of people you have, turn up, share the deck with other guests on a set route and a set clock. A private charter is what most celebrations want: your group is the only group aboard, and the captain shapes the run around what you came for. Seats live in the booking calendar; a charter is quoted when you book.
Then pick the boat, because the boat is really the head count. The tiki is the family-first celebration boat — thatched roof, fixed shade, 39.5-inch child safety rails, room for up to 26 guests. The Island Hopper is the landing boat with a bow ramp, up to 19 guests, the one that beaches on a shell island with no bridge to it. The center console is the small, fast one, up to 6 guests. If your number isn’t 26, 19 or 6, tell us the head count and we’ll tell you which boat fits. Your dock follows the trip: San Marco Marina in Goodland is the head start into the Ten Thousand Islands; Naples Bay Resort & Marina sits on protected Naples Bay downtown. They’re 30 to 40 minutes apart.
Then the honest part. We supply the boat, the captain and the water; you bring the cake and the people. We don’t provide decorations, catering, flowers, photography, music or an event planner. On a charter you carry aboard what suits your group, and your captain will say what travels well out there. Two last things before you fix a date: dolphins and wading birds are wild, so we can put you in the right water at the right time and nobody can promise a sighting — and a shelling departure leaves when the tide says, not when the calendar would prefer.
By the Decade
Milestone birthdays, a page each
Seven decades, seven genuinely different planning problems. Each is written for the person doing the organising, not the person being celebrated.
Already Running
The occasions we already run
Five long-standing pages, each built around one kind of day. If your celebration is on this list, start there rather than here.
Not a Birthday
Bigger groups & other celebrations
The rest of what people book a boat for down here, plus the logistics a bigger head count brings.
The Practical Part
How it actually works
The boat, the dock and the ground rules — read these before you pick a date, not after.
Good to Know
Planning questions, answered straight
The six things people ring up and ask before booking a celebration on the water.
Should we book seats on a scheduled tour, or charter the whole boat?
If the group is small and easy-going, scheduled seats are the simplest thing going: book the number of people you have and turn up. Charter the whole boat when the day belongs to somebody — no other guests aboard, a route built around what you came for, and no clock but yours.
How far ahead should we book a celebration?
Earlier than feels necessary. We’re a small family-run outfit with a limited number of boats and captains, and the boat that suits your group on your particular afternoon is often the only one that does. If the date is fixed, get in touch as soon as you have it — sooner still between January and April. Call (239) 301-8913 and a captain will tell you what’s genuinely open.
How big a group can you take?
The tiki carries up to 26 guests and is the largest single boat we’d put a celebration on; the Island Hopper takes up to 19; the center console takes up to 6. We run pontoons too, so if your head count isn’t 26, 19 or 6, don’t work it out from a website — tell us the number and we’ll tell you what fits.
What do you provide, and what do we bring?
We provide the boat, a USCG Master Captain, the route and the water. Everything that makes it a celebration comes from you: the cake, the candles, the playlist, the people. We don’t supply decorations, catering, flowers, photography or an event planner. On a private charter, carry aboard what suits your group — ask your captain first, because some things travel well on a boat and some really don’t.
Which dock do we go to?
Whichever one your booking names — the two aren’t interchangeable. San Marco Marina, 604 E Palm Ave in Goodland, is the head start into the Ten Thousand Islands: shelling, wild island beaches, backwater wildlife. Naples Bay Resort & Marina, 1500 5th Ave S on protected Naples Bay, sits minutes from 5th Avenue South. Goodland runs 30 to 40 minutes further down the road, so type the marina address into your map app, never the town name.
What happens if the weather turns?
Captains make that call, not calendars, and safety wins every time. If conditions turn before your departure we’ll reach you as early as we can and talk the options through rather than leave you guessing in a parking lot. Summer afternoons build storms that move off quickly, so for a date you can’t move, a morning or early-evening slot is steadier.
Ready when you are
Tell us who it’s for
Open the page that matches what you’re planning, or go straight to a private charter and let a captain build the day around it. Call (239) 301-8913 and we’ll tell you honestly what fits.