Super Duck Tours

Avoid. Reasonable tour but then they left us stranded at their «oasis» in the middle of nowhere for more than 45 minutes. Tour guides had racist and sexism jokes among the «historical facts.» Real Duck Tours are much better. Avoid.

Terrible tour. We were so excited about our Groupon and booked this tour. We had two older gents, Paul and Steve. The tour was so boring. Paul, the first narrator, kept saying «um» as if he didn’t really know the material. We were hopeful that when we went into the water that the second narrator would be better, but he was even worse. We joked that they both sounded like drunks, but not the fun kind. To add even more misery, we had to wait 25 minutes for the shuttle after the tour was over. The one bright spot was the lovely and energetic shuttle driver (can’t remember her name, adorable with salt and pepper hair.) She was very fun and entertaining. I wish she had conducted our tour. Don’t waste your time or money on this tour, it isn’t worth it.

Worst part of our vacation was Super Duck Tour today. Most of us fell asleep and I could see many other guests feeling asleep as well. Not only us, the tour guide himself (first duck) fell asleep when the «captain» was speaking in the water (i even took pictures of him dozing off). I’ve taken Duck tours before in other cities and this one was clearly not how duck tours operate. Look for other duck tour operators if you are looking for any. Not this one guys. I only wish if there was a way to get our money back.

I’ve done duck tours around the country, so I know the drill. I even did the other Boston duck tour several years back. I booked this one because of an awesome Groupon deal, and it was super easy to get booked. I was quickly and easily able to buy tickets for a tour on the same day. First, bought the Groupon, then immediate cashed it in on the site. There was no waiting period, no problems getting into a tour. Of course, it’s just May, but there are a lot of people in town for graduations, and the tour did appear to be actually sold out. (Or maybe oversold? There were about 5 people who didn’t have seats and have to leave, and if that had been me, I might be writing a VERY different review here!)
I am surprised by the negative reviews of this duck tour. It is completely what is expected of a duck tour. They do talk a lot about safety, but in light of the fatal accidents around the country with these vehicles, it is not entirely surprising. I appreciate that they think about these things. And let’s face it — driving something that big in a crowded city is not easy. They are doing their best, and I respect that.
There’s a lot of complaints about comfort, and so I thought I would address that. The seats are not any more uncomfortable than any other duck boat. If you’re expecting a vibrating recliner, perhaps you should go get a pedicure. This is an amphibious vehicle with standard plastic tour seats. A normal sized adult should fit perfectly fine for 90 minutes.
One point of confusion, though: They have two different guides on board, which is different than many other tours. At first, I thought this was a huge bonus to them. Having come recently from Seattle, where there was a horrific accident in 2015 that resulted in a lot of discussion about the duck safety, I assumed the second guide would do all the talking, leaving the driver to pay attention to navigating the crowded streets. Strangely, though, our driver did all of the narration during the land portion. Then, when we were on the water, the other guy took over and gave his stories. They were both super nice and interesting guides, but I don’t understand why there are two guides if the driver is still going to have to narrate while driving.
Still, I didn’t feel unsafe, and I thought our guides were professional and entertaining.

Super Duck 6 just almost drove me off the side of the road. Your driving is reckless and I don’t trust them.

We did the ride on a Sunday afternoon. It was a pretty afternoon and we had a good tour. The guide/​driver was great. I learned so much about Boston.

We had a great time on this 90 minute tour of Boston. Tom and Cary gave a LOT of information in an interesting and humorous way. My kids loved «driving right into the water» and we all enjoyed being out on the beautiful day. We snagged a coupon on Groupon to get a deal. :)

Do not use this one. They treat customers terribly and the groupon is only good for 10 and 11. Did not show on groupon but did on their website in a shady way. This type of business practice is unacceptable and if I had known they would play the bait and switch game I would have gone elsewhere.

What a great time!!!
This was my first time to Boston and I bought their ‘ultimate pass’ (Duck Boat Ride, 2-​Day Trolley Access, and One Free Admission to a local attraction) the day of at one of their kiosks (located all over the city). It was very easy to purchase their ticket and very convenient that they have a trolley schedule throughout the day (8/​9am — 5/​6pm) at 16 stops throughout Boston! Every 20 minutes a new trolley would arrive at each stop, which meant I could take my time to explore without worry of being left somewhere.
I went all over the city and took my time over the two days to visit my top spots and return to those I thoroughly enjoyed! Little hassle and all of their driver’s are very knowledgeable about Boston — as they drive you get a guided tour!
I’m a fan and I really enjoyed my trip to Boston because of experiences that I had traveling around the city. I would definitely recommend since you get so much value. The Duck Boat tour of Boston Harbor was great and I chose the Charles River Cruise as my free excursion/​admission — which I highly recommend since you get a great view of Boston from the water.
For first timers to Boston — It is a must. Great way to explore the city and a great way to experience the history of Boston with the knowledgeable drivers/​guides.

Let me start off with saying, the driver named Steve is awesome!!! So much so that while waiting for a new bus our whole family was hoping we’d get Steve again, he is like a humorous human encyclopedia and was very interactive with the riders. 5 stars for him.
This being said, we had to wait so long for each bus to come by. It’s supposed to be every 15 minutes but it wasn’t, at all. At one stop we had three buses from one different company come and go before ours came once.

We were very excited about the super duck tours. I found tickets on groupon and followed all of the instructions listed on groupon and the website. Once we got there, it was confusing as to where to check in and where the bus would leave from. Nothing was labeled. After walking to the gift store, we found where we were supposed to wait for the tour. We attempted to check in and show our groupons, but they stated we had no reservations. This had happened to the people in front of us and the people behind us as all. We ended up waiting next to the bus in hopes that no one else would show up, so we could hop on. Strangely enough, they had just enough seats for the people who «didn’t make reservations».
By the time we got seats, we were annoyed and disappointed with the lack of customer service and suggestion. Thankfully, once we did jump on the duck, the tour guides were great. Traffic was minimal and it was a beautiful Boston day. It is a great way to check out the city, but don’t let the lack of customer service and the groupon process slow you down.

Worst tour ever, good luck trying to find the pick-​up location and better luck trying to get useful information from their so called customer service.

We took the 90 minute duck boat tour and had a great time! The staff was fun and willing to answer our questions (we had a lot!) The ‘duck boat’ vehicle looks more like a bus vs a boat, but it still did its thing in the water like a champ. I enjoyed that we got to spend 45 minutes in the harbor, the ‘other’ tour company only does it for 15 minutes. Would recommend.

I am new to Boston and when spring came around I was seeing the super duck tour busses all over my neighborhood. I had never seen something like that so I was intrigued. The idea of a bus that goes on land and water sounded cool. I was looking at groupon and they had a deal up for the duck tour so I bought them. I decided to take my mother on one for her birthday since she was also intrigued by them.
So on my moms birthday we showed up in Charlestown and paid an arm and a leg to park. We wandered around and could not find a sign anywhere that said «wait here for super duck tours». We seriously walked all over Charlestown trying to figure out where to line up. I was extremely frustrated. About 45 minutes later we found the bus.
We went into the bus and it was loading up quickly. Some people did not get to sit with their party which must have been disappointing. Make sure you get there early to ensure you’re sitting with the person you came with. They had oversold the bus so they made a few people get off and get on the next one.
Once I sat on the bus, I just knew I was screwed. This was the most uncomfortable seat I have ever sat on in my life! I’m serious. If it weren’t my mothers birthday I would’ve left.
Once the tour started I was pretty bored. The tour guide was so boring! All he talked about was booze. They drove us through a few parts of Boston and then back to Charlestown where we got on the water. The water was honestly the only somewhat enjoyable part.
Throughout the entire tour I was SO uncomfortable sitting on the wooden seats. In fact, I was miserable. I was happy when the tour ended and got off the bus with a sore behind and legs. Please beware of this. Also, when we were getting off the bus the tour guide was standing with a big box in his hands waiting for a tip. It was awkward.
I am writing this review almost 2 months later with the same pain in my leg from the bus. I cannot believe it’s been this long and my body is still extremely sore from the duck tour. Whenever I see people on the duck tour I shudder. I am very sorry I ever bought a duck tour ticket. If you must go, make sure you bring a cushion to sit on.

Very knowledgable but soooo boring. Bad idea for young kids. I feel like I’m in school. Never again. Wish i could get off and swim to shore.

I had the pleasure of riding on the Big Splash with Captain Howie and his Mate Jeff. The Captain really knows how to build the splash up and he knows the accurate version of history. He presents it in an interesting way. Being a teacher, I really appreciate this and I even got a few new ideas! This Boston Harbor trip is far superior to the Boston Duck which gives a superficial trip paddling around the River Charles. I’m hoping to catch the Captain Howie — Big Splash again before the season is over.

Woah woah woah why is everyone so critical?!
I’ve lived in the Boston area for several years now but it wasn’t until a guest came to town did I decide to go on a duck tour myself. To be completely honest, I heard some bad things about the company, so I went in with low expectations. My experience proved me wrong! I enjoyed the 1.5 hour tour and learning about the city from a brand new (aka a tourist’s) perspective.
Our tour guides, Captain John and Jeff and the shuttle driver Brooke, were all very knowledgable and informative. They were patient with our group, which consisted of several kids on a field trip and some adults. The first half of the tour was on land — we drove from Charlestown to Boston, through the North End, Waterfront, Seaport, City Hall etc. The second half of the tour was in water, in the Charlestown Navy Yard, to be specific. The boat was going pretty slow in the water, but it was rather relaxing sitting there and looking at Boston from a different angle than I was used to. The boat rocked a little against the waves. It was quite inspiring listening to the captain talking about the history of one of the oldest cities in America and stories behind each thing we saw along the way. Captain John and Jeff worked perfectly as a duo. It was obvious that they love this city.
During entire tour, I felt very safe. Going into the water and coming back on land were probably some of the coolest parts. Our tour guides cracked a few jokes and we laughed along — everybody was having a good time. I finished the tour with much more in depth knowledge of Boston. I even got a little souvenir!
A few thoughts and recommendations:
— Lower the seats on the boat to provide more comfort. The seats were rather high. I am tall and I don’t remember the last time my feet were dangling in the air while sitting.
— Provide more detailed info about the tour on the website — e.g. Length and route of the tour — I didn’t find out about the details until the day of my tour.
— Expand the route to include more of Boston on the land part of the tour. It would’ve been great if we had driven around downtown/​back bay/​cambridge.
Overall I would recommend the Super Duck Tour. Make sure to get the Groupon deal! Quack quack!

Not being from Boston, I had never seen or heard about this duck tours till one day walking by Charles river with my dog I saw a whole bunch of them first driving and then to my great surprise driving in the river. When my daughter asked me what I like to do for my birthday I said I wanted to do the Duck Tours. What a great way to see the city and view the city from the water. It was a nice sunny day in Boston, but I was glad I had my hat and scarf with me. It did get a little chilly. My only issue was that we had gotten a deal from groupon, but it was very unclear where we had to go and get on this Duck tour! We walked and walked all over the army area and who ever we asked kept telling us the wrong information. Not even one sign was posted as where we were to wait to get picked up. I was getting very annoyed, as if every one is from Boston and should know the area well. All they had to say was wait by gate #2.
The captain was awesome and very knowledgable with history, he pointed to so many places that I had never noticed. I’m glad I got to experience a tour as such, it was lots of fun.

Our captain and our hostess were not the «funniest» guides I’ve ever had, but they are certainly knowledgeable and share a love of people, patience for children and passion for what they do. Us local history buffs, still picked up some tidbits from the experience. Didn’t care for the «Digs» on the other company, but either Duck tour offer tourists a particular glimpse of Boston, that may go unnoticed by the untrained eye. Everyone was super friendly in the process, and yes, worth, on a beautiful cool day, a tour on the Harbor and a glimpse of the city in all its «Citiness» — She is Beautiful!
Capt Tom is certainly IN LOVE madly, crazy and hopelessly with his city, and he shows it on his sleeves, jacket, shoes…
Thanks for the ride and the stories!

This was very, very, painful — in every sense of the word. I felt trapped on a giant (hot) duck in a horrendously uncomfortable seat. Add in a lovely soundtrack of screaming toddlers and children led by an incompetent staff (they had trouble even tallying the total number of people on the bus before we left) and you’ve got a recipe for the most excruciating tour of your life. The guides jumped from one asinine topic to another with the focus of a pair of gnats. In between trying to get comfortable and plotting how to escape from the duck I heard gems such as which marina has the more expensive gas by .20.
A couple logistical things — the shuttle to take us to the bus was 25 minutes late departing because we were waiting for a party to arrive who was «almost there» about 10 times. Completely unfair and disrespectful to those of us who arrived on time and then had to sit in the hot shuttle waiting. Second, At one point they asked if we’d like to keep going longer than it was supposed to go. I’m not sure if this was a ploy of some sort to increase their tips or if they were ever really serious but in saying that, it forced those of us who wanted off the duck more than anything in the world, and who had dinner reservations based on the scheduled completion time, to look like jerks who had to scream «NO» vehemently.
Once we finally disembarked, we wanted so little to do with this company and the others on our tour that we skipped the free shuttle back to the starting point and opted to pay out of pocket for our own transportation.
Do. Not. Take. This. Tour.