Party Boats Destin Princess & Destiny

Good fishing beats anything. Despite the high seas and wind — a good fishing. We caught triggers, vermillion, and amberlini. Captain and mates all helpful. Full boat = lots of tangles. But that comes with the trip. I would go back again tomorrow if vacation allowed. See ya next time.

Went out on an 8hr today. It was obviously going to be rough since the wind was 12 – 17 mph from the Northwest. Tip for the uninitiated, if the captain tells you that you can bail out because the conditions are going to be «very rough», pay attention. It was, indeed, very rough and it made for difficult fishing. That being said, the mates worked their fanny’s off and did their best to take care of a full contingent of fisherfolk. I have been going on headboats both in Destin and Hatteras. The only questions I have are the sort of «hard sell» on tips and the «necessary new policy» on paying to have the fish cleaned. Mind you it is my policy to tip the mates more that the 15−18% that is posted and I did so on this trip. I also paid more than the 35 cents a pound for cleaning. I assume that there have been enough issues with tipping and cleaning that the mates feel compelled to stand at the gangway with a tip jar and I hope it pays off in the long run. All this said I had a fine trip despite difficult conditions and would do it again.

Great trips this weekend. Went 8 hours on Princess on Saturday. Caught lots of fish. Deckhands Andrew and Aaron did a great job and worked hard to keep us fishing.
Destiny 8 hours on Sunday… Captain Dennis and his mates Alan and Josh were wonderful!!! They were super nice and genuinely fun to fish with. Thanks for the great time and all the fish. See yall back again soon.

We had such a great time on the Destiny. We did the early morning 6 hour fishing trip, and ended up catching 25 lbs of fish! One guy caught 44 lbs! The captain was very mindful of making sure we got plenty of fishing time, and didnt waste our time on spots where the fish weren’t biting. My favorite thing we did while in Destin.

The Capt and crew were the best. Matt was our mate. He was professional, highly skilled and a darn nice fella. The conditions were tough but I still caught fish. It was amazing to watch the mates deal with the tangles caused by current, inexperienced anglers and 6′ seas. I fully recommend the Destiny, her Capt and crew. Remember to tip the mates.

Had a great trip. Crew was great and really helpful and patient. First stop we’d catch fish as fast as we dropped our lines. It slowed down a bit after that, but we caught fish at every stop.
We were fortunate enough where the boat was not packed and had very little issues with tangled lines. I’ve heard horror stories about it and was hesitant to choose a party boat.
I’ve also heard stories about how you do not get to necessarily keep the fish you catch. This boat gave each group its own line and all the fish you catch are kept on that line, so you actually do keep what YOUR catch.
Captain worked very hard to keep us on the fish and did not disappoint. For a first timer, I was very satisfied. As for the boat itself, they scrubbed the boat down as we headed back to shore and it was pretty well maintained.
I’d recommend this boat again for any rookies, but even the more experienced will enjoy the crew, the boat, and the fishing.

Went for the 8hr charter yesterday. We picked this because for two people going on the 8hr tour it was about $ 190, much cheaper than a private charter. There were a lot of other people on the destin princess with us. The ride out to sea was 1hr 50mins, the cabin has A/​C so that was nice. The first half hour was so bad with all the tangles we had. There were too many people fishing shoulder to shoulder. The mate Chris was quick to untangle you. Eventually we figured out if we took turns there were less tangles. The first spot was filled with vermillion snapper and I pulled up 7 myself. Everyone was catching them left and right. The captain decided to move us around and I caught a few more over the next 4hrs. Someone caught a big shark but let it go. One of the more serious fishermen caught a 20lb red snapper which was huge! The 2^nd mate Christian caught a silver looking mackerel on a trolling rod. Back at the Dock Chris cleaned and bagged my catch and we took it to Dewey Destins who cooked it for us!

It was my first time deep sea fishing. Had a blast. Caught tons of fish. The captain literally drove the boat right to where the fish are and you drop your line and catch one. The boats are big enough that no one got sea sick. The cabin inside has ac if you need to get out of the sun. I would highly recommend this trip!

I made it out for a 6 hour fishing trip on a Thursday recently and had a blast. We were fortunate enough to have calm seas and clear skies, so our ride was a smooth one. This boat fishes state waters in season, as well as a privately built reef all year. As far as I can tell, the main focus here is red snapper. However, you can keep anything that you catch as long as it is in season and of legal size.
The ride out to sea is about an hour for the shorter trips, and an hour and a half for the 8 – 10 hour days. You have to stay inside or on the top deck for the initial ride and the ride home. However, you are typically free to roam around on deck for the shorter trips between spots.
Fishing for snapper involves finding a good spot, and then dropping your bait on a heavily weighted downrigger to the ocean floor. It’s about 80 – 100 feet in most places. The fish typically hit within a minute or so, so you will want your line ot be the first one down. Once the fish get spooked and stop biting (which can be within a few minutes) the captain will typically hightail it to the next spot.
The limit on snapper is currently two per person, per day. Keep that in mind if you are planning a longer trip. We caught the limit in a 6 hour trip, so it wouldn’t have done much good to keep fishing for another 2 – 4 hours. The only other thing I would have come home with at that point would be a sunburn.
The captain and crew were awesome when I went out. The crew was quick to unhook fish, untangle lines, filet your catch ($ 0.35/lb) and answer any questions you have. I couldn’t have been happier with those guys. My only issue is how packed the boat was. It was only going to be in the 30-​ish range which would have been perfect, but at the last minute a group of 12 signed up which put us pretty close to capacity at 41 fishers. The crew handled it well, but it did cause a few more tangled lines.
Don’t forget your sunscreen, and tip your deck hands!

My party of 7 just returned from a charter. Booking was easy, however inaccurate information was given. I was told the price per person and that the appropriate gratuity was 15−20%. I wasn’t told that there was an additional 35 cent per line pound charge to clean the fish. The boat was clean and the crew was generally upbeat. Given the weather the boat probably shouldn’t have ever left the dock. I called before the expected time to ask about a cancellation. I was told that we would still be charged since the boat was going out. ($ 65 per person) As we waited in line to sign in we heard other charter companies making phone calls to customers cancelling their trips for the day. The waters were extremely rough… three of our party were very sick. Two of them haven’t experienced sea sickness before. I estimate that almost half of the customers were experiencing sickness. So much so that the customers nicknamed the cabin the infirmary.
Water conditions were awful for fishing. Lines were constantly tangled. Most of the fish caught were not in season. When my line became tangled the guy acted as if it was a problem to untangle it. Like the previous poster, as soon as I would get my line down it was time to pull it up so we could move again.
Our party of 7 caught 13 small fish. So we paid almost $ 500 for 10 pounds of fish.
On our way out I stopped to speak to the lady at the desk where we paid. When I asked about downgrading my 10 year old to a rider instead of a fisher I was told no. There was no way he could have effectively held on to the pole in those conditions. I would have had to pay $ 200 for a lost rod. She was rude throughout the entire conversation.
I truly regret making reservations — this was an extreme waste of money and time.

I personally did not go on the boat trip, but according to the experience that my brother, father, and uncle had, it was great. They went on the open boat for 6 hours, which cost them ~$ 60 each. They caught about more than a dozen in given time period. However, each passenger can only take two of their catch, and have to release the rest. Other than that, the red snappers that my family caught were delicious for both sashimi and

Paid over 120 bucks for me and my wife to go on a 5 hour deep sea fishing trip with this company while on vacation. Worst fishing experience ever, the boat was way to crowded. Only two fishheads in my bait buckett which seem to be what others were catching fish with. Only 20 minutes max of actual fishing time. Everytime the captain said to drop our line, I would and before it hit bottom he would move the boat and get my line tangled up in my wife’s line. On the boat ride back they made everyone get in the cabin while they bleached the boat down which lead to a ruined bleach t-​shirt. And then the guilt trip to tip the deckhands who never helped me untangle me and my wife’s lines nor got any fish off of my hook because I never caught any. If you like expensive boat rides then this is the fishing charter company for you, if you like to actually fish I suggest you find someone else to take you.

We went on the Destiny for the afternoon trip on Saturday. Surprisingly, the boat had plenty of room and the Captain and deck hands were extremely courteous and professional. This is a smaller vessel than what we have taken in Texas and did not have any food or drinks available on board for sale. We made the mistake of not taking any on, so were pretty dehydrated when we got back. We were able to select our spots on the boat based on first come, first served. The Destiny was a newer boat and appears to be well maintained. We caught a mix of Red snapper, Vermilion (crew called them Dingoes) and some Amberlina. I would recommend that that they request their ticketing person to be a little more friendly as she may have been the reason for fewer folks getting on the boat on Saturday. I realize that folks are short handed, but there were many outfits around Destin that had friendlier sales and ticketing agents. All in all, we had a good catch. The captain, Chris recommended Dewey Destin’s to cook our catch. I would second that recommendation as they charge 10.95 to cook your fish and give you two sides to go with that. Our family enjoyed the fried and blackened fish made available to us.

This trip started out well. The harbor was beautiful and the staff of the boat fun and helpful. We didn’t catch many fish compared to other party fishing boat trips I’ve been on, but that was okay. If we hadn’t been tangled so much because we were squeezed in or if the captain had kept the boat in place we might have caught more. At the end of the trip I tipped my deck hand twenty bucks and then waited for my fish to be cleaned.
While waiting I asked that my fish be next and the crew member said the biggest strings were last. Okay, no problem. I had about ten fish while other people had five or six.
Here’s where it went bad. While we were waiting a non crew member started messing around in the cooler. He acted like he knew the crew and they let him do what he wanted so I assume they knew him too. At this point I believe he removed fish from my string because when it was finally pulled I only had three small fish left. My best fish had been taken. I should have been tipped off when the guy walked away with far more fish than anyone else and raced to his large, black GMC truck and sped off.
I complained on the Facebook page but they deleted it. That’s not a smart social media strategy.
Anyway, this is a cheap fishing trip so I can’t complain much, but I do suggest not tipping anyone until you get all of your fish. If you have a choice, however, look at other operations that are more professional and won’t cram you on the boat like sardines. If you do business with this outfit just be careful and keep a watchful eye.