Starfish! Pufferfish! Seahorse!

And Dolphins too! Made for a wonderful day on the Sealife Encounter!

Let me start off by saying that the weather was beyond gorgeous today! Warm, but with a slight breeze that was quite nice as it cooled us off. Cruising out to Picnic Island we passed several Anhingas and Osprey. Captain Bob's fun-fact on Anhingas: They are related to Cormorants but are differentiated by a straight dagger like bill, their swimming posture and their preference for fresh water.

Once on Picnic Island we all had so much fun wading into the water with nets scooping up finds like Pipefish, Hermit Crabs, a Tongue Fish, Starfish and lightning welks. The coolest part about being in the water came minutes later as we saw a large pod of dolphins jumping and playing a mere 30ft in front of us! At that point all interest was lost in scooping up any other sea life. The dolphins put on a good show! (Unfortunately the dolphins would not cooperate for a photo. :) )

Back on the boat Captain Bob explained to us what we found and gave us a chance to hold some of the sea life ourselves! Pretty cool. It was my first time holding a Puffer fish. The Puffer has these spikes but they didn't hurt like I thought they would. Bob says in lieu of escape, Puffer fish use their highly elastic stomachs and the ability to quickly ingest huge amounts of water (and even air when necessary) to turn themselves into a virtually inedible ball several times their normal size.

On the way back to the marina we saw more birds and dolphins. It was a very pleasant day and I look forward to coming out with my family next year! Thank you for an awesome time!

Guest Writer: Courtney from Naples, FL

Perfect weather! Perfect night for a Sunset Dolphin Cruise!

As we boarded, the Schaub family from Minnesota caught sight of a manatee alongside the docks, (thanks to the good eye of local grandson, Austin)! With just a slight coolness in the air we cruised out of Port Sanibel Marina, along Connie Mack channel where guests enjoyed seeing the magnificent homes of exclusive Jonathon Harbour to the starboard side of the channel and mangrove forest port side! Quite a dichotomy that will charm your soul!

Cruising out to the entrance of San Carlos Bay we can see Sanibel Island and many smaller islands in front of the vessel. Looking to our right we can see a long white beach…but what is that which makes the sand so white? Wow…it is literally hundreds of white pelicans that visit our waters every year this time! Such a beautiful sight!

Everyone is excited to see dolphins playing in the distant waters… (with cooler temps we weren’t sure how active the dolphins would be tonight), and the dolphins played not letting us down!
Guests visited with each other, while Captain Bill and first mate Angela pointed out areas of interest relaying Florida Cracker stories to everyone.

Gently cruising to the West, everyone became quiet, almost holding their breath as the sun began to sink from the heavens. The sky became a brilliant reddish orange! We sat quietly wishing this moment would last forever, but the sun began settling down beyond the horizon, softening the colors to a pinkish gray.
The boat did a gentle 360 turn to experience a huge, white, full moon rising! How perfect is this! So many oohs and aahs! This definitely is the perfect sun set to a perfect day!

Thanks you to all our guests that cruised with Adventures in Paradise tonight! We hope your 2012 will be as wonderful as this night has been!

Fort Myers Beach Christmas Boat Parade

This past weekend we sponsored a boat led by Mr. & Mrs. Santa Clause for the Fort Myers Beach Chamber of Commerce Boat Parade!

The festive night-time parade departed from Salty Sam's Marina on Fort Myers Beach and featured over 30 boats. "The excitement this event generated is always a special, joyful night many people always look forward to either watch or participate," said Andrew Cochrane, chairman of the board of directors for the Fort Myers Beach Chamber of Commerce.

More pictures to be posted soon.

Wonderful day of fishing!

Cruising out into the waters between Sanibel and Pine Island, Captain Noah and First Mate Dave set “Miss Paradise” at anchor for the morning Backwater Fishing Trip. It is a beautiful, sunny morning with no chop, however there is a cool breeze skimming across the waters!

We have mostly families on board today with a few little guys! The Stone family from Michigan has made this an annual event for many years. This year Mr. Stone introduced us to his young grandson, “Ethan” who is on his first salt water fishing trip. Ethan was able to fight, (just a little bit) and with some help pull in several ladyfish with Grandpa at his side. Dad pulled in a beautiful pompano and a jack. “There was never a dull moment and lots of action for us” exclaimed Mr. Stone. “The crew was great!”

We look forward to seeing Ethan and the Stone family for next year’s fishing trip! Thanks to everyone on board today, we all had lots of fun and enjoyed another beautiful morning in Paradise!

Captain Noah

Great Day for Fishing!

The weather was just right and it was a good time had by all!

Here at Adventures In Paradise we offer a lot of cool things to do, one of which is my favorite, the Backwater Fishing Cruise. As the naturalist on the boat today I was able to talk with all of the guests and found that everyone was from out of town, so no locals today, and that we had a group of 4 all the way from Scotland! I get to meet people from all over the world but today was the first time I met a group from Scotland.

Now on to the catch. With a cool breeze overhead the fishing in Pine Island Sound was pretty good. Our catch consisted of lots of trout, pinfish, blowfish, a catfish or two, and a very prized fish, a pompano.
Overall, the guests today had a wonderful morning!
Till next time,
Adios….. Max