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Dolphin Marine Rentals - All You Need to Know BEFORE You Go (2024)
This location was reported permanently closed

4.0
4.0 of 5 bubbles25 reviews
Excellent
14
Very good
4
Average
0
Poor
1
Terrible
6

FloridaGirl2000
Tampa, FL
3 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Jul 2014 • Solo
I have been renting jet skis for the past few years around the Johns Pass, Madeira Beach, Treasure Island and Saint Pete beach. I stumbled onto Dolphin Marine, while I was stuck in traffic, the other day. They have the biggest and most stable jet skis I have ever been on, plus they go 53 MPH. Their riding area is huge and I never saw so many dolphins, while jet skiing before. I saw a pile of dolphins with in several minutes of leaving. Almost their entire riding area is no speed limit and unlike the Gulf of Mexico, I can go as fast as I want, when it is nice and glassy back in their area. The amount drama in the Gulf makes riding out there no fun most of the time. I fell off my jet ski here and it was like getting out of my swimming pool. When I have fallen off in the Gulf, it is never easy to get back on the jet ski. The two guys running the place seem to know the area quite well, really showed me where to go and where not to. Plus, with the dogs and music, the atmosphere is very beach like.

Ill be back and so will my friends. Sounds like riding in the morning, is best for seeing a lot of dolphins, and classy like conditions.
Written July 22, 2014
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

alks
Orlando, FL
15 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Sep 2014 • Family
We have used Dolphin Marine Rentals several times on our yearly trips to Treasure Island. We rent a jet ski for my 9 year old son and myself to ride around the bay for an hour. We have never had any issues, the equipment is always in good condition, we always receive explicit instructions on proper use and safety. Service is consistently friendly and the owner appreciates our business. And we see dolphins every time we go out! This latest visit, I had two boys on the jet ski with me, ages 8 and 9. We had a blast. The company does put a large "hold" on our credit card, in case of damages. This hold is always immediately refunded onto the card upon returning the jet ski. We're looking forward to our next jet ski adventure!
Written October 8, 2014
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

inchkenneth
Boston
27 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Mar 2014 • Family
We rented a boat for an afternoon and had an excellent time. Mark, the owner, was helpful (making sure we knew where the shallow water was) and friendly. Cost less than the others we looked at, and the boat was clean and reliable.
Written April 17, 2014
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Nicole D
Rancho Santa Fe, CA
4 contributions
1.0 of 5 bubbles
Steer very clear of these guys they are a failing business and will try to take you for way more than your rental fee! My husband son and I rented a small boat from them for the afternoon. Yes they took us out into the channel then we had to take them back. That took an hour out of our trip while he was with is he didn't really show us how to work the boat. When we dropped him off as we were leaving that's when he had us lift the prop to see if it was good. He kept saying it was brand new. That should have been a warning there. We couldn't really see the prop from in the boat. He said we were good so we left. As we were out my husband noted the steering was really poor. Then the boat over heated and gave warning sounds we immediately slowed we weren't going fast to begin with. The boat was in poor condition the seats were held together with duct tape the interior side had a panel
Missing. We had the boat for 4 hours but after an hour out we decided to head back as it was not fun nor relaxing. We stayed in the channel never ran aground didn't hit anything. When we got back they immediately had us raise the prop as we were trying to tell them the steering was faulty and the warning sounds went off. They weren't listening and instead went straight to the prop said there was damage and we ruined a new prop so they said. They then got into a screaming match with my husband right in front of our ten year old swearing saying they would call the cops that we were swindling them. But we wanted to make sure we got our deposit back. They were yelling threatening us one even said its people like you that make me want to kill myself. He kept saying that over and over demanding we just leave. Again we were not leaving until we got our deposit back we finally got it but the yelling continued. Their business is going under the guy said as much during his trip to the channel and it became very clear they were not interested in talking to us but rather they make more money off the deposits than the rentals. So seek your boat and all water craft elsewhere these guys are scam artists.
Written July 12, 2014
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
I would like to respond to the review point by point. Yes, they took us out into the channel then we had to take them back. That took an hour out of our trip while he was with is he didn't really show us how to work the boat. When we dropped him off as we were leaving that's when he had us lift the prop to see if it was good. He kept saying it was brand new. Your party arrived slightly after 2pm, and we did a typical orientation. You told me, you had not boated around here, so I did take a little extra time showing you the boat channel. I went over the maps with you, for a good bit. When I had you look at the propeller, when you looked at it, you didn't say anything about it not being new. Why not just say it then, if that was true? The propeller was most certainly new. Frankly, you guys didn't even hit the bottom that bad. This is the type of situation where if when you came in, you were like "oops, it is different, sorry." Im gonna guess we might have charged you anything for that, which would be rare, but if you had been honest, and really, like I said, you didn't catch the bottom that bad. The things I shared with you, as far, why we need you to be careful, along with your safety, is we have seen a lot of boats, this year, coming back messed up. We are trying to do everything we can to articulate how to have a good time, see dolphins, while not damaging the equipment. The boat ran more than fine, when we drove around in it, and again, if you didn't like the boat, why not saying anything before leaving? Everything was very pleasant, honest and open, during that orientation. After all that work and effort, I come outside and I'm being called an expletive scammer, when I just everything humanely possible to show you what to do, that game is getting old. We never debated giving your deposit back. I went inside, immediately and voided that charge out and even gave you free gas because I was so insulted to be called a scammer. All you had to do was be honest, just like I had been with you, and i bet you, for that slight bit of paint, the honesty would have been appreciated and we wouldn't have charged you anything. We get mechanic bills that are often and not cheap, it is because the engines are being run aground and run around hard. You guys barely touched some sand, and mistakes happen, but i don't understand how, after showing your everything I could, for about 35 minutes, you could suggesting I'm an expletive scammer and I had not said a word, since you returned. In fact, from the time you landed, till you had your voided receipt on the deposit, was a world record, it had to be within 3 minutes, and there was no debate involved. I was insulted to the point I didn't even bother to collect for the gas. I gave you about 60 dollars worth of free gas, and you got your deposit back in 3 minutes, of landing, but Im the scammer, and Im taking everyones deposits, as you suggest but on the other hand, as you suggest I'm going under. My point is, once again, 95 something % walk away happy and barely post anything. It is the people who are not nice or honest, who bother to post this stuff. There posts are riddled with inconsistencies, because they are not telling the truth. My story is consistent, because the truth is easy to remember. The is no duct tape on the seats. There is no side panel missing. No one ever said you ruined the prop. My partner said it wasn't new anymore, and that was it. Instead of being honest, you guys exploded and starting cursing in front of your child, before I even was at the dock, but i could hear it from my office door way. If all these alarms were going off, you never thought to call us and ask us what was going on? That seems really odd, I know I would be calling, since I told you about 10 times to call me if you needed anything. But yes, I did lose my cool, because after 5 years of owning this place, to see how some people behave and lie, just has taken a large toll on me. Ive been in business, for myself, for over 20 years, but this year, I have had too many customers be like this. The last thing I am is a scammer, you scammed me out of the gas money, with insults and lies. Most people are honest, and they have a great time, more often than not. I frankly don't know what more I could have done with you guys, in the beginning, to show how everything worked and how to navigate the channel. Then to be insulted like this, and now review riddled with false statements. In my 21 of business I have noticed the people who cry foul, early, fast and hard, for no reason, are usually the scammers. The scammers know what they would do, and just think thats how everyone thinks, but there are some honest people out there, to. I am an honest person who gets very upset when someone impugns my ethics, and this business seems to really bring the worst out in people, for whatever reason (not most of my customers, but people like this). I don't understand why it is so difficult to comprehend if you break something you need to pay for it, not to mention I can't rent the boat, when people break them. You guys touched some sand, and there was no way that should have been a big deal. Just simply agree it's different, say I'm sorry, that would have been about that. Any worse than that, then yes, you really are doing damage to the engine. But we are as fair as we can be with people, until some customers just get unreasonable. You were totally unreasonable upon landing, but still in less than 5 minutes you had your deposit back and got comped the gas, but Im the scammer? Looking at the facts, I don't see many consistencies in your story, other than I did lose my cool, on you guys and I have to just accept the fact when people like you take advantage of me, I can't let my emotions get to me. I have to accept there are just bad people out there, and I can't always catch them during the orientation, and at times I am going to regret having a certain customer. I have to learn to be nicer to unreasonable people.
Written July 14, 2014
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.

Lisalovessun
Mesa, AZ
69 contributions
1.0 of 5 bubbles
Mar 2014 • Family
Our party of 6 rented a deck boat from Dolphin Marine Rentals for an afternoon outing on the Intercostal Waterway in Florida. We had looked for a boat at other rental companies but this was the only one near us with availability that day (Saturday afternoon). The rental process went smoothly and the men working that day were helpful as far as getting us acclimated to the boat and, more important, to the labyrinth of the waterway itself. The boat itself was decent and comfortable but we quickly discovered it had very little power and did not plane out well. Our designated driver is also a boat owner and is very familiar with boats. We were able to navigate out into the main channel and made our way to Shell Island which is about as far as you can go as the boats are not allowed into the Gulf. We anchored well offshore as instructed to do and waded into the beach, which was very pretty and had good shelling. On our way back, we did get a bit turned around but after accessing one of our smart phones, on which we had tagged the GPS location of the marina, we found our way home. We were instructed on bringing the boat to the dock and upon landing, were immediately accused of "scraping" the side of the boat on the dock. Then as the motor was raised, one of the employee's (owner?) pointed out a "chip" in the prop and went on to accuse our driver of running aground at some point, which was definitely not the case. The chip in question was about the size of a quarter of an eraser head. Miniscule at best. Even if we had done the "damage" it certainly would not have affected the prop. Nor would it have been noticeable when we left the dock to begin with. Our driver, being an extremely conscientious man, questioned the "damage" at which point the marina guy started yelling quite loudly that he was a liar, that he "knew" he had run aground, and that he could charge us $150 instead of the $30 he had "offered" to charge us "if we wanted to". Since it was very clear this guy was not going to back down and in fact was down right crazy, we settled on paying him the $30 for "damages" and got the heck out of there. I understand how difficult it must be to run this type of business and that a lot of people who rent are not experienced boat drivers and probably do damage the boats, but this was unwarranted and reeked of a scam. He was so rude and seemed to just be hunting for something, anything he could charge us extra for. We rented wave runners the next day from FlyNHigh in Madeira Beach and they were such polar opposites of this guy that it furthered our feeling that this particular rental was a scam waiting to happen. DO NOT rent from Dolphin Marine....but if you do, take pictures of the entire boat, inside, outside and prop to safe guard your money!
Written March 20, 2014
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Daniel K
Plano, TX
3,051 contributions
1.0 of 5 bubbles
Jan 2016 • Couples
After reading the other reviews on here i am confused. Some people think he is rude and abrasive, others think he is great. My experience here was so bad I'd like to give him a zero. In my opinion, this guu does not belong in business, he is rude, he has no people skills, and he actually swore at my wife when she was trying her best to be nice to him. We are residents, will never rent from this place. I have posted pics, he now goes under the Name Treasure Isle Boat Rentals.
Written January 9, 2016
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

EmmyHappacher
1 contribution
1.0 of 5 bubbles
Jul 2014
Awful service! Very irresponsible, unprofessional owner and personnel! Very disappointed! We planned to give this boat rental as a "Gift" for my brother's birthday we drove 2 hours away, whenever we got to the place, they stated they didn't have the paperwork, keep making excuses didn't know about the reservation, after that we told them that the money have already come out off the account they stated the boat broke down sometime this week and were not able to do anything about it, not only that the owner refunded the money and didn't care about it, we told him that the money will not be in the account for the next 3 business days and we didn't have that kind of money at the moment to go to another place and rent, we had to drive back for another 2 hours because of this irresponsible unprofessional people! Won't recommend!! Do not make any bussiness
with Dolphin Marine boat Rentals at treasure island!! A
Written July 6, 2014
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
we made an error in scheduling and the boat was damaged and put out of commission on top of that. we apologized to the customer and refunded their money (of course) and we called around and found them a boat at our competitors. Obviously this wasn't enough, and we wish it hadn't happened. we cannot make a living refunding money instead of renting boats. I'm not sure what else we could have done, except the obvious, not make the mistake in the first place. The boat was damaged which was why it could not be rented. Because we had made an error in the scheduling is why the customer didn't get a call ahead of time.
Written July 8, 2014
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.

Phil V
Blaine, MN
25 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Dec 2015 • Family
The new name of this business is Treasure Isle Boat rentals, according to the person we rented from it hasn't been Dolphin Marine rentals for over a year.
First we rented bikes, all in very good condition at a fair price.
We also rented a 24 foot pontoon boat, which was very clean, well kept and ran perfectly.
The person we rented from was very efficient and made sure we understood all the conditions of the rental agreement, he also spent a lot of time explaining the conditions of the inter-coastal waterway, he was very thorough warning us about the shallows and how to follow the channel markers.
All of this led to us have a great time on the water.
Written January 6, 2016
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

gregger63
Chatham, Canada
11 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Feb 2015 • Couples
was a great boat ride with very friendly staff, saw many dolphins, and cruised on the water for about 2 hours, very relaxing and beautiful view of homes around the area
Written March 14, 2015
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

xf10x
1 contribution
1.0 of 5 bubbles
Sep 2014
Don't spend your money here. The owner was rude and condescending. We have traveled all over Florida and this is the worst customer service we have encountered.
Written September 21, 2014
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

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Dolphin Marine Rentals - All You Need to Know BEFORE You Go (2024)

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