Raccoon Island Miami Boat Tour with Wildlife & Swimming
Description
Discover a different side of Miami on this family-friendly shared wildlife cruise that blends nature, exploration, and time on the water. Cruise through Biscayne Bay with opportunities to spot dolphins and manatees before arriving at Raccoon Island, where guests step ashore for a optional guided island walk to observe the raccoons and explore the natural surroundings. Guests who prefer to relax can enjoy time in the shallow, clear waters with a refreshing swim stop while the boat remains anchored nearby for easy access to your belongings and onboard amenities. On the return cruise, take in scenic views of Indian Creek Island, Miami’s famous “Billionaire Bunker.” It’s the perfect mix of wildlife, sightseeing, swimming, and relaxing on the water.
Tour Options
Itinerary
Biscayne Bay Scenic Cruise — 1 hour Depart from Venetian Marina and cruise through the beautiful waters of Biscayne Bay while enjoying views of Miami’s skyline and coastal islands. Keep an eye out for dolphins, manatees, and other marine life along the way.
Sandspur Island (Raccoon Island) — 30 minutes Arrive at the famous Raccoon Island where guests can step ashore for an optional guided wildlife walk to observe the island’s raccoons and explore the natural surroundings. Guests may also relax on the beach or enjoy a refreshing swim in the shallow, clear waters nearby.
Guests will cruise to the Haulover Sandbar, located just by the inlet and a short distance from Sandspur Island. This popular spot is known for its clear, shallow waters and vibrant boating atmosphere. Here, you can hop in the water, relax on floats, enjoy the views, and soak up the energy of one of Miami’s favorite sandbar hangouts.
Indian Creek Island (“Billionaire Bunker”) — pass by Cruise past the ultra-exclusive homes of Indian Creek Island while your captain shares interesting local insights about the area.
Biscayne Bay Scenic Return Cruise — 1 hour 15 minutes Enjoy a relaxing cruise back across Biscayne Bay to Venetian Marina with beautiful coastal views.
Highlights
What's included
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller
- Service animals allowed
- Public transportation options are available nearby
- Not recommended for travelers with spinal injuries
- Not recommended for travelers with poor cardiovascular health
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
- Is this toddler, child, and infant friendly? Yes
Reviews(74)
Fantastic trip, Alex and Buchey were great. Very knowledgeable of the area without being too information heavy. Certainly learnt things today. Would highly recommend.
The captain and crew seems like they did not want to work at all. We had a really bad experience. This is not worth it.
Thank you for taking the time to share your feedback. We’re truly sorry to hear that you left feeling this way about your Raccoon Island experience. This is definitely not the type of experience we want any of our guests to have. Our goal is always for everyone to feel welcomed, taken care of, and to have a great time from the moment they step onboard. We’re disappointed to hear that you felt the captain and crew were not engaged during your trip, and we’ll absolutely be addressing your feedback with our team. We really appreciate you bringing this to our attention, as feedback like this helps us continue improving the experience we provide to our guests.
Great experience, we saw many raccoons on the island, followed by a swim in turquoise water that has a wow effect! We even had the chance to see dolphins in the bay!
We had the best time ! Our captain and guides (Spencer and Ren) were incredible and made the trip. We learned a lot about Miami, the islands, history, birds, and other animal facts. The raccoons were adorable and the boat ride was smooth. I would recommend this to anyone visiting Miami.
This is a Miami must! Boating to the island and sandbar was packed with animals and insights from the knowledgable captains of the Aqua Party Boat Team Gypsea.
The guys running the boat we're cool and laid back. The duration of everything was perfect. We will be doing it again in the future.
We did the morning raccoon island tour with Spencer and Ren. They were great and personable. We had fun learning about birds, some fish, and homes along the fancier parts of the bay. We saw lots of raccoons. And enjoyed stopping at the sandbar!
This tour was AMAZING! Definitely recommend this company for ANY boat tour (Aqua Party Boat). They were responsive to questions I had in advance of the tour via email, shared educational info about the wildlife in a fun and interactive way, were entertaining and funny. Raccoon island was awesome, what a special interactive opportunity! The swim at the sandbar was also fun and welcomed after sweating with the raccoons. If you like to snorkel or even just peer under the water I highly recommend you bring your own goggles as there were cool shells, tons of live conch, fish, and other sea life. Animals seen on the tour: raccoons, dolphins, sea turtle, conch, fish, birds, spiders (big ones, but the 'good' ones). There were drinks and snacks available for purchase, which was nice despite having brought our own water and snacks. Book it - it will be a wonderful memory!
It was great. Got to see and feed lots of raccoons. Stopped to swim on a sand bar. Water was clear. Great fun!!
This trip is amazing value for money. We had a truly amazing experience from start to finish. Captain Hayes and David were knowledgeable about the area and the wildlife, friendly, chatty and fun. We felt comfortable the whole trip. Racoon island was amazing. We got to see the racoons and a rather large iguana. It was just so cool to experience. We then went over to a sandbar and splashes about a bit. We even found a couple of starfish! Highly recommend this trip. While my husband and I did this as a couples trip, it’s definitely family friendly and I would’ve had no problem bringing my kids when they were younger as well as now in their teens.
