cruises in daytona beach florida

Daytona Beach Dolphin and Manatee Boat Tours

The Ponce Inlet Watersports Eco Tour Boat provides a fully narrated, 90-minute cruise along the Intracoastal Waterways between Daytona Beach and New Smyrna Beach, Florida, allowing you to take in the breathtaking sights while learning about the local history and wildlife.

The tour is committed to animal welfare guidelines, ensuring that our manatee scenic boat tours are both enjoyable and responsible.

During your cruise, you can anticipate sightings of diverse wildlife like:

• Shore Birds
• Sea Turtles

You may even catch a glimpse of a dolphin surfacing to take a breath, as research has shown that they can remain submerged for eight to ten minutes on average .

What you can bring:

• Snacks/Food

On every trip, we set anchor and get off the boat to explore spoil Islands along the Intracoastal waterways and collect shells.

Don’t forget to look for shells, sand dollars, hermit crabs and other sea creatures! (Collection methods vary depending on conditions).

If you prefer a more personal wildlife viewing experience, consider booking a private eco tour. These exclusive adventures offer a customized journey through the Daytona Beach area, allowing you to embark on Daytona Beach cruises and boat rides that provide intimate encounters with dolphins , manatees, and other marine life. Enjoy the experience of a scenic boat tour along the Intracoastal Waterway in a more private setting!

We are eager to offer personalized Daytona Beach dolphin tours, where you might also catch a glimpse of the majestic Ponce Inlet Lighthouse. Our boat rides Daytona Beach FL promise memorable adventures, and for your convenience, we accept all major credit cards. Whether you’re seeking a leisurely day on the water or an exhilarating experience, our tours are tailored to meet your preferences.

If you’re interested in booking a private eco tour for you and your family , call (386) 405-3445 for more information.

Check out our partner, Daytona Beach Parasail for some thrilling parasail action!

Don't just take our word for it

Get in touch today.

Questions? Simply fill out our form below

Ponce Inlet Watersports is your place for fun water activities in the Daytona Beach area. We offer many different activities: Dolphin and Manatee boat tours, Public Fishing Charters, Private Fishing Charters, Private family charter, Kayak Rentals, Parasailing, Guided Jet Ski Tours and Burials at Sea.

Email: [email protected]

Address:  4958 S Peninsula Drive Suite 1, Ponce Inlet, FL 32127

Lighthouse Marina Ponce Inlet, FL Close to Daytona Beach Closest to inlet, disappearing island

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• Manatee & Dolphin Tours
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Howling Owl Sailing

Boat tours daytona beach, dockside behind caribbean jack's,  (386) 631- 4004, boat trips and tour reservations.

Our Cruises and Tours specialize in a personal sailboat ride experience. Visit our page for  Special Occasion Boat Trips to plan your big day with us! We provide public and private boat ride tours leaving from Daytona Beach. We depart from behind Caribbean Jack's. 

  Tours Departing Daily!

Click one of the "Book" buttons below to view departure times.  No booking is required to view!

Please call for bookings with less than 2 hours notice, or custom departure times!

         PUBLIC TRIPS         

PUBLIC CRUISE

1 1/2 Hr. BOAT TOUR & DOLPHIN WATCH  $59pp

PUBLIC SUNSET SAIL

1 1/2 Hr. BOAT TOUR & DOLPHIN WATCH  $77pp

Child (under 12) $49

         PRIVATE TRIPS         

PRIVATE RIDES

1 1/2 Hr. BOAT TOUR & DOLPHIN WATCH

(You get the whole boat!!!)

(up to 6 guests)

2 Hr. BOAT RIDE &

DOLPHIN WATCH

PRIVATE TOUR

SUNSET CRUISE 1 1/2 HOURS

(Departs approx. 1 1/2 hrs. before sunset!)

$475   (up to 6 guests)

(Extend any private sail for $125 per half hour)

"All" charters include complimentary Bottled Water  and Soft Drinks. BYOB / Pack a Picnic!!!

The Howling Owl of Daytona Beach is available for:

Boat Rentals

Dolphin Tours

River Cruises

Sunset Cruises

Pontoon Boat Rentals

Private and Public Boat Rides

Daytona Bike Week 2022                                                 

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St. Johns River Cruises

• Address: 2100 West French Avenue, Orange City, FL 32763
• Phone: (386) 917-0724

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Tropical storm helene getting bigger and better organized, on track to hit florida as major hurricane.

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Storm surge and hurricane warnings have been issued for the Gulf Coast of Florida as Tropical Storm Helene continues to grow in size and strength , according to the National Hurricane Center .

Models show it could make landfall as a major hurricane in the Big Bend area.

Inland, meanwhile, tropical storm warnings have been issued for Sumter, Lake, Seminole, Polk and Orange counties. Tropical storm watches are in place up the Interstate-95 corridor.

Big changes with the 5 pm advisory regarding advisories. Hurricane warnings along the west coast north of #Tampa . Inland Tropical Storm warnings now for Sumter, Lake, Seminole. Pol and Orange counties. And Tropical storm watches are now up for the I-95 corridor. #weshwx pic.twitter.com/QmppssrgDo — Tony Mainolfi (@TMainolfiWESH) September 24, 2024

>> Where to find sandbags in Central Florida

Helene is expected to produce rain accumulations of 3 to 6 inches with isolated totals around 10 inches, bringing a risk of flooding, some of which could be considerable, to the southeastern U.S., the NHC said.

The National Weather Service in Melbourne says many local areas could see one to four inches of rain, with some areas getting up to six inches.

>> Track Helene: Latest maps and models

Helene is currently located about 115 miles east-southeast of Cozumel, Mexico with maximum sustained winds of 60 mph and a minimum central pressure of 991 mb.

Helene has been wobbling a bit, but the longer-term motion is toward the west-northwest near 12 mph, the NHC said.

>> School closures across Florida

On the forecast track, the center of Helene will pass near the northeastern coast of the Yucatan Peninsula on Wednesday, move across the eastern Gulf of Mexico on Wednesday and Thursday, and reach the Big Bend coast of Florida late Thursday.

>> Download Very Local | Stream Central Florida news and weather from WESH 2

Helene watches, warnings

A hurricane watch is in effect for:

• Marion County
• Cabo Catoche to Tulum, Mexico
• Cuban province of Pinar del Rio
• Englewood to Indian Pass

A hurricane warning is in effect for:

• Anclote River to MexicoBeach, Florida

A tropical storm watch is in effect for:

• Lake County
• Orange County
• Seminole County
• Osceola County
• Sumter County
• Flamingo to south of Englewood
• West of Indian Pass to Walton Bay County line
• East coasts of Florida and Georgia from the Palm Beach/Martin County Line northward to the Savannah River, and for Lake Okeechobee

A tropical storm warning is in effect for:

• Dry Tortugas
• Lower Florida Keys west of the Seven Mile Bridge
• Rio Lagartos to Tulum, Mexico
• Cuban provinces of Artemisa, and Pinar del Rio, and the Isle of Youth
• Middle Florida Keys from the Seven Mile Bridge to the Channel 5 Bridge.
• Gulf coast of Florida from Flamingo northward to Anclote River, including Tampa Bay, and west of Mexico Beach to the Walton/Bay County Line

A storm surge watch is in effect for:

• Indian Pass southward to Flamingo
• Charlotte Harbor

A storm surge warning is in effect for:

• Flamingo to Indian Pass, Florida, including Tampa Bay and Charlotte Harbor

Storm surge predictions

• Ochlockonee River, FL to Chassahowitzka, FL: 10-15 feet
• Chassahowitzka, FL to Anclote River, F: 6-10 feet
• Indian Pass, FL to Ochlockonee River, FL: 5-10 feet
• Anclote River, FL to Middle of Longboat Key, FL: 5-8 feet
• Tampa Bay...5-8 ftMiddle of Longboat Key, FL to Englewood, FL: 4-7 feet
• Englewood, FL to Bonita Beach, FL 3-5 feet
• Charlotte Harbor: 3-5 feet

9/24 5pm EDT: There is a danger of life-threatening storm surge from Tropical Storm #Helene along the entire west coast of the Florida Peninsula and Florida Big Bend, where a Storm Surge Warning is in effect. Residents in those areas should follow advice given by local officials. pic.twitter.com/8bSTYC1r7K — NHC Storm Surge (@NHC_Surge) September 24, 2024

Helene impacts in Central Florida

Even though models don't show the center of Helene passing through Central Florida, it's important to understand impacts will be felt everywhere.

The biggest threats in Central Florida in association with this tropical system include heavy rain, potential flooding, gusty winds and the potential for tornadoes.

Here's a look at the updated forecast for Marion, Sumter , Lake and Polk couties as #Helene approaches. Stay with @WESH for updates. #weshwx pic.twitter.com/KcXcRVUtXy — Tony Mainolfi (@TMainolfiWESH) September 24, 2024

According to the NWS, tropical moisture is expected to increase in east Central Florida on Wednesday as outer rain bands begin to move northward. Once this rain starts Wednesday, low-lying and urban areas may experience flooding.

Tropical-storm-force winds are expected to reach several hundred miles beyond Helene's center, and the NWS says potential wind gusts of 60 mph are possible. In addition to these gusts, a few tornadoes embedded in rain bands are possible, mainly on Thursday.

>> Download the WESH 2 app

First Warning Weather

Stay with WESH 2 online and on-air for the most accurate Central Florida weather forecast.

• Severe Weather Alerts

Download the WESH 2 News app to get the most up-to-date weather alerts.

The First Warning Weather team includes First Warning Chief Meteorologist Tony Mainolfi , Eric Burris , Kellianne Klass , Marquise Meda and Cam Tran .

Helene forecast: Florida is not getting out of this one. Prepare now for major hurricane

This is likely to be a larger-than-average hurricane, so impacts could be widespread.

It’s happening again.

Potential Tropical Cyclone Nine , soon-to-be Helene, is likely to become yet another Florida Gulf Coast hurricane landfall within a matter of days. While there remains uncertainty in both the track and intensity forecast, Florida isn’t getting out of this one.

More damaging and less damaging outcomes are possible, but know that the Panhandle, Big Bend, and west-central Florida coasts are at serious risk of surge, wind, and rain impacts from a potential major hurricane landfall Thursday or Friday.

With some of the storm models painting truly scary scenarios, preparations to secure life and property should start now for these areas. Consider this your fire alarm. 

Florida threat level increasing for soon-to-be Helene

As of mid-day Monday, the National Hurricane Center has begun issuing advisories on Potential Tropical Cyclone Nine, located just south of the Caymen Islands western Caribbean Sea.

For now, this system is a “potential tropical cyclone” rather than tropical depression or storm because it does not yet have a well-organized surface circulation, but that could happen at any point. Hurricane watches are in effect for the northwestern Caribbean, and will likely be required for portions of Florida on Tuesday.

With the potential storm still consolidating and entangled for another day with a broader Central American Gyre, a movement to the west or west-northwest is expected through Tuesday, followed by a turn north through the Yucatan Channel on Wednesday morning, by which point future Helene should be at or nearing hurricane intensity as it enters the southern Gulf of Mexico.

Several key developments over the weekend have winnowed away some of the less threatening possibilities for how Helene plays out and increased the severity of the Florida threat.

The storm has organized on the quicker side of the possibilities, giving it more time to develop and strengthen prior to landfall. The system’s circulation is also coming together fully over water and should shoot the gap between the Yucatan peninsula the western Cuba, so land interaction is not going to tap the brakes either.

Instead, future Helene has about three and a half days to develop a core of deep convection and take advantage of a favorable thermodynamic and atmospheric environment for strengthening, which sets it up for potential rapid intensification on approach to Florida.

While Helene reaching major hurricane intensity is not certain, as with Michael , Idalia , and Ian before it, the warning signals are all there.

Here’s the first roadmap to forecast track and intensity expectations.

Helene track forecast: Following a channel

Helene’s track across the Gulf will follow south-to-north steering winds between high pressure aloft currently over Florida that will shift east into the western Atlantic, and an upper-level cutoff low moving into the Lower Mississippi Valley by Thursday.

The storm will accelerate north or north-northeast as it embeds in this steering wind channel on Wednesday and Thursday, which will bring it to the Florida Gulf Coast no later than early Friday.

While there are subtleties to how quickly the cutoff low dives into the southern U.S., models are trending stronger with the offshore ridge, which should keep Helene moving north-northeast and prevent the kind of sharper hook to the northeast that Ian took across the Florida peninsula from occurring this time.

The potential storm does not yet have a clear, well-organized center of circulation, so we still don’t know exactly where Helene will drop into that steering channel.

If its center consolidates within the western part of that broad area of turning, the western or central Panhandle would be at higher risk of landfall; if it’s a bit farther east, that would shift the most likely track into the eastern Panhandle, Big Bend, or Nature Coast.

With the developing system still messy, it’s too early to put a fine point on where landfall will occur, but a general range between Tampa and Destin is most probable at this time. Most likely landfall timing is Thursday.

So: details TBD, but I am confident that Helene is coming to the Florida Gulf Coast.

Note that this is likely to be a larger-than-average hurricane, so while a landfall in Southwest Florida is not expected, wind, rain, and surge impacts are still likely there as well as throughout the eastern Gulf Coast as a whole.

Intensity forecast: A major rapid intensification threat

The real uncertainty is the intensity forecast.

Many aspects of the ocean and atmospheric environment Helene will be working with on Wednesday and Thursday bring to mind conditions preceding Michael, Ian, and Idalia, which means a landfall intensity of Category 3 or above is a strong possibility, as suggested by the NHC forecast.

Remember also that categories are defined only by maximum sustained winds, not by size, surge, or rainfall, so “category” in this case will underestimate the extent and severity of human impacts, even if Helene is a major hurricane.

There are two big questions regarding how strong Helene will get.

The first: how quickly does it wrap up over the next couple of days in the Caribbean? While the circulation remains broad and disorganized today, models are split on whether it takes until Tuesday or Wednesday for a core to manifest. If Helene is already a hurricane as it enters the Gulf Wednesday morning, it’s more likely to reach Category 3 or 4 strength crossing the eastern Gulf.

Unfortunately, Helene is poised to track over a warm ring of the Loop Current mid-to-late Wednesday, where the Gulf waters are as hot and deep as they have ever been. Upper-level outflow is also expected to be close to ideal at that time. Rapid intensification from Wednesday into early Thursday may steep, as signaled by our best hurricane models.

The second question comes down to whether the interaction between the upper low over the Mississippi Valley and the hurricane will be favorable or unfavorable on Thursday. This is a tough question.

If the strong upper-level winds associated with the cutoff low are a little farther away from the storm, it can act to enhance outflow and strengthen or sustain a storm into landfall, as with Michael; if they are a little closer, stronger shearing winds over the hurricane might cap or weaken it into landfall, as happening in Idalia’s final hours over water.

Strong enough, and that shear might even keep rapid intensification from happening at all on Wednesday, in which case a Category 1 or 2 storm would be a possibility.

Those details are beyond what can be predicted now with anything other than foolish confidence, with good models on both sides of the fence for now. In general, we want to see a slower consolidation of Helene’s circulation in the next day or so, and a closer approach of the upper low midweek to keep the lid on the storm.

We shall see.

Scary parallels to Hurricane Michael

I know the Michael comparison is in mind, and with cause.

The NHC forecast track and many of the individual model solutions floating around have scary parallels to Michael, the central Gulf waters are even warmer and deeper than what it crossed six years ago.

However, Michael was the meteorological equivalent of rolling snake eyes or flipping tails five or six consecutive times. I won’t say that isn’t a possibility here, but everything would have to go exactly wrong.

Of course, Helene doesn’t have to be literally Michael to have broad and severe impacts consistent with a major hurricane, and — stop me if you’ve heard this one — that is what the Florida Gulf Coast is probably going to get on Thursday.

Time to prepare is short, with bad weather likely arriving along the Gulf Coast as early as Wednesday afternoon. The storm is likely to spread major surge impacts across the Florida Gulf Coast even under less bad outcomes, including well south and east of the most probable landfall point somewhere in the Big Bend.

This includes Tampa Bay, where surge with Helene is a serious concern, even if it goes well to their west. Be prepared to evacuate if recommended to do so.

I’ll have much more tomorrow on the expected surge, wind, and rain impacts of Helene, but you need to start preparing now in the Panhandle, north-central Florida, and west-central Florida. Helene will come at you faster than you think, so go into hurricane mode now.

I hate to pull the fire alarm for the Gulf Coast yet again, but what I’m seeing warrants it. I’m hoping I’m wrong harder than anyone, but in case I’m not, get ready and keep watching the skies.

Dr. Ryan Truchelut is chief meteorologist at WeatherTiger, a Tallahassee company providing forensic meteorology expert witness services, and agricultural and hurricane forecasting subscription services. Visit  weathertiger.com for more information. Email Truchelut at [email protected]

125 Basin St. Suite 140

Daytona Beach, FL 32114

(386) 402-1353