I recently got the opportunity to go on the wildlife tour with World Famous Boat Tours on the Halifax River. I have spent plenty of time cruising and playing on the river, and thought sure I’ll go on this tour thinking it would just be a cruise down a hometown waterway I already knew. Boy was I wrong, I learned so much about the river and the sights that line its’ shore. I had no idea of the famous people that are rumored to have homes on the river, or the beautiful mosaic tile art under the International Speedway Bridge, or some of the fun trivia facts about the animals we encountered.
450 Basin St Daytona Beach, FL 32114
When I arrived, I was greeted and checked in; while waiting for others to arrive, I walked into the gift shop. The gift shop had everything you could need for a boat cruise; sunscreen, snacks, UV shirts, and souvenir gifts to remember the trip. They even had drinks for sale and said you may bring drinks on board and they would keep them on ice for you. A few moments later a man appeared and we made our way to the dock.
At the dock, as we all loaded on the boat, he introduced himself as Captain John and the girl who checked us in was Liz, and that they would be doing our tour. He then explained that the World’s Famous Boat Tour was created by himself and his wife Danielle after meeting on the river and having a shared love of the waterway and its animals that call it home. As we made our way off the dock, we traveled through the canals looking at all the remarkable boats in the marina and the luscious growths of the mangrove trees lining the shore. Captain John talked about the differences in the types of mangroves and the importance of the mangrove trees to the shore and animals.
Heading out into the channel, Liz and captain John pointed out a pelican sitting on top of a channel marker pole. They begin to tell us fun facts about the pelican and how the lining of their neck and bottom beak are like leather which helps them swallow fish with spiked fins, when we saw splashing in the water, dolphin fins! We all were so excited, the hope of seeing a dolphin was there when I stepped on the boat, but I did not actually think we would see any, let alone so many of them, I was very excited. Captain John told us it was a maternity pod that had been seen in the same location for a while now, teaching their new babies how to hunt. He explained that the river is very important to these pods so they learn their skills before the open ocean. We watched them splash around for a bit and as they swam further away, we moved on.
Heading up the channel Liz and Captain John spoke of the homes and sights that lined the shore, like the Betty France home, the wife of NASCAR’s founder and the Lilian Place Heritage Center, rumored to be Daytona’s most haunted house. We also got to see the beautiful mosaic tile work on the columns under the international speedway Bridge and the Wild Florida sculpture at the Riverfront Esplanade.
On the way back to the dock, Liz spotted something floating in the water and yelled “trash” she grabbed a net with a long pole and handed it to me. She said “you’re going to get it out of the water”. Captain John steered the boat right to the floating trash and I scooped it up the first try. Everyone cheered and I was proud of myself, like I had done my good deed for the day. The whole boat was happy for our successful trash retrieval, and I thought what an amazing tour, not only is he educating guests on his boat about the animals and the river but they are demonstrating how to protect it. Captain John continued speaking about how we all can help protect the waterways and how he and his wife have even helped in animal rescues on the river because of their location. You can hear it in his stories that he absolutely loves that river and is happy to share his knowledge to protect it and educate others.
After this tour I can not recommend World Famous Boat Tours enough, the tour was unbelievable. I learned so much and Captain John and Liz were so much fun, with their witty jokes, it felt like the whole boat was out on a family day boat cruise. I cannot wait to get back on this boat with some friends and family. After the tour, I told them we had to go back because they haven’t really seen the river until they go on the World Famous Boat Tour. This tour is definitely a must do in Daytona for visitors and locals. Grab some friends and family, pack some drinks and have a great time.
Michelle Yates
Travel Advisor
https://www.foratravel.com/advisor/michelle-yates