On the Water
Boats, paddleboards, jet skis, dolphin cruises, parasail, the sandbar. The Gulf and the bay don't belong to the charter fleet alone — here's the rest of how you spend a day on the water.
Boat rentals
Pontoons, deck boats and bay boats by pickup point, with each company's own prices, and what you need to drive one.
Paddleboard & kayak
Where to launch, where it's worth paddling, when it isn't. Best on Old River, the bay, and the State Park lagoons.
Jet skis
Rentals with their own prices, where you can ride, where you can't, and the rules that change at the state line.
Dolphin cruises
Every dolphin boat from Southwind Marina to The Wharf with its own prices, and what NOAA asks of boats around dolphins.
Sandbar Sundays
The locals' Sunday ritual. Where the boats raft up, when the tide turns, the unwritten rules.
Parasail
Every parasail boat near the Key, with prices, weight limits and Florida's parasail weather rules.
Boater safety, briefly
- Boater card. Florida: anyone born on or after January 1, 1988, driving a boat with 10 hp or more. Alabama: everyone who drives a motorboat; visitors can use a valid card from their home state. Renting has its own rules on each side: what you need to rent.
- Life jackets. One for every person aboard. Kids must wear theirs: under 6 on a boat under 26 feet while underway in Florida, under 8 at all times in Alabama.
- No-motor and idle zones are posted around Bird and Walker Islands, Old River by Rabbit Island, the Perdido Key bridge, Perdido Key Coves, Terry Cove and Cotton Bayou. The full list, with sources.
- Sandbar etiquette matters. Read the rules before you anchor.
- The Coast Guard is out. Wear the kid jackets. Have the registration. Don't be the boat that ruins it.
- Carry a VHF. Channel 16 reaches Coast Guard Sector Mobile around the clock, and there are no drawbridges on this stretch. Every channel, marina hail and tow number is in the radio guide.