Mangrove Estuary Tour: Wildlife and Beach Adventure

Experience the beauty and wildlife of Marco Island’s mangrove estuaries on our eco boat tour. Spot dolphins, birds, manatees, and more on this fully guided adventure!

Duration: 2 hours, 30 minutes
Cancellation: 24 hours
Highlights
  • Goodland - Discover the charming fishing village of Goodland. This census-designated place is located in Collier County, Florida, USA. According to the 2010 census, it had a population of 267. Goodland is part of the Naples–Marco Island Metropolitan Statistical Area.
  • Rookery Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve - Explore the mangrove…
What's Included
  • Parking fees
  • Cooler with Ice
  • Complementary shelling bags
What's Not Included
  • On-board restrooms
  • Food (Yes, you can bring your own food!)
  • Drinks (BYOB - please, no red wine!)
Additional Information

The Island Paradise: Dolphin, Shelling, Birding Eco Boat Tour offers the ultimate wildlife and nature adventure for families, nature enthusiasts, and shell collectors. This guided boat tour takes participants deep into the Ten Thousand Islands National Wildlife Refuge, where they will encounter playful dolphins, a variety of bird species, and pristine,…

Location
220 Goodland Dr
Goodland Drive
Free parking across the street from Stan's Idle Hour Restaurant in the gravel lot behind the white fence.
Cancellation Policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

Customer Ratings
4.9
(36 Ratings)
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1 star
Alvin
Sep 29, 2025
A wonderful and educational experience. Learn about shelling, ecosystems and Flora and Fauna of Florida. - Had a wonderful time! the captain was superb and knew so much about the islands, the shelling, the Dolphins, birds well just everything! We highly recommend this for couples, families , just about anyone. My hubby and I are both retired now and it was great!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Springfield7311
Sep 1, 2025
Excellent Experience with Captain Nate - We shared our 47th anniversary with Captain Nate for the 2.5 Eco Tour of the 10,000 Islands by Marco Island. It was fantastic. We saw a whole lot of mangroves and birds. We shelled for about 45 minutes sharing the beach with a slew of birds. The highlight of the tour was when three dolphins played in the boats wake for about 5 minutes. Captain Nate was especially knowledgeable about the habitat and history of this scenic eco system. He was nice to share with us the video he took of our encounter with the dolphins after we got home and realized most of our still pictures did not work out.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Alexbk3536cu
Jul 18, 2025
Great family shelling trip - We decided to take a shelling trip for our youngest daughter who loves shells and the whole family ended up having a blast! We left in the am and got started looking at local birds and learning about the mangroves. We then drove over to the beach area and got to search for shells for over an hour. We found live conchs and our daughter found a sand dollar. Captain Nate then found us a dolphin that we followed around and got to watch. Would definitely recommend this trip and the captain!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Brenda_c
Jun 1, 2025
Personalized and personable - Our guide cared about us and our experience. He became our friend! Other tours on this trip were with groups that room our money then ignored us or went into a mundane spiel. Angel personalized for us!
Review provided by Viator
Calebp968
May 28, 2025
Great time! - Took my family of 4 and my in laws. We had the boat to ourselves and it was a blast. Saw dolphins and we were even educated on the types of seashells out there which made hunting for seashells more fun.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Cessnafor4
May 27, 2025
Super Tour! - Thomas was a great guide and super knowledgeable!! We saw dolphins, birds and many many shells on the island he took us to! I highly recommend!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
X3563dhnicolec
May 23, 2025
A must-do tour for visitors - We had a glorious trip with Captain Nate, who was so knowledgeable about the wildlife and shelling locations. He introduced us to the local dolphins, osprey, pelicans, herons, manatees and more. He even had the dolphins leaping behind us in our wake - magical! Unforgettable trip.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Maggie_g
May 16, 2025
Awesome experience - Captain Nate was Great!!! We saw an alligator, dolphins, birds, a manatee and found some shells. A highlight was the dolphins playing behind the boat. He worked hard to make that happen and it was so worth it! A great experience overall and wonderful time in the water. We would do it again!
Review provided by Viator
Darj2022
Apr 21, 2025
SUPER GREAT SHELLING COMPANY ! VERY KNOWLEDGEABLE CAPTAIN/GUIDE! - The captain /guide on our tour was FANTASTIC! There were only 5 of us where the max is 6. Perfect size! Took us to 2 islands. At both stops he helped us out, gave us tips on where to go and kept asking us all if there was anything we needed! I took my 17 year old granddaughter and her boyfriend and we all had a fabulous time! And honest????? We were going to book a 6 hour tour and the owner explained yes, we could if we really wanted too, but due to the tides we actually would be wasting 2 hours with really finding no shells! Who does that? Who is SOOOOOO honest and in reality " loosing money" by suggesting 4 hours over 6 ! Highly recommend this outfit! PLUS WE SAW DOLPHINS THAT GOT REALLY CLOSE TO US! Found many beautiful shells, along with all kinds of birds & flowers & just stunning scenery!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Nena_c
Apr 5, 2025
Beautiful and relaxing - Very relaxing and beautiful. The captain was very knowledgeable about wildlife and answered all of our questions. He was not overly talkative but friendly, which was refreshing. We were able to see LOTS of dolphins and saw some jumping behind the boat. The shelling was on a pretty beach area, which we all really enjoyed. It was a great experience!
Review provided by Viator
From $125
up to 6 guests
1 - Adult
Cancellation: Free cancellation up to 24 hours before the start of your experience (local time).