Boat Tours Contents
Staying in Englewood?
If you are staying in Englewood, Englewood Beach, Manasota Key, or the surrounding area, a private boat tour gives you access to much more of Southwest Florida than you can experience from the shoreline.
Florida Gulf Discovery LLC offers private boat tours for Englewood-area visitors, with all tours departing from Placida, Florida.
Placida — A Gateway to Explore Southwest Florida
Explore Placida — Gateway to Southwest Florida: Discover why Placida is an ideal starting point for exploring Southwest Florida by boat with Captain Pavel. From here, the waterways open toward Boca Grande, Gasparilla Island, Boca Grande Sandbar, Cayo Costa, Cabbage Key, Pine Island Sound and many other barrier-island destinations.
Placida is ideally positioned as a gateway for exploring Southwest Florida by boat. From our departure point, we can travel North or South, opening access to very different waterways, islands, beaches, sandbars, Gulf passes, and coastal environments.
Heading North, we can explore Little Gasparilla Island, Lemon Bay, Stump Pass, Ski Alley, Manasota Key, and surrounding coastal waters.
Heading South, we enter Gasparilla Sound with access toward Boca Grande, Boca Grande Sandbar, Boca Grande Pass, Cayo Costa, Pine Island Sound, and additional destinations on longer trips.
This central location is one of the advantages of departing from Placida. Your private tour is not limited to one beach, one bay, or one predetermined route. We can choose the direction and destination according to your interests, trip duration, tides, weather, wind, and water conditions that day.
Every trip is private and customized for your group. There is no large tour group and no fixed route that every guest must follow.
Per licensing regulations, capacity is limited to six passengers.
Choose Your Private Tour
Explore Our Private Boat Tours: Discover Southwest Florida from the water with Captain Pavel and Florida Gulf Discovery. Explore Boca Grande, Gasparilla Island, secluded beaches, sandbars, barrier islands, wildlife and Gulf Coast sunsets on a private boat tour customized for your group.
Every guest has a different idea of the perfect day on the water. That is why Florida Gulf Discovery LLC offers private boat tours that can be customized around your group, interests, and the amount of time you want to spend exploring Southwest Florida.
For guests staying in Englewood and the surrounding area, popular experiences include dolphin and wildlife watching, sandbar trips, island hopping, shelling and beach stops, family adventures, waterfront dining, and sunset cruises.
You do not have to choose only one experience. A longer private trip can combine several activities—for example, watching dolphins along the way, spending time at an island or sandbar, stopping for lunch at a waterfront restaurant, and continuing with scenic cruising afterward.
Florida Gulf Discovery also offers eco tours, waterfront real estate tours, and private events for guests looking for a more specialized private charter.
Because every trip is private, there is no standard itinerary that your group must follow. Your route and activities can be adjusted according to your interests, trip duration, weather, tides, and water conditions.
Explore all of our private boat tour options, or let Captain Pavel help create a personalized experience for your group.
Where We Can Go & Routes
One of the advantages of departing from Placida is the freedom to explore Southwest Florida in two directions. Depending on your interests, trip duration, tides, weather, and water conditions, we can travel North or South and build the route around the experience you want.
Heading North
Traveling North takes us toward Little Gasparilla Island, Lemon Bay, Stump Pass, Ski Alley, Manasota Key, and the coastal waters around Englewood.
This direction offers a mix of protected waterways, mangrove shorelines, shallow flats, wildlife habitat, beaches, and access to the Gulf through Stump Pass.
It can be an excellent route for scenic cruising, dolphin and wildlife watching, photography, beach exploration, and sunset trips.
Heading South
Explore Featured Water Routes: Follow Captain Pavel's featured boating routes through Southwest Florida. Discover coastal waterways, Gulf passes, barrier islands, beaches, sandbars and scenic destinations while learning how these routes connect some of the most interesting places along the Gulf Coast.
Heading South from Placida brings us into Gasparilla Sound and toward an entirely different collection of islands, passes, beaches, and sandbars.
Depending on the length of your trip and conditions that day, possible destinations include Gasparilla Island, Boca Grande, Boca Grande Sandbar, Boca Grande Pass, Cayo Costa, Pine Island Sound, North Captiva, and surrounding waters.
Longer trips give us more flexibility to explore farther South while still allowing enough time to stop and enjoy the destinations rather than spending the entire day moving from place to place.
The Route Is Part of the Experience
We do not have to use the same route every time—or even return by exactly the same route we used on the way out.
Tides, water depth, wind, current, weather, boat traffic, and changing conditions can all influence the route I choose during the day.
Sometimes the best trip is not the one with the greatest number of destinations. It is the one that gives your group enough time to explore, stop, swim, watch wildlife, have lunch, or simply enjoy being on the water.
That is why our routes remain flexible. Placida gives us the opportunity to explore North or South, while the conditions and your interests help determine where the day takes us.
Explore All Routes, Travel Times & Activities
For guests who want to compare the possibilities before choosing a trip, Florida Gulf Discovery provides a detailed guide to our routes, approximate travel times, destinations, and activities available along each route.
Your Day on the Water
Watch on YouTube: Fly above Boca Grande Sandbar with Captain Pavel in this 4K drone journey. See the shallow water, shifting sand and changing tidal landscape of one of Southwest Florida's popular boating destinations—and experience the sandbar during an unusually quiet evening with not another boat in sight.
No two private boat trips with Florida Gulf Discovery LLC need to be the same. Your day can combine dolphin and wildlife watching, swimming, a sandbar or beach stop, island exploration, waterfront dining, or simply relaxing on the water.
Within your reserved tour time, there is no rigid stop-by-stop schedule. If your group is enjoying a particular place, we can often spend more time there instead of rushing away just to reach the next destination.
Conditions can also change during the day. Tides, wind, weather, boat traffic, and wildlife activity may make another route or destination a better choice.
The same flexibility applies to our sunset trips. We can enjoy the full sunset and evening colors, and a waterfront dinner can be included when planned—returning to the dock afterward.
Your private tour is about enjoying the day at your own pace, not checking destinations off a list.
Dolphins & Wildlife
Watch on YouTube: Join Captain Pavel on the water in Southwest Florida and watch for wild bottlenose dolphins, ospreys, pelicans and other coastal wildlife. Experience these animals in their natural environment while exploring the beautiful waterways and barrier-island coastline of the Gulf Coast.
The waters around Englewood, Manasota Key, Lemon Bay, Placida, Gasparilla Sound, and Boca Grande provide excellent habitat for marine and coastal wildlife.
Dolphin watching is one of the most popular experiences on our private boat tours. Bottlenose dolphins are frequently encountered throughout these waterways. They may be traveling through a pass, feeding along the shoreline, swimming beside the boat, or occasionally playing in the wake.
For guests staying in Englewood and Manasota Key, two of the closest areas where I regularly observe wildlife during the week are Ski Alley and Thornton Key. I often watch for dolphins, manatees, ospreys, and other coastal wildlife while traveling through these waters.
Depending on the season and conditions, we may also encounter pelicans, herons, egrets, rays, sea turtles, and other marine life.
Wildlife sightings are never guaranteed. We explore the places where animals naturally live and travel, while observing them responsibly and allowing each encounter to happen naturally.
Sometimes the most memorable wildlife experience occurs when nobody is expecting it.
Sandbars, Islands & Beaches
Watch on YouTube: Explore the hidden sandbars of Bokeelia and Pine Island Sound with Captain Pavel. Discover shallow clear water, secluded sandbars, shell beaches and coastal wildlife, including opportunities to encounter dolphins and manatees while exploring this remarkable part of Southwest Florida by boat.
One of the best reasons to explore Southwest Florida by boat is access to places that look and feel very different from the public beaches around Englewood.
Heading North
Heading North, we can explore the waters around Little Gasparilla Island, Stump Pass, Thornton Key, Ski Alley, Manasota Key, Caspersen Beach, and nearby beaches and shallow-water areas.
Heading South
Heading South, options expand toward Boca Grande Sandbar, Boca Grande Pass, Gasparilla Island, Cayo Costa, Pine Island, North Captiva Island, and other barrier-island destinations depending on your trip duration and conditions.
A sandbar can change dramatically with the tide. An area covered by water earlier in the day may become shallow enough to walk later, while changing wind and current can also affect where it is best to stop.
Depending on conditions, your group can swim, walk in shallow water, search for shells and shark teeth, explore a beach, take photographs, or simply relax away from the more crowded shoreline.
The goal is not to visit every island or sandbar in one trip. It is to choose the places that offer the best experience for your group and the conditions that day.
Private Tour vs. Boat Rental
Renting a boat can be a good choice for an experienced boater who is comfortable operating an unfamiliar vessel and navigating unfamiliar local waters.
A rental also means taking responsibility for navigation, tides, shallow water, weather, wind, current, anchoring, docking, channel markers, speed zones, and the boat itself.
With a private captain-led boat tour, everyone in your group can enjoy the day together while I handle the navigation, route planning, docking, anchoring, and changing marine conditions.
For many visitors, that is the biggest difference: instead of spending the day operating the boat, you can spend the day enjoying Southwest Florida from the water.
Your Private Tour Boat
Your private tour is aboard a 2024 Axopar 29 Sun Top, powered by twin Mercury 200 hp V6 FourStroke outboards.
This modern 2024 boat combines performance and comfort for a full day on Southwest Florida waters, with plenty of shade, comfortable seating, easy access to the water, and a stable, quiet ride.
Two tables provide space for drinks, snacks, or meals, including a shaded dining area that is especially useful during longer trips or waterfront dining experiences.
The layout works well for families, couples, and small private groups, with room to relax without sharing the boat with unrelated passengers.
For me, the boat is more than transportation between destinations. It is an important part of your private experience—whether we are watching dolphins, exploring islands, stopping at a sandbar, enjoying lunch, or cruising home after sunset.
Per licensing regulations, capacity is limited to six passengers.
Families, Couples & Groups
A private boat tour works especially well because the experience belongs only to your group. You are not sharing the boat or adjusting your day around unrelated passengers.
Families
Families can combine dolphins, swimming, beaches, sandbars, island exploration, and waterfront dining at a pace that works for both adults and children.
Couples
Couples may prefer a quieter day with scenic cruising, island stops, waterfront dining, or a sunset on the Gulf.
Small Private Groups
Small private groups can plan the trip around a birthday, anniversary, engagement, family gathering, or simply a day together on the water.
Because every trip is private, we can adjust the pace and activities around your group and what you are enjoying that day.
Your group. Your pace. Your private Southwest Florida experience.
Tour Length, Weather & Tides
Explore Featured Water Routes: Discover Captain Pavel's featured water routes through Southwest Florida. Explore Boca Grande, Stump Pass, Cayo Costa, Captiva Pass, Manasota Key and other coastal destinations on private routes customized around weather, tides and your interests.
Most Florida Gulf Discovery private boat tours are available for 4–8 hours, giving your group enough time to explore without turning the day into a race. Sunset cruises are typically 3 hours.
The right tour length depends on what you want to experience. Nearby waterways and activities can work well for shorter trips, while longer tours give us more flexibility to combine islands, sandbars, wildlife, beaches, and waterfront dining or travel farther North or South.
Weather & Tides
Weather and tides are part of boating in Southwest Florida and can influence the route throughout the day.
I continually consider wind, tides, current, water depth, Gulf and bay conditions, weather development, and boat traffic when choosing the safest and most enjoyable route.
A destination that works well in the morning may look very different several hours later as the tide, wind, or weather changes.
We plan the experience around your interests, but we navigate according to the conditions on the water.
What to Bring
You do not need much for a comfortable day on the water, but a few essentials can make your private tour more enjoyable.
I Recommend Bringing:
Preparing for a private boat charter in Southwest Florida
is simple. Bring sunglasses, a hat, reef-safe sunscreen, comfortable
lightweight clothing, a swimsuit, towel, and
water shoes or sandals. A camera or smartphone,
binoculars, waterproof phone case, and dry bag can also be useful for a
day of exploring islands, beaches, sandbars, and local waterways.
Snacks and beverages are welcome, and a light jacket can be helpful
during cooler months. Most importantly, come ready to
relax, explore, and enjoy the day on the water with
Florida Gulf Discovery.
— Captain Pavel
- Sunscreen
- Polarized sunglasses
- Hat and lightweight clothing
- Swimsuit and towel if you plan to swim or visit a sandbar or beach
- Water shoes for walking on sandbars, beaches, shells, and shallow-water areas
- Drinks and snacks
- Phone or camera for photos and videos
Polarized sunglasses are especially useful on Southwest Florida waters because they reduce surface glare and make it easier to see into the clear, shallow water around sandbars, beaches, and coastal flats.
For longer trips, we can also plan around lunch or dinner at a waterfront restaurant.
Before your tour, I can help with any questions about what to bring based on your planned activities and the conditions expected that day.
A Note from Captain Pavel
I spend a lot of time on these waters—not only during tours, but also exploring, watching the tides, observing wildlife, and learning how the coastline changes.
Even after traveling the same routes many times, Southwest Florida can look different every day. The tide changes a sandbar, dolphins appear where you did not expect them, the wind changes direction, or a quiet beach becomes the best stop of the day.
A Note from Captain Pavel: For me, a
private boat tour is not about following the same route
on the same schedule every day. The waters around
Englewood, Placida, Boca Grande, and Southwest Florida
are always changing with the tide, wind, weather, wildlife, and the
people I have aboard. That is why every trip with
Florida Gulf Discovery is private and customized.
We can spend more time at a sandbar, look for dolphins, explore an island,
stop for waterfront dining, stay for the full sunset, or simply enjoy
being on the water. I know when we leave the dock—but sometimes the best
part of the trip is discovering where the day takes us.
— Captain Pavel
That is why I do not believe a private boat tour should be built around a rigid schedule.
My job as your captain is to navigate safely, understand the conditions, and use my local knowledge to help your group experience the best the day has to offer.
Sometimes that means changing the route. Sometimes it means spending more of our available tour time at a place everyone is enjoying. And sometimes the most memorable part of the trip is something we never planned at all.
Come aboard, relax, and let me show you Southwest Florida the way I know it—from the water.
— Captain Pavel
Florida Gulf Discovery LLC
