Wilmington Water Tours LLC

What a wonderful and fun event! Our twin granddaughters experienced the river sleigh ride today. The staff and Captain Santa kept all the kids engaged and entertained. The boat is warm and the kids were comfortable. There was a nice bar for the grown ups. We highly recommend this special event!

So much fun!! It was my second time taking the Eagle Island tour… And I’d go again… Lots of great information, entertaining, and relaxing… Great crew… Loved it!

Informative and fun! Captain Thacker was personable and fun so was his crew! Forgot to bring cash :( wish i had remembered (they have a little tip box on board) . Not a huge time killer either so that was a huge bonus for our short weekend trip for a wedding in Wilmington.

Really enjoyed learning about the history (past and present) about the river. We were traveling from out of town so the entire experience was very educational and informative (I naively had no idea and he was so approachable and understanding/non judgmental). What I enjoyed most, is the absolute og legend of a tour guide, DOUG, who not only knows the ins and outs of the river like the back of his hand, but who genuinely cares for the river and the quality and conservation of the habitat surrounding it. His knowledge and genuine passion for the water was apparent and he made the entire experience even more fulfilling.

Great experience, learned a lot of history is such a short amount of time. Clean boat, entertaining Capt and crew!

If I could give this business -100 stars I would. I booked a Mother’s Day cruise for 5 totaling $212 basically the remainder of my paycheck that week. Just wanted to treat my family to something nice. My parents were closer and my sister and I were meeting them at the dock to board the boat. It was raining very hard that day and traffic caused a delay that caused my arrival time to get extremely close to the reservation time. I called the very first time she. I realized we would arrive about 10 mins before the boat was scheduled to leave to get an idea of parking and ticket check in. I explained to the woman I spoke to that I was still 2hours out and if there was a chance that we would not be able to board the boat, I would rather get a refund than drive the remaining 2 hours to Wilmington. The woman told me to still keep driving (mind you in the pouring rain, I also had my 3 year old with me) and we would work it out when we arrived. I kept driving and about 30 minutes out my eta updated to being about 5 minutes before the scheduled time. I called back ; this time the woman said we probably would not make it and they would not hold the boat; I inquired about possible delays due to weather and she said it was at the captains discretion. With this understanding, I requested a refund thinking I could just treat my family to dinner in Wilmington instead. The woman started giving me the runaround about how they don’t do refunds and could give me a gift card instead. This was very frustrating for me because 1. I called earlier to determine whether I should even attempt to keep driving at all and she told me to keep coming. My family also wasted gas traveling an hour plus from their home. 2. The chances of me making a 3 and a half hour trip to utilize the gift card was so unrealistic and held no true value to me. I expressed this to her in a calm way and SHE responded to me with an attitude, telling me she would have to have the manager deal with me. I did not appreciate her tone or demeanor and requested that she gave me connected with the manager right away because this matter had suddenly become quite urgent for me and my family. She told ME I was being rude and refused to connect me with the manager after going back and forth with me about why a gift card would have to work for me. By some point in our back and forth my parents had made it to the dock before the boat left. I sent my mother our tickets so at least they could get on the boat. The woman was rude to my mother and began going back and forth with her and did not let her and my father get on the boat even though they had paid tickets on hand. I told her that when I arrived (because she was the one who told me to still come in the first place) I would like to speak with the manager. She eventually hung up on me and I tried to reach the company multiple times on my way to the dock. They must have called the police on me because as soon as I arrived to the business there was a police officer parked waiting and didn’t move until I drove past the business. The officer must have been waiting for me because only when I slowed down as I was passing the business (I wanted to confirm where I was at) did the officer move and begin following me. I ended up getting pulled over for literally no reason with the customer asking me where I was coming from and asking was I bothering the lady in the business. When I told the officer I had just got in town and hadn’t even stepped foot in the business yet she left me alone but still kept watching my car. As a black woman I felt unsafe to even go to try and speak with the manger at this point so me and my family found dinner and ended up leaving town..

Was quite a nice trip down the river, with a very friendly tour guide and bartender. The lady working the storefront was also very friendly. We happen to go on a day when they were dredging the lake, and our captain gave us some history and a science lesson on how that works. So that was a nice surprise! I would recommend everybody taking a trip down the water with this company:-)

Great 50-minute boat tour of the Cape Fear River! Very informative of the history of the area and river itself. Easy to get tickets and get on and off of the boat. Staff was super friendly. Few snacksnon board with a bar. The wife got a glass of their Rum punch. Said it was more punch than rum, buy tasty. Would definitely use them again and maybe a sunset cruise.