Water Taxi

njbro
First Reviewer
3 out of 5
Avg. Member Rating
4
Reviews
1
Photo

Horrible

  • June 16, 2009
  • Rated 1 of 5 by Mike_NY from New York, New York
Oh my god!!!!!! what a horrible expirience, the boats were full, long time waiting at the docks, the "tour" is almost 4 hrs long and you sit on uncomfortable plastic benches that my behind hurted for days. We were packed as sardines and hot as hell. Always late for pick ups. Please do yourself a favor and next time go with the blue boats, they went by the stops every 20 mins or so. While waiting for the horrible water taxi we so the other company go by 3 times, I think the name of the blue boat is river taxi, much better option and more open boats.

What a Nightmare! You Need to Know This

  • March 4, 2008
  • Rated 1 of 5 by fcccgi from winter haven, Florida
Made the mistake of using the Taxi starting at Shooters Cafe/Bar - "stop one" to start our "tour". We could not get back to our car without them.

They pack you in like sardines on uncomfortable plastic benches - 4 rows, 2 facing each other (facing in) with a double row back-to-back in the middle. It was hard to see, no less take photos. No standing allowed.

Most pick-up locations are out in the South Florida sun (no shade!), no bench to sit on. The Water Taxi's were consistently late to pick up, so we spent over 3 hours of our day just standing in long hot lines, waiting for them to show up (that’s with us being there on time - per their schedule.) It’s sort of a theme park wait without the ride.

Remember that the round trip is 3 hours. 3 hours riding + 3 hours waiting shot most of the day for us. Many return riders along the way were "p@*#ed off customers" quote from the boat captain, because we were too full and way-way late to pick them up. So after waiting, wait some more for the next boat. They did that with scores of customers. Once, we were promised the next boat in 20 minute - it showed up 45 minutes later.

When its busy, like today, my wife, kids and I were all separated on the boat - not good and they didn't care. We had to take what was available, and no one would slide down or make room. They were afraid to get up, like in musical chairs, you could lose your seat altogether.

One Captain was chatty with information, another not at all - don't count on "a tour".

The final ride back to the car was even longer because they made additional unscheduled stops for passengers (friends?) at their condos.

Important Note: Passengers who already have tickets are seated first, so if there is a long line you may never get on unless you have a ticket in hand.

Tips: If you decide to try them, start in the middle, not the end of their route so you don't have too far to travel back.

When we return, if the kids want some more water tours, well try out one of the other riverboat tours - the have a set start/stop schedule. The Water Taxi / Water Bus, in all fairness may have been having a bad day, but for someone with limited time on a weekend trip or vacation - a bad day stuck with them can kill a whole vacation day for you.

It was $12.00 for an all day pass (cash or traveler's checks only). In contrast the other straight tours ran about $16.00.

I felt it was important to share, since most other reviews were just showing the love for this firm.

Plan accordingly.
Editor Pick

Water Taxi Tour

  • July 15, 2004
  • Rated 5 of 5 by Venturer from Bossier City, Louisiana
Water Taxi Tour

Water Bus—The water bus fare is only $5 per person and provides a wonderful tour of the waterways. The captain was very informative, telling us about the mansions and yachts that we were seeing--Who had built them, some of the past owners and sometimes who owns them now. We rode the complete A route and only disembarked twice--once at the terminal and once at Las Olas Riverfront. We got off at Las Olas because the drawbridge was down and we wanted to eat at Shirttail Charlie’s. The porter on the water bus told us we could walk across the railroad tracks and Shirttail Charlie’s would send a shuttle boat for us if we would signal them. However, we found out that there is no pickup point for the shuttle boat on the other side of the track and the shuttle does not start until 7 PM. We had a nice walk to the riverfront and then walked back to our car, which was quite a walk as we were parked at stop 12.

If you plan to take the water bus, it would be a good idea to get a brochure and find the parking areas and stops. One of the buses we rode on was air-conditioned, one was not but the windows were open and it was quite nice. At one point we moved to the open back of the boat, but that was not a good idea because we were over the motor and could not hear the narration. I would highly recommend the water bus (or water taxi) as an alternative to the higher priced water tours.

From journal Fort Lauderdale in July

Water Taxi Tour

  • February 28, 2004
  • Rated 5 of 5 by njbro from Palm Coast, Florida
We walked from our resort across the drawbridge to the Doubletree Guest Suites Hotel and walked through the lobby to the Intracoastal taxi stand. The taxi comes by at 10:21am going south. We sat in the open air part of the boat in the back, but there is air-conditioning if the day is hot in the closed middle portion of the boat. The driver and the ticket person provide a narration of the yachts and mansions along the waterway. It is a very pleasant and informative tour of Fort Lauderdale. You can get on and off at various stops all day for the $5 price. Do not take this if you are in a hurry, but if you want to tour and stop at various shops and restaurants, this is a great way to go.

We got off and ate lunch at the River Walk and had a great lunch with a wonderful view of the river.

From journal Where the boys were

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