Dolphin tour in Florida Gulf a once-in-a-lifetime experience
Staff Photo: Tara Fletcher
By Carlton Fletcher
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SOMEWHERE WITHIN THE THREE-MILE COASTAL WATERS IN THE GULF OF MEXICO — Capt. Heath Stone, one of two licensed captains onboard the Wreckreation, a 13-passenger boat that’s heading into a strong — and very cold — wind on this cloudy January Saturday, can’t resist.
As he starts into his tale, fellow captain Ernie Churchill — the two are taking a pair of guests on a dolphin tour in St. Andrew Bay, just out from Panama City proper — rolls his eyes.
Stone notices.
“He’s tired of hearing this; he’s heard it a million miles,” Stone says of his boatmate.
Although it’s a dolphin tour, the captains have been asked if they see sharks on the tours and they say it’s a rarity. Asked if there are sharks in the waters, Stone gets a serious look on his face that you realize only after he’s finished his tale is a put-on.
“There is a sure-fire, guaranteed way to tell if sharks are in the water, and all you need is a spoon,” Stone says. “You just need a spoon. It can be any kind of spoon: a tablespoon, teaspoon, plastic spoon, wooden spoon. Doesn’t matter. You dip your spoon in the water, bring it out and taste it. If it tastes salty, there are sharks in the water.”
And so kicks off a marvelous adventure with these two veteran boatmen, part of a nine-captain crew that works with Roger Rowe and his Gabby’s Dolphin Tours out of Panama City, Fla. Such tours are a mainstay of the tourist trade along the coast, but an unusual freeze the night before and carryover chill the next day keep only the hearty — and maybe the foolish — indoors.
“We run 12 months a year,” Rowe says a few days later. “We don’t have all six of our boats available in the winter months, but in this part of the state, there aren’t many days we’re not willing to take people out.”
Rowe grew up a “hillbilly” in northwest Alabama, while Churchill and Stone are New Englanders, from upstate New York and Massachusetts, respectively. The two captains were raised on the water, while Rowe came to it later in life, the fulfillment of one of two dreams he had while landlocked in Alabama.
“Growing up, I watched Jacques Cousteau on TV Sunday nights, and I wanted to do what he did,” Rowe said. “One of my goals was to spearfish in the Gulf; the other was to fly an airplane. I didn’t realize the first one until about 1997. That’s when I started making enough money to go out and spend $3,000 on diving gear. When I finally got into the water, I quickly realized that I loved this more than I thought I would.”
Rowe, it should be pointed out, is a man not afraid to chase his dreams. So, yes, he’s flown an airplane, been a pilot now for 21 years.
When he made enough money to get comfortable in life, Rowe sold all his belongings and moved to Costa Rica. After a short stay in that country, he moved to Panama.
“I’d never traveled,” he said. “I was semiretired, so I decided to see more of the world.”
Rowe’s wanderlust didn’t last long. He grew tired of “doing pretty much nothing” and decided to come back to the States. He landed in Panama City and four years ago started Gabby’s Dolphin Tours.
“I wanted to get involved with locals, and I saw an opportunity to get involved in the tourism industry,” he said. “People here love the water, so this is where I landed.
“I love it, love the people you meet. See, everyone we interact with on a dolphin tour is happy. It’s all about having a good time.”
Churchill was a cabinetmaker in New York when an injury to his back led to surgery and an end to his chosen profession. He came South looking for warmer climate, landed in the Gulf area and soon met all the requirements for obtaining a captain’s license.
“This is never boring,” Churchill said as he looked out over the choppy waters of the Gulf. “And you’re with people who are on vacation, looking for an experience to take home with them.
“There’s never a guarantee you’re going to see dolphins when you do one of these tours, but after you’ve been out a while you just kind of know where to look. It’s rare when we don’t see dolphins; they’re all over these waters. And some of the older ones seem to enjoy the attention they get from people on the cruises. They’ve trained themselves to perform. It’s always an incredible sight.”
Like Rowe, Stone caught a bit of the wanderlust bug himself, moving from New England to the Virgin Islands with his family in 2008. He moved back to America and, like his boatmate, landed along Florida’s Gulf.
“It was fun to live where everybody goes for vacation,” Stone said. “I started working on my boat captain’s license in the Virgin Islands and gradually have moved up to 100-ton (boat) certification. You have to work 350 days as a crew member to qualify for your six-pack (six-passenger craft) certification. Then you move up to 25-ton, 50-ton and 100-ton.
“I started working with Roger when he started his tour business because it’s not a bad gig to go out every day and get paid for doing something you love. I don’t call that work. I love the people we encounter on the tours, love to watch them when they see a dolphin for the first time. Plus, man, you can be out here on these waters and see so many cool sights: rainbows, rain showers, purple rain, sunsets. It’s all amazing.”
In the middle of our getting-acquainted conversation on the open waters, a look comes over Stone’s face. He swings the Wreckreation hard left. (I’m not seaworthy enough to know if that’s port or starboard … it was just left to me).
“Over there,” he says, pointing off in the distance.
That’s when the magic begins. A pod of some dozen or so dolphins starts breaking the surface, their curved fins moving in arcs that are amazing to watch. As Stone pulls us closer, we see a mother and her baby in a synchronized swimming-like tandem, their moves almost a choreographed dance. Other dolphins show themselves, and as we head away a short while later, two follow in our wake, their sleek bodies on display as they “ski” just behind the boat.
“Most of the dolphins we’ll see are bottlenoses,” Churchill says. “There are some spinners on occasion, but these are bottlenoses.”
We cruise into the gin-clear waters off Shell Island, marveling at the beauty of the blindingly-white sand (“It’s not really sand, it’s granulated quartz,” Stone explains), when another pod erupts straight ahead. Stone gets us as close as the dolphins will allow, and suddenly they’re all around us.
Some of the bolder among this group put on a show: One goes airborne; several stick their heads out of the water to show off their enchanting dolphin smiles. One “stands” and dances on its tail, a la “Flipper” from the ’60s TV show, and a pair does acrobatics mere feet from the boat.
“What I love about this business is that we are able to provide a once-in-a-lifetime experience where we take people within 10 feet of a wild creature in its element that everyone loves,” Rowe said. “It’s just thrilling, knowing these creatures are as intelligent as we are, and some of them seem to want to share, to interact with and perform for the people on the boats.
“Yes, being in this business is better than I ever thought it would be. You get to meet and talk with people from all over — from Seattle to Miami and from southern California to Washington, D.C. — and you give them an experience that they’ll never forget. There aren’t many things as good as that.”
As we head back inland a good 2 1/2 hours after taking off, finally succumbing to the biting winds, we spot another pod of Dolphins that we “share” with another tour boat of hearty souls willing to brave the elements to see these miracles of nature. The “oohs” and “aahs” we hear from those passengers match our own, as each new sighting brings a thrill that can only be explained with the experience.
We thank (and tip) our captains and head for a local Mexican restaurant to warm up and enjoy what we’re promised is one of Panama City’s primo dining experiences. (No offense, but I’ll take Los Amigos any day … but that’s just me.) The adventure on the water is over, but in the days after, in moments of solitude and quiet, I clearly remember those exquisite creatures rising out of the water to put on their show. It’s a memory I’ll carry with me always.
Persons interested in having their own dolphin experience can contact Gabby’s Dolphin Tours at GabbysDolphinTours.com or by calling (850) 392-7717 or 392-7100. The website offers photographs and videos that’ll whet adventurers’ appetites. Groups as large as 13 can be accommodated on a single tour.
“Our busiest times are Spring Break and the holidays: July 4th, Memorial Day, Labor Day,” Rowe said. “On those days, I recommend booking a tour a couple of weeks in advance. Otherwise, we generally can accommodate a tour with a 24- to 48-hour notice. Calling the day of is not recommended, as we often book four tours a day with all six of our boats.”
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