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EP # 250 From Coast Guard Regulations to Private Dolphin Tours: Inside Sun n Fun Charters
Ever wondered what it's really like to captain a charter boat in paradise? This fascinating conversation with Captain Dan Bridgers takes you behind the scenes of Sun n Fun Charters, revealing both the magic and challenges of Southwest Florida's waters.
Captain Dan shares his remarkable journey from a 10-year-old boy dreaming of life on the water to owning the only private charter in Fort Myers Beach capable of accommodating groups larger than six people. His vessel can take up to 20 passengers on private excursions, creating the perfect setting for family reunions, birthday celebrations, and bachelorette parties without the crowds of commercial tours or the expense of multiple smaller boats.
The path wasn't always smooth sailing. Before launching his business seven years ago, Captain Dan worked boat taxis, parasail operations, and spent eight years with Sanibel's wildlife refuge building the knowledge and experience needed for success. Then came Hurricane Ian, presenting unprecedented challenges for the entire Southwest Florida tourism industry. Yet Captain Dan's enthusiasm for the region remains undiminished as he describes waters clearer than ever and resilient wildlife that continues to captivate visitors.
Perhaps most revealing is Captain Dan's candid breakdown of charter operation myths. Far from the laid-back retirement gig many envision, running a Coast Guard regulated vessel involves rigorous safety protocols, constant maintenance on their 2023 Trident boat, and extensive paperwork. He even offers crucial advice for potential customers about verifying proper licensing and insurance when booking charters, warning about "barefoot charters" that exploit legal loopholes but may leave passengers vulnerable.
Ready to experience Southwest Florida's natural beauty with a knowledgeable, safety-conscious captain? Connect with Sun and Fun Charters through sunnfuncharters.com or dolphinpontoon.com and discover why supporting local businesses like Captain Dan's is the perfect way to enjoy paradise while helping the region bounce back stronger than ever.
Sun-N-Fun Tours & Charters
Captain Dan Bridgers
(239) 770-3218
18400 San Carlos Boulevard
Fort Myers Beach, Florida 33931
captdan@sunnfuncharters.com
sunnfuncharters.com
it's time to check out your neighbors on the good neighbor podcast, where we bring good vibes, great neighbors and local businesses in Southwest Florida together. Here's your host, cabo Jim Schaller.
Speaker 2:Welcome Good Neighbors, episode number 250 of the Good Neighbor podcast. Today we have Good Neighbor Captain Dan Bridgers from Sun n Fun Charters Welcome.
Speaker 3:Good morning. Good morning, nice to be here, jim.
Speaker 2:Absolutely Pleasant to get to meet people in the community and share their stories with our listeners. So obviously you are a boat captain, but why don't you share a little bit about what you do over at Sun and Fun Charters?
Speaker 3:Yes, sir, I actually run Sun n Fun Charters out of Fort Myers Beach and we are the only boat charter in the area that does strictly private tours for over six people. We will do one to six people. Our smallest charter I think we've had is two, but we can carry up to 20. It's a really nice setup because we get a lot of larger groups down here, a lot of big families do a lot of birthday parties, bachelorette parties, that kind of stuff. So having this boat available at affordable pricing turns out to be really nice.
Speaker 2:Absolutely so. Obviously you love the water, but how do you get involved in starting your own charter business?
Speaker 3:Well, that kind of goes back for a long way, believe it or not. When I was a kid probably 10 or 12 years old this is what I always wanted to do and it's something that always stuck to me. Of course, living originally I'm from North Carolina, the coast of North Carolina and growing up there, in the winters were just too cold to be out in the water. It was nothing you could well that I felt like I could really do as a job and support a family. So once I got down to Florida, which was about 17 years ago, I went ahead and got my captain's license and started doing this.
Speaker 3:I started out working a lot of odd jobs, trying to get hours on the boat. There was a taxi company that I worked for for a little while I worked for a parasail company on Fort Myers Beach. Then I actually worked for the wildlife refuge over in Sanibel for about eight years and there's probably where I got the most of my experience learning about the area, the wildlife. You know how to run a big tour boat and that kind of stuff. So I I actually had the opportunity to start this business and figured I felt pretty comfortable about my knowledge and experience, so I was able to put it together with some help with some friends excuse me from family and yeah, it just kind of come together about seven years ago.
Speaker 2:Wow, so let's, let's talk about that. I mean, you know everybody's had some type of challenge, whether it's starting a new business, changing industries or personally, that they've gone through to get where they are today. Is there something you can look back at now and say you know what I made it through. I'm in a better place now. Yeah absolutely.
Speaker 3:Of course, I think COVID was a challenge for all of us, but I think the biggest challenge that we have so far overcome fingers crossed is Ian. It has made such a huge difference down here. The tourism numbers are down from what they have been, but we are slowly getting back to. You know where we want to be, but, yeah, we're still. I think there's a lot of businesses right now still under challenge with Ian, and I encourage everybody that has been down in this area and want to come back again to come back, because we really count on those people and we love to have you all here. So I think one of the one of the biggest things is, once you have been doing this a while, you get a nice client base and you have people that have been coming to you for years and they really help keep you afloat, and I think each and every one of them- Absolutely, and you know, and there's still things to see out there.
Speaker 2:It's, you know, yes, some of the buildings are around and you know, and you know some of the mangroves have been replaced, but there's still nature and things to see out there here in southwest Florida that we can enjoy and get out on the water and see different things that people normally wouldn't see Absolutely. So let's talk about maybe some myths or misconceptions surrounding what you do that we can maybe clear up for our listeners.
Speaker 3:Well, our boat is a little different than, of course, a six-pack boat where captains take out six people. We are actually Coast Guard regulated heavily and I have people on the boat all the time going oh, you've got such a great job it's, you know, so laid back. And you know, when I retire I want to do this, or they'll ask me are you retired? I have no idea on all of that. Like I said, we are heavily regulated. There is a lot of hoops we have to jump through.
Speaker 3:The boat needs lots of maintenance all the time. It's a boat. You know the old saying for a boat, bust out another thousand. Pretty much the way it goes. We run a 2023 Trident 35-foot boat. So I mean it's a relatively new boat, but there's always little things going on. Like I said, there's always lots of stuff to keep going. We have to keep all of our business paperwork and stuff done. We have to keep maintenance up on the boat. We have to get inspected every year by the Coast Guard. There's just a lot more behind the scenes than most people think.
Speaker 2:Absolutely. It's not just jumping in and out and going for a ride.
Speaker 1:There's a lot that happens to make that ride.
Speaker 2:Yeah, exactly, make sure it's safe and accurate for everybody. So, do you notice things? I mean, you mentioned Ian a little while ago. Do you notice certain things may be trending in your industry?
Speaker 3:Um, as far I'm not sure I 100% understand.
Speaker 2:Is there any like I don't want to say new technology, new things, new things that are happening that you know people should check out, or maybe they're not aware of?
Speaker 3:Well, I mean, there's always new stuff getting done at the beach, if that's what you're asking. It's changing all the time. Fort Myers Beach is coming back. It's a it's a very slow process, um, but as far as the water and stuff goes, it's still great out there, um, and it's there's still awesome places to go, um. So you know, I would say you know there's there's changing things, but there are some things that just don't, and our wildlife is one of them. They're still here, they're still strong and they, you know it makes for a good trip.
Speaker 2:And I was at the beach just this past weekend and, you know, to my surprise the water has probably been the clearest I have seen the water in a long time. You know, I could actually see my feet in the water.
Speaker 3:Absolutely. We do a lot of our trips. We head south in the intercoastal and it seems like the further we get away from the Caloosahatchee, the prettier the water gets. Actually, we have days out there that you go out there and stand and it looks like it's been poured out of a bottle, literally. I mean, it's just that nice, pretty and clear.
Speaker 2:Absolutely so. You mentioned you were from North.
Speaker 3:Carolina originally. What brought you to Southwest Florida? Really the cold. I mean. I love North Carolina. North Carolina will always be home. But the older I get, you know you get aches and pains and I've had a couple of motorcycle accidents over the years so I've got some rods in my leg and stuff like that. So the warmer weather is a big majority of it. But we also had a friend of ours that lived down here for years and we had made a couple of trips down here to see Joe and and just kind of really fell in love with the area. My wife had spent some time in Hawaii and when she was younger and she said a lot of it kind of reminded her of Hawaii. So she was like, yeah, if you'd like to move, we can certainly pick up and move. So that's how we ended up here.
Speaker 2:Nice, I'm not going to stop you from moving. I love that. I love it. That's why I think we all made our way down here, but I blame my parents for not being born down here but got here as quickly as I could. There you go, that's what I said. So obviously you spend a lot of time on the water, but when you do get and owning your own business can be very demanding of your time but when you do get a moment of free time, what do you enjoy doing outside of work?
Speaker 3:Well, man, in every time. But when you do get a moment of free time, what do you enjoy doing outside of work? Well, we actually have a little farm over in Punta Gorda, okay, so that keeps us pretty busy. We enjoy doing that. We've got goats and chickens and dogs and so, yeah, that takes up a lot of time and we really enjoy that portion of it. We've got grandkids. We've got a grandson, a granddaughter there in Maryland, and so we make trips up there. When we get a little free time, we make trips up there to see them as well.
Speaker 2:Very nice, very nice and connected with nature. You know, that's, that's the way it should be.
Speaker 3:Absolutely. Is there one thing you wish our listeners knew about Sun and Fun charters that maybe they wouldn't be too familiar with? Um, the point that we, uh we are different than most of the other charter boats, uh, would be probably the biggest thing is that we do. Um, our pricing is set with the six pack boats, the smaller boats, and so it's very affordable. But yet if you have a bigger group, as you add people, the price gradually increases, almost like a lot of the big boats do, by the seat. But we do just all private. So it makes it a really nice experience for you to be able to get your bigger groups out. We do a lot of families of eight and 10, 12, that they all get down here during this time of the year together and then they want to go out and do something together, but yet there's very, it's very hard to find a boat for them to go out on that they're not with a lot of strangers on the boat. So this allows them to be able to do it.
Speaker 3:We, like I said, we, are a Coast Guard inspected vessel. That is very important. There's a lot of boats. Try to split you up into a couple of two or three boats you know to take you out, or they're doing what they call a barefoot charter. That's one way of doing it and it is legal to do, but it's a legal loophole. When they put over six people on the boat, their insurance ceases to exist. So if anything were to happen on something like that, they wouldn't have any recourse. Like said the, the boat and captain are no longer insured. So by when you do something like this, make sure that you're always looking to make sure that the company that you're going with has you know that is a coast guard inspected boat, that they are a master captain and not just a six-pack captain. So look into their reviews, look into their safety records behind. It makes a huge difference.
Speaker 2:Yep, yeah, important details and good information. So how would our listeners go about contacting you if they have more questions or wanted to book a charter?
Speaker 3:Can always go to sunandfuncharters. com, or our alternative web address is dolphinpontoon. com.
Speaker 2:Very good, any last words for our listeners today.
Speaker 3:No, sir, and I can't think of anything. I hope everyone has a great day and just enjoy Southwest Florida.
Speaker 2:Very good, captain Dan, it's been a pleasure getting to know you. Thank you for being such a good neighbor and we'll see you out in the water soon.
Speaker 3:Sounds great. Thank you so much, Jim. Have a great day.
Speaker 1:Thank you for listening to the Good Neighbor Podcast, bringing together good vibes, good vibes, great neighbors, local businesses in Southwest Florida. To nominate your favorite local business to be featured on the show, go to CaboWaboJimcom. That's CaboWaboJimcom, or call 239-427-4100.