Sunset Cruises

As the afternoon heat softens, the water off Clearwater Beach turns glassy and calm, some of the smoothest cruising of the whole day. You ease out from our dock at 200 Seminole St, point the bow toward open water, and let the pace slow right down. This is the Gulf at its friendliest: gentle, quiet, and painted in colors that change by the minute.

Our Berkshire pontoon seats up to 9 and the Viaggio tritoon seats up to 12, both with a bimini top for shade and a Bluetooth stereo for your golden-hour playlist. Load the cooler, spread everyone across the seats, and drift toward a sandbar in Clearwater Harbor or an anchor spot near One Tree Island. Wild bottlenose dolphins are out here almost daily, and evening is a beautiful time to spot a fin rolling through the calm.

One thing to know: our self-drive rentals need to be back at the dock by dark, so a do-it-yourself trip is best timed for the golden hour just before sunset — book the Half-Day Cruise (4 hours, $399 plus tax and fuel) for a late-afternoon run and cruise home as the sky turns gold. The driver just needs to be 25 or older, with a Florida Boating Safety Education ID Card if born on or after January 1, 1988.

Want to stay out for the sunset itself and the colors afterward? Add a licensed captain to your rental — with a captain aboard you can cruise past dark. They handle the driving and the local know-how while you focus on the sky, the dolphins, and the people you came out with. Either way, you'll be back at the dock with the kind of photos and easy, salt-air happiness that make a Clearwater sunset hard to forget.