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

[phone]
18400 San Carlos Boulevard
Fort Myers Beach, Florida 33931

[e-mail]

sunnfuncharters.com

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Episode Transcript

(01:16):
it's time to check out yourneighbors on the good neighbor
podcast, where we bring goodvibes, great neighbors and local
businesses in Southwest Floridatogether.
Here's your host, cabo JimSchaller.

Speaker 2 (01:31):
Welcome Good Neighbors, episode number 250 of
the Good Neighbor podcast.
Today we have Good NeighborCaptain Dan Bridgers from Sun n
Fun Charters Welcome.

Speaker 3 (01:40):
Good morning.
Good morning, nice to be here,jim.

Speaker 2 (01:43):
Absolutely Pleasant to get to meet people in the
community and share theirstories with our listeners.
So obviously you are a boatcaptain, but why don't you share
a little bit about what you doover at Sun and Fun Charters?

Speaker 3 (01:56):
Yes, sir, I actually run Sun n Fun Charters out of
Fort Myers Beach and we are theonly boat charter in the area
that does strictly private toursfor over six people.
We will do one to six people.
Our smallest charter I thinkwe've had is two, but we can
carry up to 20.
It's a really nice setupbecause we get a lot of larger

(02:20):
groups down here, a lot of bigfamilies do a lot of birthday
parties, bachelorette parties,that kind of stuff.
So having this boat availableat affordable pricing turns out
to be really nice.

Speaker 2 (02:34):
Absolutely so.
Obviously you love the water,but how do you get involved in
starting your own charterbusiness?

Speaker 3 (02:42):
Well, that kind of goes back for a long way,
believe it or not.
When I was a kid probably 10 or12 years old this is what I
always wanted to do and it'ssomething that always stuck to
me.
Of course, living originallyI'm from North Carolina, the
coast of North Carolina andgrowing up there, in the winters
were just too cold to be out inthe water.
It was nothing you could wellthat I felt like I could really

(03:04):
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'slicense and started doing this.
I started out working a lot ofodd jobs, trying to get hours on
the boat.
There was a taxi company that Iworked for for a little while I

(03:25):
worked for a parasail companyon Fort Myers Beach.
Then I actually worked for thewildlife refuge over in Sanibel
for about eight years andthere's probably where I got the
most of my experience learningabout the area, the wildlife.
You know how to run a big tourboat and that kind of stuff.

(03:46):
So I I actually had theopportunity to start this
business and figured I feltpretty comfortable about my
knowledge and experience, so Iwas able to put it together with
some help with some friendsexcuse me from family and yeah,

(04:08):
it just kind of come togetherabout seven years ago.

Speaker 2 (04:11):
Wow, so let's, let's talk about that.
I mean, you know everybody'shad some type of challenge,
whether it's starting a newbusiness, changing industries or
personally, that they've gonethrough to get where they are
today.
Is there something you can lookback at now and say you know
what I made it through.
I'm in a better place now.
Yeah absolutely.

Speaker 3 (04:31):
Of course, I think COVID was a challenge for all of
us, but I think the biggestchallenge that we have so far
overcome fingers crossed is Ian.
It has made such a hugedifference down here.
The tourism numbers are downfrom what they have been, but we
are slowly getting back to.

(04:53):
You know where we want to be,but, yeah, we're still.
I think there's a lot ofbusinesses right now still under
challenge with Ian, and Iencourage everybody that has
been down in this area and wantto come back again to come back,
because we really count onthose people and we love to have
you all here.

(05:13):
So I think one of the one ofthe biggest things is, once you
have been doing this a while,you get a nice client base and
you have people that have beencoming to you for years and they
really help keep you afloat,and I think each and every one
of them- Absolutely, and youknow, and there's still things

(05:35):
to see out there.

Speaker 2 (05:37):
It's, you know, yes, some of the buildings are around
and you know, and you know someof the mangroves have been
replaced, but there's stillnature and things to see out
there here in southwest Floridathat we can enjoy and get out on
the water and see differentthings that people normally
wouldn't see Absolutely.
So let's talk about maybe somemyths or misconceptions

(06:00):
surrounding what you do that wecan maybe clear up for our
listeners.

Speaker 3 (06:07):
Well, our boat is a little different than, of course
, a six-pack boat where captainstake out six people.
We are actually Coast Guardregulated heavily and I have
people on the boat all the timegoing oh, you've got such a
great job it's, you know, solaid back.
And you know, when I retire Iwant to do this, or they'll ask

(06:30):
me are you retired?
I have no idea on all of that.
Like I said, we are heavilyregulated.
There is a lot of hoops we haveto jump through.
The boat needs lots ofmaintenance all the time.
It's a boat.
You know the old saying for aboat, bust out another thousand.

(06:50):
Pretty much the way it goes.
We run a 2023 Trident 35-footboat.
So I mean it's a relatively newboat, but there's always little
things going on.
Like I said, there's alwayslots of stuff to keep going.
We have to keep all of ourbusiness paperwork and stuff

(07:12):
done.
We have to keep maintenance upon the boat.
We have to get inspected everyyear by the Coast Guard.
There's just a lot more behindthe scenes than most people
think.

Speaker 2 (07:25):
Absolutely.
It's not just jumping in andout and going for a ride.

Speaker 1 (07:28):
There's a lot that happens to make that ride.

Speaker 2 (07:30):
Yeah, exactly, make sure it's safe and accurate for
everybody.
So, do you notice things?
I mean, you mentioned Ian alittle while ago.
Do you notice certain thingsmay be trending in your industry
?

Speaker 3 (07:44):
Um, as far I'm not sure I 100% understand.

Speaker 2 (07:50):
Is there any like I don't want to say new technology
, new things, new things thatare happening that you know
people should check out, ormaybe they're not aware of?

Speaker 3 (08:00):
Well, I mean, there's always new stuff getting done
at the beach, if that's whatyou'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 greatout there, um, and it's there's
still awesome places to go, um.

(08:23):
So you know, I would say youknow there's there's changing
things, but there are somethings that just don't, and our
wildlife is one of them.
They're still here, they'restill strong and they, you know
it makes for a good trip.

Speaker 2 (08:38):
And I was at the beach just this past weekend and
, you know, to my surprise thewater has probably been the
clearest I have seen the waterin a long time.
You know, I could actually seemy feet in the water.

Speaker 3 (08:53):
Absolutely.
We do a lot of our trips.
We head south in theintercoastal and it seems like
the further we get away from theCaloosahatchee, the prettier
the water gets.
Actually, we have days outthere that you go out there and
stand and it looks like it'sbeen poured out of a bottle,
literally.
I mean, it's just that nice,pretty and clear.

Speaker 2 (09:15):
Absolutely so.
You mentioned you were fromNorth.

Speaker 3 (09:16):
Carolina originally.
What brought you to SouthwestFlorida?
Really the cold.
I mean.
I love North Carolina.
North Carolina will always behome.
But the older I get, you knowyou get aches and pains and I've
had a couple of motorcycleaccidents over the years so I've
got some rods in my leg andstuff like that.
So the warmer weather is a bigmajority of it.

(09:40):
But we also had a friend ofours that lived down here for
years and we had made a coupleof trips down here to see Joe
and and just kind of really fellin love with the area.
My wife had spent some time inHawaii and when she was younger
and she said a lot of it kind ofreminded her of Hawaii.
So she was like, yeah, if you'dlike to move, we can certainly

(10:02):
pick up and move.
So that's how we ended up here.

Speaker 2 (10:06):
Nice, I'm not going to stop you from moving.
I love that.
I love it.
That's why I think we all madeour way down here, but I blame
my parents for not being borndown here but got here as
quickly as I could.
There you go, that's what Isaid.
So obviously you spend a lot oftime on the water, but when you
do get and owning your ownbusiness can be very demanding
of your time but when you do geta moment of free time, what do

(10:29):
you enjoy doing outside of work?

Speaker 3 (10:31):
Well, man, in every time.
But when you do get a moment offree time, what do you enjoy
doing outside of work?
Well, we actually have a littlefarm over in Punta Gorda, okay,
so that keeps us pretty busy.
We enjoy doing that.
We've got goats and chickensand dogs and so, yeah, that
takes up a lot of time and wereally enjoy that portion of it.
We've got grandkids.
We've got a grandson, agranddaughter there in Maryland,

(10:56):
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 (11:03):
Very nice, very nice and connected with nature.
You know, that's, that's theway it should be.

Speaker 3 (11:15):
Absolutely.
Is there one thing you wish ourlisteners knew about Sun and
Fun charters that maybe theywouldn't be too familiar with?
Um, the point that we, uh weare different than most of the
other charter boats, uh, wouldbe probably the biggest thing is
that we do.
Um, our pricing is set with thesix pack boats, the smaller
boats, and so it's veryaffordable.
But yet if you have a biggergroup, as you add people, the

(11:38):
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 niceexperience for you to be able to
get your bigger groups out.
We do a lot of families ofeight and 10, 12, that they all
get down here during this timeof the year together and then

(12:01):
they want to go out and dosomething together, but yet
there's very, it's very hard tofind a boat for them to go out
on that they're not with a lotof strangers on the boat.
So this allows them to be ableto do it.
We, like I said, we, are a CoastGuard inspected vessel.
That is very important.
There's a lot of boats.

(12:22):
Try to split you up into acouple of two or three boats you
know to take you out, orthey're doing what they call a
barefoot charter.
That's one way of doing it andit is legal to do, but it's a
legal loophole.
When they put over six peopleon the boat, their insurance
ceases to exist.

(12:43):
So if anything were to happenon something like that, they
wouldn't have any recourse.
Like said the, the boat andcaptain are no longer insured.
So by when you do somethinglike this, make sure that you're
always looking to make surethat the company that you're

(13:03):
going with has you know that isa coast guard inspected boat,
that they are a master captainand not just a six-pack captain.
So look into their reviews,look into their safety records
behind.
It makes a huge difference.

Speaker 2 (13:21):
Yep, yeah, important details and good information.
So how would our listeners goabout contacting you if they
have more questions or wanted tobook a charter?

Speaker 3 (13:31):
Can always go to sunandfuncharters.
com, or our alternative webaddress is dolphinpontoon.
com.

Speaker 2 (13:41):
Very good, any last words for our listeners today.

Speaker 3 (13:44):
No, sir, and I can't think of anything.
I hope everyone has a great dayand just enjoy Southwest
Florida.

Speaker 2 (13:50):
Very good, captain Dan, it's been a pleasure
getting to know you.
Thank you for being such a goodneighbor and we'll see you out
in the water soon.

Speaker 3 (13:57):
Sounds great.
Thank you so much, Jim.
Have a great day.

Speaker 1 (13:59):
Thank you for listening to the Good Neighbor
Podcast, bringing together goodvibes, good vibes, great
neighbors, local businesses inSouthwest Florida.
To nominate your favorite localbusiness to be featured on the
show, go to CaboWaboJimcom.
That's CaboWaboJimcom, or call239-427-4100.