Houseboat Vacations of the Florida Keys, Islamorada

We took our second consecutive trip with Houseboat Vacations and found it to be as good as the first. The boats were clean, functional, and well equipped. The owners were friendly, helpful, and courteous. The vacation itself is a great adventure but keep in mind that basic boating and navigation skills are required as there are reefs and other hazards present. If you have these skills and common sense then you will surely have a great time cruising the bayside of the Florida Keys. My compliments to Bill and Mary for operating a great fleet of houseboats in a great location.

Just got off the water from our 2nd stay with Houseboat Vacations of the FL Keys! Second time was just as fun as the first time around. The owners are fantastic folks to work with. They do a great job getting things ready and all we had to do was walk on with groceries, swimsuits, fins, snorkles, etc. We'd highly recommend renting a boat from them for fishing and snorkling if you like, it also comes in handy for running to the local hot spots for refreshments / food if you get tired of cooking. We can't wait to go again!

We found Bill and Mary in a guidebook and booked the trip. It was our first trip to the Keys. They have a good website. They are down home, good folks who were great to work with. They told us what we needed to know to run the 42' houseboat, and to navigate the area, including hazards. The boat was older, not luxury, but very comfortable, well maintained and clean. Everything worked. We called in with some questions during our trip, and they were very responsive. We had the anchorages to ourselves. We found lots of activities for our 3 days, without fishing. They applied our deposit to the fuel we used, and sent me a refund for the difference. They are straight up honest folk. We'll remember this adventure for years to come. If I ever go back to the Keys, I'll likely rent a houseboat from them again.

i loved this place soooooooooooooooooooooooo much it was super.

It was our first time on a house boat. Bill and Mary are great people; they made us feel right at home. We stayed on the kingfish houseboat. We had two families, a total of eight people. 4 adults and 4 kids. It was a great adventure and the kids loved it.I would recommend the kayaks, it's great to explore the flats and different islands. My 7 year old son seen his first shovel nose shark on the flats. An awesome way to see fireworks on the top deck. I would recomend this adventure to anyone.

rented the spacious 50 foot houseboat over xmas, thursday, friday, saturday, and sunday plenty of room for 6 people.boat was older but VERY CLEAN! Fished and fished, ate off gas grill, relaxed,baked in he sun, kayaked around the islands, fished from kayaks, Hot shower. Had to call houseboat vacations for more bait which they delivered cheerily. (8 doz shrimp used for 4 people fishing constantly over 3 days) Great time! And good for the head..........note;Spin casting rods best in my opinion and bring extra rod or 2 just in case. Brought 5 gals of fresh water for cooking and coffee and used it up for 6 people. Raising 45lb anchor was hardest part. when traveling we kept close watch for shallow water and had no problems, we plan to do it again sometime.

Houseboating in the Florida Keys is a wonderful way to be adventurous! I have done it two different times and am about to do it again!!! It is a lot of fun and I just talked my friends into doing it again!!

The people who give good reviews, HAVE to be friends of the owners, who are thieves and very shady. They take a deposit, and make sure they come up with an excuse to keep most of it....the refrigerator was broken when we first got on the boat and they knew it, and still charged us for it at the end of the trip, as well as other things that we had nothing to do with. They have a big scam going....they rip people off, and the price of renting one of their DUMPY houseboats is ridiculous!!! And wait until they give you THEIR price for the gas that you don't use....THEY NEED TO BE SHUT DOWN....BEWARE OF THIS PLACE!!! Rent a condo and a boat, it will be about half the price of these houseboats that smell like sewer!

Three day rental sure was a lot of fun...cruising the keys, snorkeling, rum and cokes on the roof while admiring the sunsets. I recommend it to everyone.

islamorada is a beuatiful place and a great vacation destination. the location was perfect but this vacation was ruined by the owners of this company. from the first moment we arrived the owners, who were very nice by the phone, had turned into grumps. the first thing we noticed was the smell and look of the old boat we were to call home for three days. it did not even look seaworthy. when we mentioned the smell they yelled at us and told us to come back later. we were afraid we drove hours for nothing so we were stuck with it the way it was. If you do not know how to captain a vessel this large i would not advise trying it. it is like driving a 1970 singlewide mobile home on floats at 2 mph. besides not having enough fuel to go where you want the speed at which you get there will have you traveling all day. there more places you cannot go than can. you must always be conscious of your depth. you get a 10 minute synopsis of how to operate the boat from the owners who are hungover from the night before. if you miss or forget any of these things be prepared to be berated like you would not believe. my overall advice is to rent a condo or a motel and then rent a boat for sightseeing or fishing. this is a poorly run business and you will regret spending your money here.