About 60 minutes
Downtown Dolphin Cruise
A relaxed dolphin-watching cruise on the St. Johns, departing from the Doubletree Hotel dock at 1201 Riverplace Blvd.
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Verified operator
St. Johns River Taxi & Tours
Downtown Jacksonville's river cruises and water taxi. Leaves from the Southbank and Northbank docks.
Booking opens the operator's own FareHarbor calendar, with times and prices. Jacksonville Activities earns nothing on this listing.
An hour or so on the St. Johns with the skyline and the bridges around you: a dolphin cruise from the Doubletree dock, a sightseeing loop, or the sunset run that their guests book most.
JAXST. JOHNS RIVER
Concept illustration, not a photo
- Leaves fromDowntown docks
- CruisesDolphin, sunset, sightseeing
- Cruise length60 to 75 minutes
- AgesAll ages
- AlsoDock-to-dock water taxi
- BookingTheir own calendar
What they run
Pick your cruise
Three cruises with the skyline as the backdrop, all on the operator's own calendar. Dates, times and prices are on the booking page.
About 1 hour
Downtown Sightseeing Cruise
City sights from the water for all ages: the bridges, the Northbank and Southbank and the stadium district.
About 1.25 hours
Downtown Sunset Cruise
The one their own booking page calls most popular. Book the date first; sunset times move through the year.
The experience
What a St. Johns River Taxi & Tours tour is like
“Offering water transit & river cruises!”St. Johns River Taxi, in its own words
St. Johns River Taxi runs downtown Jacksonville's water taxi and a short menu of river cruises from the docks on both banks: Friendship Fountain, the Southbank Marriott, Liberty Street, Riverfront Plaza at the center span, and the Riverside dock on Saturdays. Google lists the business as women-owned.
The cruises are the reason to look them up. The Downtown Dolphin Cruise is a relaxed 60 minutes on the St. Johns leaving from the Doubletree Hotel dock, the Downtown Sightseeing Cruise is an hour of city sights, and the Downtown Sunset Cruise runs about an hour and a quarter and is the one their own booking page calls most popular. A city-lights cruise ends with the Friendship Fountain light show.
The water taxi is the practical half: dock-to-dock transit between the Northbank and Southbank, game and concert transports, and a Text the Taxi program during operating hours, with pickups paused while a cruise is out.
What’s included
- Dolphin, history, sightseeing and sunset cruises on one calendar
- Cruises listed for all ages
- Dock-to-dock water taxi on the same boats
- Gift cards on the booking page
What to bring
- Sunscreen and a hat for the open deck
- A light layer for the sunset and city-lights cruises
- Your confirmation, which names the dock
- Your phone: text 904-860-8294 for a water-taxi pickup during operating hours
Where you leave from
Downtown docks, one river
The map loads with JavaScript. Departure points: Friendship Fountain Dock (1015 Museum Circle, Jacksonville, FL 32207) and Doubletree Hotel Dock (1201 Riverplace Blvd, Jacksonville, FL 32207) and Southbank Marriott Dock (1515 Prudential Dr, Jacksonville, FL 32207) and Riverfront Plaza Dock (Riverfront Plaza, Jacksonville, FL 32202). Islands: .
In their guests’ words
Real reviews, verbatim
Three guest reviews, quoted verbatim from the operator's Google profile on September 10, 2026, and the two ratings we read the same day.
“I loved the captain! He was an absolute gem! Such a nice man and he was funny and full of interesting facts! I'm a local & went alone and it was so much fun! I will definitely be going on many more river tours! We also saw some dolphins! I live downtown so I see them alot but for those who are visiting it is really neat!”
“Recently went on a private sunset cruise on Norma Dell for Mother’s Day with my family and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. Staff was friendly, attentive, took our photos, made sure we saw lots of dolphins and got fabulous sunset photos. Definitely recommend!”
“We had a great 1 hour river touring of St John's river & history of Jacksonville. The prices are decent & the captain and his first mate were friendly, funny & knowledgeable. Definitely recommend 👌 we saw dolphins swimming in the river & enjoyed the ride.”
How this listing is verified
Verified September 10, 2026. Jacksonville Activities checked this operator before it went on the map.
Booking goes straight to the operator. No commission, no markup, no middleman.
The affiliate note in the footer covers marketplace links elsewhere on this site. It does not apply to this listing.
- Every fact on this page comes from the operator's own website and public booking page
- The Google and Tripadvisor ratings and review counts were read from the listings the same day
- The three quotes were copied from the operator's Google reviews the same day
- Dock pins sit at addresses checked against OpenStreetMap
Good to know
Common questions
Where do the cruises leave from?
From the downtown docks the operator names on its booking page: Friendship Fountain, the Southbank Marriott, Liberty Street, Riverfront Plaza at the center span, and the Riverside dock on Saturdays. The Downtown Dolphin Cruise departs from the Doubletree Hotel dock at 1201 Riverplace Blvd. Your confirmation names the dock.
How long is a cruise?
The Downtown Dolphin Cruise is about 60 minutes, the Downtown Sightseeing Cruise about an hour, and the Downtown Sunset Cruise about an hour and a quarter, per the operator's booking page.
Can kids come?
Yes. The sightseeing and sunset cruises are listed for all ages.
Is it a taxi or a tour?
Both. The same boats run dock-to-dock water taxi service between the Northbank and Southbank, plus game and concert transports, alongside the cruises. During operating hours you can text 904-860-8294 for a pickup from a downtown dock; pickups pause while a cruise is out.
Will we see dolphins?
Bottlenose dolphins are regular in the St. Johns downtown and several of the guest reviews on this page mention them, but no sighting is promised on any cruise.
Which cruise should a first-timer pick?
The Downtown Sunset Cruise is the one the operator's own booking page marks most popular. Pick the dolphin cruise if the dolphins are the point, and the sightseeing cruise if you want the city in daylight.
Ready?
Pick a cruise, pick a dock
Dates, times and prices are on the operator’s own calendar. Questions first? Call them at (904) 860-8294.
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