About me

Hi, I’m Rowan Ellis. I grew up in San Diego, and wherever I travel I look for the water first. A harbor, a river or a lake shows you a city from the side most visitors never see, and an hour on a boat is often the best hour of a trip.

I started this site because booking a boat trip is harder than it looks. A single harbor can have a dozen operators selling sightseeing cruises, sunset sails, dinner cruises, private charters and self-drive rentals, all from different piers, at different lengths and prices. The booking sites list them one by one, but nobody puts them side by side.

So that’s what I do here. For every city I:

• compare every boat trip I can find, by price, length, boat type, rating, number of reviews and cancellation policy;
• map the piers and marinas where the boats leave from, and what you see on the water;
• tell you which one I’d book and why, depending on whether you want the skyline at sunset, a dinner on board, a private boat for your group or a morning with dolphins.

How I choose what I recommend

I look at the numbers first: price per person and per hour, what’s included, how recent and how good the reviews are, and how flexible the cancellation is. Then I look at the trip itself: the route, the size of the boat, the time of day and the season. A cheap cruise is no deal if it sails at noon in August with no shade on deck.

How this site makes money

Some links on this site are affiliate links, mainly to GetYourGuide. If you book through them I may earn a small commission, at no extra cost to you. It never changes which trip I recommend.

Get in touch

Spotted a price that changed, a pier that moved, or a harbor I should cover next? Drop me a line at hello@harbouradvisor.com.