A Dad and His Lads Explore Cheap Family Fun in and Around Jacksonville: Shark Fishing

Words by John M. Phillips

This summer, Bennett (13), Weston (10), Johnathan (7) and I decided to find weekly cheap things to do and share them with our family and friends, including our wonderful Folio Weekly audience. Our first adventure was charter fishing. FishingBooker.com can give you options, let you see the boat, captain and availability. You can also see ratings and how kid-friendly the trips are. We chose Everett’s Adventure – St. Augustine and his “shark fishing 4-hour trip.” It was $600, so a little pricier than some of the free options on the first coast, but well worth the price. It included licenses, bait and everything we needed. One tip is to try and find the charter on the booking website and call them directly for more personal service (and fewer booking fees for them).

Captain Justin was amazing. Within minutes of arriving at Captain Justin’s secret spot, Bennett caught and released a 5-foot shark. Weston was on deck next and caught another one. Even I was able to pull in one as tall as anyone on the boat. We toured around south Duval and north St. Johns and had a wonderful, safe trip, laughing and hearing tales of the ones that got away. Justin was amazing with the kids. There are so many amazing charter captains around the First Coast and so many waterways to explore. Or just grab a pole and hit the water. Make sure you work this into your summer plans.