Party boats are considered public charters, so individuals and small parties share the boat with others. The price is per individual, and the boat has multiple parties on board.

The Federal red snapper season opens and closes at the whim of the Federal government. This season is strictly enforced by our company. When we can’t keep red snapper, we focus on the other fish listed under “expected catches” in the pricing section of this website. For updates and text alerts, visit www.gulfcouncil.org.

The Cavalier, usually used for bay fishing, holds 86 fishermen. The New Buccaneer, usually making the deep sea trips, holds 100 fishermen.

The Cavalier is a 70 ft catamaran, and the New Buccaneer is an 85 ft catamaran.

Our boats are available for private charters. However, the prices are based on the capacity of the vessels. These prices are the most economical for very large parties.

The ticket price includes the rod, reel, and squid bait. Food, fishing licenses, and fish cleaning are additional, as is the optional (but appreciated) gratuity.

Yes. There is a parking lot across from our office on Pier 19 that is run by the Port of Galveston. The cost is $16 per day, credit card accepted. Parking is enforced.

We use 6 ft medium-action rods, 4/0 open-faced reels (Penn 113s) with 80-100 lb test, and 10/0 circle hooks. Please note it is federal regulation to use circle hooks while red snapper fishing. This gear is furnished on all of our trips, but the 30-hour tuna trips require the customer to supply his/her own tuna jigs and plugs. We allow customers to bring their own rod and reel but ask that they provide their own tackle. A small tackle box is allowed on board for customers choosing to bring their own gear. Due to limited spacing, we only allow fishing with one rod at a time.

We’re sorry, but at this time, because of the high price of diesel fuel, we are unable to offer any discounts on our already-low rates.

Reservations are recommended because not every trip is available every day. We ask that you please call our office to make reservations. At that time, one of our staff members will go over our policies and procedures with you.

Typically, our 4-hour bay trips are from 8 am-12 pm and 1:30 pm-5:30 pm.

Our 12-hour trips leave at 7:30 am and return at 7:30 pm.

8-hour trips are typically from 7:00 am to 3:00 pm, but please check our trip calendar for specific sailing times.

Check-in is absolutely no later than one hour prior to the boat’s scheduled departure time. When making a reservation, a specific check-in time will be given.

Payment in full is required in advance.

We take cards over the phone and online. For phone credit card payments, please be sure to bring the confirmation email you receive with you on the day of your trip. Payments online via our booking tab is the recommended method of reserving your trip.

You can buy your tickets with a credit card as long as it is your credit card. We will not accept any credit cards issued to the name of a person not present to sign at the time of use. For example, we often have customers giving us a credit card that has someone else’s name on it and they tell us, "that is my wife/husband/boyfriend/girlfriend/mom/dad/etc and I am on the account and can sign." If you are on the credit card account, the credit card company issued you a card in your name. Please do not ask us to allow you to use a card in another person’s name.

If you do not have a credit card in your own name, we accept pre-paid Visa and Mastercards (available at local drugstores) over the phone. You can use it to pay and bring it with you the day of the trip. Make sure you do not throw the used card away; we have to see it is a pre-paid card, as the credit card machine does not differentiate between a pre-paid card and a bank-issued card when it is a payment done by phone.

For a refund of your payment, you will need to cancel at least 3 days before the trip’s date. For overnight trips, we require a seven (7) day notice for cancellations. We’re sorry, but no-shows on the day of the trip are nonrefundable and we resell empty spaces. We do not allow customers to keep unoccupied slots.

Refunds are made in full when the weather requires Galveston Party Boats to cancel your trip. For other cancellations, the ticket price and Port Tariff are refunded, but not the ticket fee ($1 to $5 depending on the trip). Any other refunds will be up to the discretion of the owner.

We typically try to go out with wave heights up to 6 feet. Any wave heights higher than 6 feet usually cause us to cancel our trips. Bay fishing is rarely affected by weather or wave heights. Please note that the true weather may differ from what is predicted by the NWS. We do our best to make weather decisions in a timely manner, but if you travel from a long distance, do keep in mind that conditions can change during your travel time. We rely on weather services when making our decisions and not how far away someone has to travel. The further in advance someone wants weather information, the less accurate that information is going to be.

Customers are allowed to bring small, soft-sided 6-pack-sized coolers on board. We do not allow hard coolers, styrofoam coolers, glass, strollers, car seats, buckets, alcohol, or anything with wheels to be brought on board. Customers are also allowed to bring on backpacks or beach bags with personal items, and small tackle boxes if they choose to bring on their own rods.

We have galley grills on our vessels that serve food and drinks at fast food prices. Customers are also allowed to bring on soft-sided coolers (without wheels) with food and drinks.

See our galley menu here.

We do not allow people to bring alcohol on board; however, we sell beer on the deep sea trips. The bay trips are alcohol-free.

Both of our boats have an air-conditioned and heated lounge and galley (a grill with food available at fast food prices), café style seating, his-and-hers restrooms, shaded fishing areas (except extreme bow), and a sundeck.

Because of the large size of our vessels, our passengers are not required to wear life vests during our trips. However, as per Coast Guard safety regulations, we do have life vests on board for emergency purposes.

We are able to allow manual wheelchairs aboard our boats. Unfortunately, we cannot allow motorized wheelchairs or “scooters” on board, as space is limited. Please keep in mind that the entrance to our galley (where the restrooms are located) may be difficult to navigate in a wheelchair, as the water-tight doors have a four-inch threshold that comes off the ground.

Bonafide service dogs are permitted, but other pets and “emotional support” animals are not. The standard is as follows per the ADA:

1) Is the dog a service animal required because of a disability?

2) What work or task has the dog been trained to perform?

SKIP THE LINES: purchase fishing license online.

Technically, saltwater fishing licenses are required for both the bay and the deep sea trips. This rule is not strictly enforced by us as a company. The only time we check is if, on a bay trip, a customer catches an oversized redfish and would like to keep it. There is a redfish tag on a state license for this purpose. Please keep in mind that, although we don’t check for licenses, a Texas Game Warden could be waiting at the dock at any time to do so.

We allow people of all ages on most of our trips with the exception of our 6-hour Bay trip and offshore 8-, 12-, 25-, 30-hour+ trips, where the minimum age is 7 years old. However, on our 4-hour trip, because we do not allow strollers or car seats aboard our vessels, we suggest careful consideration before bringing infants. To prevent jeopardizing the trip for others, we also ask individuals with any health or physical problems to carefully consider our trips before going out.

We usually catch more fish when the water is warm. Historically, this has been between April and October. This applies to both the bay and the deep sea trips.

Unfortunately, we cannot guarantee a catch. That is the nature of fishing.

We have cleaning tables for the use of our customers. Also, there are men at the dock who offer a cleaning service. They are not employed through us, so they do charge a separate, but reasonable, price. Unfortunately, we do not pack for travel. However, we do sell ice, so customers are welcome to bring coolers to leave in their vehicles.