I was a little apprehensive when I booked this attraction. I read the reviews on Tripadvisor and wondered if this would be suitable for me at the age of forty-six. We arrived approximately 20 minutes before departure. Parking was a little scarce and the marina is hidden from the tall buildings in the area. Look for the Trinity Episcopal Cathedral as they were offering $5 parking until 6:00 pm, it is at teh corner of N Bayside Drive and NE 16th Street. We parked in the church lot and the marina is just in front of the Marroitt. I was with my wife and two teenage boys. We were greeted at the office by our tour guide and given a short training session on the boats. We signed some damage waivers and left our credit card info in the event that we damaged our boat. We were quickly on the water. Each boat requires an adult at least 22 years of age and can accomodate four people. The day was warm and beautiful but I wouldn't recommend this adventure for someone with medical conditions or injuries that limit their mobility. The boats are low and can sometimes smack off the wake at high speedss giving some people a jolt they may not appreciate. We toured the bay for 1.5 hrs and were treated to a brief history of the area. The tour around Star Island was fantastic and we were able to view many celebrity homes from the water. My personal favourite was the former home of Al Capone.This is a hands on adventure and you will operate your own boat throughout the tour. The guide rides solo in his own boat with the group following. Keep your eyes open for marine life and the many large yachts the dot the water. I would have to say this was a highlight of our trip and the location is very accessible from I-95.

Check it out.

If any of the following is on your list of things to do on your trip to Miami - take a boat ride, see celebrity houses, learn the history of Miami, see the Miami skyline (in my honest opinion, the only ACCEPTABLE way to view and truly appreciate the Miami skyline is from the waters) - then put Miami SpeedBoat Tours on the very TOP of your itinerary. Sure you can take just any old boat tour, but why just sit there and listen to a guide talk over the speaker phone when you can drive your very own speedboat? And SpeedBoat Tours is the only one that lets you drive your own boat.

I went on the 10 AM morning tour on December 23, 2012 and I have to say this is one of the best experience I had in Miami (and I did A LOT in the 4 days I was there) - I have no previous boating experience but was able to drive this no problem after less than five minutes of instructions. Not only do you get to see some pretty famous houses (former house of Shaq, the "Miami Vice House", the "Scarface House" just to name a few) & other important Miami landmarks, for those adrenaline junkies out there, you also get the opportunity to open up your speedboat to full throttle at a few sections of the tour. Let me tell you, these boats are FAST - depending on water/wind condition, you can get some decent air driving these. I was lucky the bay was essentially empty on the morning I went, and I was able to fully enjoy the experience of speeding through the water with no fear of crashing into anything or anyone.

But what take this tour over the top is the guide, owner/guide Michael is very friendly and is exceptionally knowledgeable about the history & various landmarks of Miami (and just what to do in Miami in general). My only “complaint” is that the 90 minutes is over way too quickly, haha, and that is testament to how much fun you'll have on this tour. Thanks Mike, for making this such an incredible experience, I look forward to doing this again the next time I come to Miami.

*** A few quick tips to potential participants:

1) Book a morning tour, before the water gets crowded and the weather gets too hot for comfort.

2) Don't worry about bringing a towel, you won't get too wet unless you flip your boat, and I seriously doubt that'll happen.

3) Definitely bring a camera, there are many beautiful sights you otherwise will never see.

*** Some small suggestions to the company:

1) I know this is a fairly new operation, but in the future, when you have some time (because it would be pretty time consuming), I would suggest creating a PDF file of landmarks & houses you talked about on the tour (with a picture & maybe just a short one line description of each) that you can email to participants afterwards, I have seen this done on other top notch tours I've been on & this really helps participants to remember what they saw (especially since there are so MUCH information given on this tour).

2) If you decide to do any tours longer than 90 minutes, definitely let me know! I would love to do this again.

The last time I was in Miami, I did the Island Queen Cruise, which I thought was really good. This time, I wanted to try something a little more exciting and hands on. I had heard good things about SpeedboatTours and wanted to give it a try and am glad that I did.

It was a beautiful Miami day and the tour was awesome! Ashton, the tour guide, was great and driving the speedboat was incredible. Seeing Miami from the water was amazing. Big thanks to the crew at SpeedboatTours!

The speedboat tour is amazing, if you never drove a boat before you will love this tour! The tour will give you opportunity to view important places in Miami, some rich people houses and allow you to go full speed which is a lot of fun. Next time I'm going Miami, I'm doing the tour again!