Duffy of San Diego
Duffy of San Diego
5
Boat Tours • Water Sports • Boat Rentals • Private Tours • Wine Tours & Tastings
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9:30 AM - 6:30 PM
Monday
9:30 AM - 6:30 PM
Tuesday
9:30 AM - 6:30 PM
Wednesday
9:30 AM - 6:30 PM
Thursday
9:30 AM - 6:30 PM
Friday
9:30 AM - 6:30 PM
Saturday
9:30 AM - 6:30 PM
Sunday
9:30 AM - 6:30 PM
Full view
About
Duffy of San Diego has the largest Duffy electric boat fleet in San Diego providing rentals and charters of these world-class electric boats. Be Your Own Captain by renting one of our Duffy electric boats. It's the perfect way to enjoy an afternoon or evening with your friends and loved ones, silently cruising the beautiful waters of Mission Bay. No boating license required. In addition, we also offer Public and Private Charters with USCG Licensed Captains. For the best experience, boat rentals are typically 2-3 hours. Don't settle for old ragged and dirty rental boats with no windows or be a victim of the "bait and switch" through fake boat pictures. Duffy of San Diego is by far the best and newest (2014) boat rental and boat charter fleet in all of San Diego. All of our Duffy boats can accommodate up to 11-12 adults comfortably. Each Duffy boat has a full canopy top, full window enclosures, built-in cooler and Stereo with iPod hookup. So don't forget to bring along your favorite music. You may bring your own assortment of food and beverages on board. Boat rental and boat charters reservations are required as we take reservations and group bookings in advance. Last minute and walk-up boat rentals are welcomed and are subject to availability (calling at least 2 hours in advance is recommended). Duffy of San Diego is the factory direct representative of Duffy Electric Boats for ALL of San Diego County. Simply electrifying. See you on the water!
San Diego, California
Awards
Travelers' Choice
2022
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Detailed Reviews: Reviews order informed by descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as cleanliness, atmosphere, general tips and location information.
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5.0
1,002 reviews
Excellent
945
Very good
33
Average
5
Poor
9
Terrible
10
Katie C
5 contributions
Apr 2022
This was a really fun way to spend the afternoon in San Diego - Myself & 4 other ladies came to SD for my sister's bachelorette party and we were looking for fun, easy going activities and booked a 3 hour trip with Duffy. It was a low-stakes, super fun way to be on the water. We had a blast - the boat was great (we LOVED the bluetooth), always felt safe, moving at a pretty slow speed definitely helped. There were tons of others out on the water in Duffys, and it was easy to dock up when we had to use the restroom. I would HIGHLY recommend doing this if you've got a group looking for something fun to do.
Written May 11, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
LQ1692
Oceanside, CA1 contribution
Sep 2020
My friends and I live near the San Diego area and had a girls trip in San Diego. I knew our staycation needed to have a tourist element that we’ve never done and it was the perfect water activity for everyone! We went at 5pm which was perfect for golden hour photos and just cruising along the water drinking wine and our charcuterie laughing and catching up. It was such a beautiful day seeing everyone out on the water too! Afterwards we stopped at the bar right near the rental and had an amazing time dancing to the live saxophonist, had affordable drinks and meeting the true locals. Will definitely be coming back!
Written September 23, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
ErinCole1991
1 contribution
Jul 2020
It is a beautiful day in sunny San Diego. Me and 7 of my fellow boat lovers approach the front desk, excited for our adventure out into the great blue expanse. The front desk attendant was polite, friendly, helpful, and wore a mask throughout our conversation. He was understanding of the fact that our entire party wasn't quite assembled and pointed us towards a quaint bar to await the arrival of our wayward compatriots. After corralling our entire group, we were ushered out onto the dock by another extremely exuberant (and masked) individual. He even insisted on carrying all of our bags, opened the door for us on the way down, and told us "not to bring any of this alcohol back or else!" I feel like he would have washed and waxed my car while we were out on the water if I had asked him to. We finally are all settled on the boat, which, by the way, is an adorable, comfortable, clean little number with a cooler, a rockin' bluetooth speaker, and an awesome sunbathing space on the back. I was elected as el capitan of our little journey, and thus, I had the honor of receiving the informative speech from our guide. Speaking of which, our guide was the third person we came into contact with, and he was just as informative, charming, and helpful as his fellow employees. He was succinct, knowledgable, and overall absurdly helpful, he even assuaged my nervousness to captain a boat for the first time. He sent us on our way with a map, a wave, and some clutch words of warning. We spent 3 glorious hours putting around the bay. The entire time we felt safe, and were able to sit back, relax, and enjoy the scenic bay views of San Diego. I can't promote this company, its employees, or this experience more.
Written July 20, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
J8846AWchad
1 contribution
Jul 2022
I want to let you know I love renting Duffys from you, they are always clean and we have a great time. We’ve done it several times. I’m posting this review because no one responded to our email sent to info@rentaduffy.com on 7/4/22
I’m a little bummed because when we rented a boat this Saturday, the girl who brought us to the boat said we could stay out 15 mins leave due to our late arrival. So we did. But when we got back we were told we were going to be charged a $50 late fee.
When we went to talk to the girl who said we could stay out late, she was clearly intoxicated and said she didn’t remember telling us that.
We still had a great time on the boat and will be back again but I’d love if you could refund the late fee.
I’m a little bummed because when we rented a boat this Saturday, the girl who brought us to the boat said we could stay out 15 mins leave due to our late arrival. So we did. But when we got back we were told we were going to be charged a $50 late fee.
When we went to talk to the girl who said we could stay out late, she was clearly intoxicated and said she didn’t remember telling us that.
We still had a great time on the boat and will be back again but I’d love if you could refund the late fee.
Written July 17, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
EloveSD
San Diego, CA15 contributions
Sep 2021
We purchased a groupon for their sunset wine cruise and when I went book the boat they said they no longer offer that. I asked to talk to the manager so I could see what my groupon amount would cover for the tours they still offer. I was never able to get a hold of the manager as he never called me back and I was told he was out of town. They said they would honor the Groupon so I booked a Duffy 1.5 hour boat. I was having Friends in town from LA and when we got off the boat the manager was there and demanded I pay the entire amount (in cash! I mentioned I had been trying to get a hold of him ahead of time to use my Groupon.
He started to argue a bit and I was so embarrassed in front of my friends and he said don’t worry you’ll get your money back through group and you can settle with them.
Groupon said hands were tied so I basically paid twice for the boat.
The boat was fun but the customer service was the worst.
He started to argue a bit and I was so embarrassed in front of my friends and he said don’t worry you’ll get your money back through group and you can settle with them.
Groupon said hands were tied so I basically paid twice for the boat.
The boat was fun but the customer service was the worst.
Written September 13, 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
Nicole C.
Round Rock, TX31 contributions
Sep 2022 • Family
This was such a fun activity for our family! We celebrated grandparents 75th birthdays and had young grandkids aboard too. The boat was very clean and provided a good amount of shade during the hot day, which was an added bonus for the grandparents. Being able to bring our own drinks & snacks was great too, along with Bluetooth speaker on board... of course we had to turn on some Yacht Rock Radio! Ha! Given the record heat of the weekend, and grandparents who were liery of being in the heat, we weren't sure we'd keep the boat for the full 3 hours we reserved. It ended up being so nice and enjoyable for all that we did stay out there for almost 3 hours! Such a great memory that we will get to cherish for a lifetime. Highly recommend this if you're looking for a multi-generation activity!
Written September 6, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
Kay B
Norwood, MA23 contributions
May 2021
Rented a 90” trip for our daughter’s birthday with 6 friends. What an awesome time we had! Crew was laid back and very helpful, showed us the ropes, and helped this novice drive the boat without too much anxiety. Speakers and Bluetooth were so much fun with the playlist she compiled! Girls enjoyed opening up the window flaps, eating, singing and dancing. We saw sea lions and pelicans right up close, and some playing in the water right next to us! Afterwards, we went to the beach across the highway for playing in the water. Perfect day!
One warning: although there is a map on the dashboard and only one exit out of the bay, I managed to take a wrong turn and found it by accident. Bigger waves gave us the clue to turn around. Other than that, easy peasy! Also, even on a warm day, or can get chilly because of the awning above. We could’ve used light jackets even though it was sunny and near 80 degrees!
One warning: although there is a map on the dashboard and only one exit out of the bay, I managed to take a wrong turn and found it by accident. Bigger waves gave us the clue to turn around. Other than that, easy peasy! Also, even on a warm day, or can get chilly because of the awning above. We could’ve used light jackets even though it was sunny and near 80 degrees!
Written May 28, 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
pointofyou
Gilbert, Arizona5 contributions
Aug 2020 • Family
This was a fun activity to experience with our 8 & 9 year old children. We loved that we were able to enjoy it ourselves without other people we don't know. The boat looked like new and was very clean. I only wish the table was fastened down, because when my kids would lean on it, it would tip over and drinks would spill.
We must have heard the instructions wrong, because we thought we left from a different point on the map, so when it was time to return home, we went to the wrong part of the bay. I would recommend they change the map to be marked and read "Start/End Here".
Employees were all friendly. When we arrived back at the pier, an employee greeted us and pointed out the tip jar as we got off of the boat. We left a tip and continued to the exit gate. The gate is locked and you can't exit without a key. I ended up flagging someone down from a different company who let us out of the gate. The Duffy employee who asked for a tip should have been the one to escort us to the locked gate so we could exit. I thought it was crappy that he didn't unlock the gate or signal for a Duffy employee to assist in our exit.
We will still return on a future trip to enjoy another private 3 hour boat ride. Oh...and we saw a dolphin!!! Kids were in love!
We must have heard the instructions wrong, because we thought we left from a different point on the map, so when it was time to return home, we went to the wrong part of the bay. I would recommend they change the map to be marked and read "Start/End Here".
Employees were all friendly. When we arrived back at the pier, an employee greeted us and pointed out the tip jar as we got off of the boat. We left a tip and continued to the exit gate. The gate is locked and you can't exit without a key. I ended up flagging someone down from a different company who let us out of the gate. The Duffy employee who asked for a tip should have been the one to escort us to the locked gate so we could exit. I thought it was crappy that he didn't unlock the gate or signal for a Duffy employee to assist in our exit.
We will still return on a future trip to enjoy another private 3 hour boat ride. Oh...and we saw a dolphin!!! Kids were in love!
Written September 2, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
luciamendez4861
San Diego, CA1 contribution
Sep 2022
I scheduled this for a group of 7 of us and the boat was the perfect size for us to all move freely, have food, and drinks. This is the second time I get a Duffy boat with friends to hang out for a few hours and both occasions have been so much fun. Highly recommend doing the 3 hr over 1.5 hr.
Written September 14, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
toochieeee
1 contribution
Sep 2020 • Family
There was no signage of how to get back to the dock afterwards. Staff claims there will be someone waving at us, but in a huge body of water its hard to see anyone waving their hands without holding a flag or something. And all the docks look the same so figuring out which one to return took an hour. There also should be perhaps a walkie talkie since reception is bad in the water.
Written September 13, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
Hello, this is Billy the owner of Duffy of San Diego. Do you recall what your Captain's name or what day and time you were on your cruise? I want to follow up about the windows. Unfortunately, there is nothing I can do regarding the views in Mission Bay. Thank you.
Bill G
San Diego, CA
My apologies Jules. Thank you.
Deborra H
Victoria, Canada5 contributions
The site says no cancellations. What if the weather is terrible? D
If the weather has excessive winds and/or thunder and lightning, we will cancel with a full refund. The weather changes quickly here in San Diego, so we could go up to 1 hour before departure time to cancel. Thank you.
Susan S
minneapolis119 contributions
can a 17 year old drive the boat?
Passengers under 18 may drive boat with adult supervision.