Not our 1st time renting a pontoon for crab island but our 1st with this company. We have always been happy with the experience of renting our pontoon but due to the high demand we take what we can get for availability. This year it was La Dolce Vita, IF THEY WERE THE ONLY COMPANY AVAILABLE I WOULD SKIP RENTING FOR THE YEAR.There was some good… when we arrived the dock hands were excellent!!! Helped us unload and get our floats pumped up. They were absolutely amazing! Everyone was awesome and helpful. But…. Then entered this “older” Dock hand and just made everything difficult.I don’t know what his name is but he was rude! Disrespectful and went out of his way to make himself a in your face Authority figure.You may not have a choice of what company you book with but if you do pick another one. LA Dolce Vita Calhoun should look into this and help this employee understand dockside manner he could learn a thing or two from the “younger” hands.As for us we will never rent from them again!

We rented a pontoon for my family and had an amazing day. The guys helped us load up the boat and helped us get set up real nice. The pontoon boat was so much fun. Our kids loved everything about crab island and la dolce vita was great… best part coming back is they board your boat like pirates and park it for you on the way in. The slide on the boat is a must, don’t even bother without it

I have to say i had a great experience from the the moment i arrived to the moment i left these guys know how 4o welcome you and recieve you i definitely will recommend and hope to be back thanks for your attention !!!!

I suppose it may be a mixed bag of reviews here - maybe right time right place kind of thing?. But our family had nothing but a good experience from the moment Dustin booked it for us the day prior in person all the way to the crew hands. It was my first time operating a pontoon boat so I was a bit nervous but they did a very nice job explaining it and putting me at ease. Also the boat we rented was in good order. Highly recommend these guys!

The young man helping us in and out of the boat was super nice. But other than that we were amazed at how frustrating our experience was. We rented 2 pontoon boats and a jet ski and all of us had to fill out the waiver twice because the directions had been unclear and a couple people had to fill it out 3 times. I know they have to get their legal bases covered but we’ve never had such a frustrating amount of red tape. A couple folks couldn’t even drive the jet ski because of the confusion. The party coming in behind us had to redo their waivers as well. The workers attitude was rude and condescending, treated us like we were idiots. The guy helping us with the boats and the young man was nice enough but the folks behind the desk had a bad, condescending attitude toward us. The jet ski was a mess and all dinged up and didn’t turn well and wasn’t that great. One boat was fine (other than the radio not working) but the other was stained and nasty. We’ve come to Destin and Panama City Beach for many years and used several companies for pontoon boats and jet skis and this was the worst for sure.

My family has rented a pontoon from them two years in a row and we’ve received excellent service. The guys are very nice and always help us move coolers. I highly recommend!!

Do not use them!! We where hit with a tropical storm within the first hour of being out on the boat, the waves where so bad they was coming into the boat. I understand that is out of their control, but they did not handle it well at all families with young children where screaming for help and my husband and his friend jumped in to help while some of the workers where hiding in shelters, our boats engine also stopped during the way in we had to pull into another dock and that companies worker was able to help us get the engine back together. We called to see if they would work with us at all seeing we only had maybe an hour and we where not even aloud to talk to a manager. We are so disappointed.

My family had the most amazing time cruising crab island with yalls boat service! The men that helped us carry out belongings to the boat and off the boat were Great, friendly, cute and helpful!! Overall 10/10 and would definitely recommend to EVERYONE!!! ❤️❤️

PLEASE heed the warnings of the low reviews. These people are rude, unhelpful, and just want your money and dont care if you have fun or feel good in any way. I have never been treated so poorly by someone I was literally PAYING to do the job they are literally supposed to do. Awful.

We had a great experience with the pontoon rental. This was probably some of the best customer service in town that we have experienced in a while. I will definitely recommend LDV to others.

Awesome service clean and well kept boats and jet skis to rent at an affordable rate.

One of the worst companies to rent anything from. Stay away if possible they are not helpful nor will they help you out in a bad situation!!! Stay away.

We rent a pontoon boat every year and this is our first time with LDV, sadly its also our last. The boat was awful! The boat was completely unsafe. Ive been boating my whole life and for the price we paid the boat was unacceptable! There were jagged bent metal all around the boat. Not a single switch or light worked, no horn! No radio! 2 cup holders on the entire boat! The anchor line was only about 8 ft long so it limited where we could park the boat. DO NOT RENT FROM THIS COMPANY!!! THESE BOATS ARE NOT SAFE!!!

Service was fast and friendly! We rented a pontoon and it was very nice and clean.Staff gave clear and easy to understand instructions with the dos and donts. I would definitely run from them again my family had a great time!

Extremely rude staff.

Staff is rude, lazy, and won’t listen to what you are trying to tell them. Worst beach service I have ever experienced! If your resort uses them I advise the owners to go with someone else! Hope I never stay at a resort this company services again!

Staff was very helpful, professional and accommodating. This included everyting from taking our cooler from the truck to the boat, blowing up our floats on site, slowly explaining the rules & regulations of boating procedures and even taking the time to boat over to Crab Island to deliver a bluetooth speaker for tuneage. Thanks to all the Staff for making it a easy and enjoyable day. Hope to visit you again next year.Randy Andrews

The guys helping you get the boat in and out we’re very helping and nice. The girls in the building dealing with the money and reservations are VERY rude, lazy, do not explain all the rules and regulations, and will overcharge you without notice.Was told it was $325 for both a jet ski and pontoon rental which would have came out to be $650. Got there the day of our reservation and it was $750. We were not notified in anyway shape or form that there was tax involved in pricing.We were also not notified that anyone under 18 could not drive a PWC without an adult after I (17) had took time out of my dad and money to get a temporary boating license for the state of Florida.In our case we had 3 people. Me, my mom, and dad. In our minds we envisioned that me (17) would ride the PWC and both my mom and dad would ride the pontoon. Again we were not notified that anyone under the age of 18 was not aloud to operate a PWC without an adult present.So who in their right mind would have 2 people on a PWC and 1 person on a 12 person boat?So at the end of the day the 2 girls in the building would not refund us back our $325 for the PWC because they failed to tell us that me (17) would not be able to operate the PWC alone.Please be very cautious when renting a boat or PWC from this place. I wouldn’t say the men helping with the boats are bad employees but I will say the 2 girls working the office and reservations should definitely figure out what they are doing or either be fired. There’s not point in being as rude as they were.Not bashing the boats or equipment. We did end up of having a great time on the water but a VERY poor experience with the staff of this place!

Scammers!!! Rude and will over charge your card after we discussed exact pricing. Bad customer service. Long story with them. Have went the past 4yrs and this was the worst experience ever. I took my non profit organization and booked months in advance with a young lady who confirmed our trip and what we owed. Paid in full only for the bank to say they see an over charge on my card. The manager is not group friendly at all. Didn’t get any help to the boats like in the past just go get on etc. I’d rather pay another company than to give them any more of our business. Says the owner doesn’t care and didn’t want to fix the issues we had. They had an anchor issue on one of the boats and tried to say one of the people on the boat untied the whole anchor why would they risks their lives in deep water to cross over and throw an anchor. Charged us extra for that when we know it wasn’t the guest fault. It was theirs from not tying the anchor rope properly. Manager refused to let us contact and get to the bottom with the owner

The most pathetic set of men I have ever met. Kussing, name-calling, and threats followed me as I was shouted off their Private Dock, for taking pictures of the Buccaneer passing by in the channel. They delighted in taking the most apalling and unprofessional manner possible to notify me I was in the wrong place. I was 40 feet away from where they were washing off a tied pontoon. This 6th generation local will be notifying his cousin Marlers(land owners) how he was treated. I learned to fish on that dock.There was a better way to handle that today fellas, yall missed the mark.

Had to pay an extra $327 for damages we did not do. Do yourselves a favor and take your own pictures before you take jet skis out. Customer service was awful. Horrible experience!

Im glad I read the 1 star reviews, it was apparent, that the people complaining were almost all self inflicted events.We rented a pontoon boat on Friday June 21st 2019 to spend the day at crab Island.We arrived a little late for our rental, they called us to make sure everything was OK, when we got there the staff was super friendly and got us on our boat quickly and gave us a thorough rundown of the boat.The anchor line was a bit short, however standing on it with some water socks got it into the sand enough to get us secure.When we returned, the gentleman helped us doc and unload as well as took care of our trash.We could not have asked for a better experience.

This is a picture of the jet ski that was damage and was given to us and advised it was faster than the newer models which wanted to rent. They let us go and water began to go on the sides of the jet ski. We notice when we were rescued from our other party we were not sinking at all we were above water the hole time. The manager was nonchalant about the incident and went as far as to say he could say we damage the vehicle which we never went about 15 mph and the handle had play. We should have returned it back but got in the middle of no where and was flipped over by waves 3 or 4 times. I driven jet skis over 5 or 6 times and have never had trouble navigating one. When trying to start it again it kept saying low voltage. These people knew the jet ski was damage they were just trying to for fill the time slot instead of just having us wait for a newer one than giving us somebodies personal jet ski that they ran the heck out. Please be safe and not rent from this company as they have their plans and other locations that they co-ordinate to scam people. Staff was not trained either to handle a big party which this was a busy weekend would think they would have prepared to be more professional. They ruin a great weekend and it put me and our party at risk. Warning DO NOT RENT FROM THESE PEOPLE! Close your account because they will try to charge you for false charges as well the Manager Ben stated he would. They need to be investigated and shut down before they do harm to someone! Not after harm comes to someone!

Saturday was such a fun day all thanks to LDV! Our captain was awesome, the boat was so fun , and they took great care of us. They even found a speaker for our boat because we forgot ours.Thanks for making our weekend extra special!

**BUYER BEWARE** DO NOT BOOK THROUGH LA DOLCE VITA!!!! They have a 2.4 star rating for good reason! They take advantage of innocent tourists claiming boat damage. They charged us $200 for an anchor that when we threw out was not properly tied to the boat.. they said they made sure it was secured that morning and we had to cut the line... really??!!! Yes, we wanted to waste 2 hrs of our (already 45 min late getting to sea because they had multiple reservations messed up) time just floating and waiting on another anchor to be brought to us. Come to find out, they found the anchor but still charged us saying they never found it, lies! Clearly they have multiple scams in place. One of which is purposely not tying down the anchor and charging the customer $200...RUN AWAY , dont waste your money here! Staff and owner was also extremely rude! There are plenty of nice and trustworthy places to rent boats from in the area, this is not one. Trust the negative reviews, the good ones have got to be falsely written

My fiancé and I rented jet skis back to back days and couldn’t be happier! The first day was a little rough getting the boating license and all but it was still phenomenal service. The second day we didn’t even have a reservation but were able to walk up and get a rental no problems! We will definitely be renting again from them.

We had a blast on spring break renting wave runners. The staff was super friendly and provided the instruction to ride safely! I would definitely go back next year! The highlight was riding along with the dolphin 🐬

Went on a dolphin wave runner sight seeing cruise today. Had the greatest time, saw lots of dolphins and our tour guide was great, he worked hard to let us see some awesome things! We would definitely go back!

Weve been coming to Destin for the past 18 years. The beach service provided by Parker and his crew at The Crescent was amazing. He does his best to accommodate the guests and ensure that the guests are given the best possible locations fairly on a first come, first serve basis. Thank you, Parker!!!

We initially were going to Destin Water Fun Pontoon and Jet Ski Rental. But our GPS took us to a spot that was not clearly marked. Maybe the place went out of business but we could not find the marquee for it so we went on down the road to La Dolce Vita. Rented a jet ski and we had a great time. The guy who checked us in/out was very helpful and friendly. I wish I could remember his name but he had a full, groomed beard with red in it and wore those reflective sunglasses the whole time, even indoors. It was our first time renting one here in Destin and we will come here again since our experience was so pleasant. Highly recommend.

Is there any way to give zero stars??? What a rude experience by lady that staffs La Dolce Vita at Sandestin. We arrived before 4 and were rudely told they were closed. When I pointed out that they close at 5 she told us she wouldn’t rent now since she hadn’t rented all day. RUDE< LAZY CRUDE. WHY are you in business????? Please close forever and let someone else takeover the concession.

We arrived 30 minutes early to fill out any paperwork and make payments. They claimed to not have our jet skis available at the set time and we had to wait 1 hour for our rental to become available plus an added 30 minutes of signing more waivers (last minute).When our rental time was over, we came back and they tried to charge us an extra $40 dollar late fee. We were TWO MINUTES late. After we waited out in the HOT sun for an hour and a half. We were patient with them and they were not at all flexible with a two minute delay. Needless to say never again! The manager though was friendly and apologized.

LDV has the equipment such as Jet-skis and other boats, but their customer service was extremely poor. The different employees gave us different prices repeatedly, making us doubt if they had a set price, or were just trying to get as much money as possible. When asked questions regarding anything, answers were given very vaguely in 1 or 2 words. Overall the service felt very disrespectful and this was visibly apparent in the minimal amount of customers and business they were receiving. You can find many other companies on the beach that will provide much better service and an overall experience. Only go to LDV if it is your absolute last option.

Extremely RUDE customer service at Destin Harbor. Would not recommend renting from this company.

Great experience , great service , men cruel especially friendly and helpful .Was a great family outing and worth every penny !

Didnt even get half our time due to weather and they wouldnt give us any refund. Didnt show all the people in our party the waiver either. And they wouldnt take us back out after the storm passed either. Will never use them again.

After spending a week at Seascape Resort on Miramar Beach, I found it extremely rude that this beach service company places it’s chairs and umbrellas along the waters edge, the entire length of the beach, obstructing everyone’s ocean view that they paid for. It would seem to me that a resort this size, would think this was a rude business practice, because everyone deserves to see the ocean if you drove 800 miles instead of the back of La Dolce chairs and umbrellas. Place the chairs back, midway through the beach, and allow people that haul their own chairs the chance to view the ocean up front or behind if they so choose. Of the 10 umbrellas and set of chairs directly in front of me now, only two have people sitting in them. I’ll choose okaloosa island next vacation season, where I can enjoy the view.

We booked a pontoon boat for 4th of July this week, and we ended up coming back with bloody feet, lost phone, and awful memories. The boat was fine when anchored in Crab Island, but as soon as we started driving it out further the front of the boat started taking on massive amounts of water. The gate in the front broke and flung out onto our friends sitting in the front and trapped their legs and cut up their feet. We lost a cell phone in the ocean, shoes, and all of our bags were soaked. Terrified, we all sat in the back of the boat and started driving at turtle tempo but the boat still kept taking on water. We called LDV 3x for help because our boat was sinking and they kept telling us someone was on the way. But after waiting 30 mins we got fed up and started driving back with water up to our ankles. The kids were in tears. We got back to the dock and asked for ice, first aid kit, and bandaids, and they told us they never carry any! NO ONE HAD ANY SAFETY KITS! We couldnt believe it. They could not have been more unsympathetic, and did not ask if anyone was okay. We tried to ask them to pro-rate the rental for the last hour we could not enjoy due to the defective boat. They had initially told us they could switch out for another boat, but we were not given the option once we docked. They told us everything was non-refundable once we signed, and the boat switch was only an option if we had stayed sinking in the open water waiting for them to bring another boat. We didnt realize until afterwards they had text us a receipt that there were extra undisclosed charges for harbor booking --- which made no sense we booked over the phone and tried to pay in full over the phone but they would not let us--- and dock fees and even charged the tip even though we had an awful time and would have never pre-tipped if we knew this is what was going to happen. They would not let us inspect the boat afterwards or take photos for our personal injury claims nor would they let us see the front of the boat again to see why it was taking on so much water. We were treated very poorly and deceived by this company. We would never recommend renting from them.

THIS RUINED MY & MY KIDS VACTION. We called to order jet skis & they said they fit 3 people a ski. We get there and then we get all suited up, we watch the video and filled out waivers, & they tell us we cannot all ride together. They were only 2 seaters. And he lied to us and said that we could not fit 3 people on a 2 seater. “It was against the law.” The jet ski rental next door said we could have fitted and that their rental was a bunch of losers. That 2 of our little kids that are 3 & 2 had to stay back & wait for us to get back. All by themselves. We said “GIVE US OUR DAMN MONEY BACK!” & then they shorted us money back for our refund. Worst place EVER.

Not a good experience with the rentals. Over paid for an upgrade bcuz the 13th person was a year old baby. Prices kept changing. Paid around 600 through the excursion rental than paid another grand just to upgrade. Smh. Never again with this place. Ive rented in Destin b4 never had this experience. & We couldnt get a jet ski. Wouldnt let us. Gave it a 2 star bcuz some of the crew ppl were nice.

RUINED OUR VACATION!!! We booked a pontoon on July 1 FOR July 6th. Was told I would receive a text/call reminder the day before. Thursday comes...no call or text, so I call! Apparently They entered in the time slot wrong and said a boat had also broke down and they were sorrry, they don’t have any other boats to accommodate us. SINCE they didn’t inform me of this, all other pontoon places were booked. Thanks for ruining my birthday and vacation experience! I’ll definitely be spreading the word!!

Witnessed a worker follow a family around for over an hour arguing about where they are allowed to put their canopies (canopies were not in front or behind la dolce vita chairs and umbrellas, the family was beside where the companies umbrellas and chairs ended). They ruined our families stay as well as many others

Owners are rude this place will rent you shoddy sea craft and equipment and once they have your money good luck getting it back. Customer service is dispicable. My friends watercraft took on water and capsized multiple times before the rest of the party towed them back You can believe that when they say money cant buy hapiness, but it can buy a jetski, that you dont want to be using their equipment with your hard no earned dough. Believe the bad raviews, skip the good ones. You can swim out into the ocean in a life jacket for free, no need to pay someone to unexpectedly leave you capsized and frantic that you might not make it back to shore. I give this place 5 big fat floating poos for professionaliam, business ethics, qualuty, value, and entertainment.🌊🌊💩💩💩💩💩🌊🌊

Great place to rent a boat

Arrived one hour early and they didnt have the paperwork ready, they guys who help you with jetski will try to RIP you off if you are 5 late....by all means AVOID THIS PPACE

We rented a pontoon boat on July 11, 2018. This was the worse boat we have ever rented and we rent one every year during July. The boat was not clean and also had MANY terrible and dangerous metal snags and very sharp points to them. In fact, where the boat ladder was in the back was a very sharp broken off piece that made it a hazard getting on the ladder. My 27 year old son and my daughter in law 28 both cut their toes open on metal snags on boat. The boat ladder was a very small one making it very difficult for us to get back into the boat once we were out of it. Terrible experience and we will not rent from this place again. Also we did tell the young guys about all the problems when we returned however nothing was done about it. They said they would check it out.

Very nice beach, the service was excellent as well!

The people are losers to start, the experience was terrible warning DO NOT RENT FROM THIS PLACE. So we had to watch this 25min video that was freaking pointless because there were goons in the back blowing some dang floats. After that we had to get our life jackets on and inspect the jet ski’s for problems, like how the heck are we supposed to know if something is wrong or not. Anyways we were getting ready to get on and the guy says “2 at a time”. So the person in our group went off on this guy and all he had to say was “like I said it’s our policy”. We went inside and got a refund. They said to go across they street and talk to another rental place, this time we were all fed up with this mess. So we got to the other rental place and the said that the people were just losers.LOSERS. Amen for that place so after all of this we finally went to hogs breath and ate lunch. To some this story up, The place sucks

Horrible costumer service. Too many other places are pins to have to deal with these people.

Terrible experience. Do Not and I repeat do Not rent from this place.

One word & six letters- LOSERS