About Saltwater Seafari: Private Boat Tours Near Marathon, Florida

We understand that life moves fast and vacations are priceless.

Together, we bring years of experience—and genuine enthusiasm for making sure every guest leaves with memories that last.

Our business was created on the belief that excellent customer service should begin with our first hello and end with our “See you next time!”
We take pride in going the extra mile with every customer to ensure their time with us becomes a memory that lasts.

Our passion for the water has driven us to build a family-owned business in the Florida Keys where we can share the peace and serenity found above and below these waters.
Through our private boat tours, snorkeling trips, and sandbar adventures, we help guests experience the Keys like a local—at a relaxed pace, with a captain who knows the area.

Matt and Jennifer met in 2001 while working together at Jennifer’s parents’ beach service business in Panama City Beach, renting jet skis.
They’ve been together ever since, building a life around the water, hard work, and taking care of people.

Long before Saltwater Seafari, the Florida Keys were already part of Matt’s story. Growing up in Palm Beach County, he would come down to the Keys with his parents to lobster and explore the islands.
For 10 summers in a row, the Keys became his favorite place on earth.

Matt became a captain in 2012 and immediately found his passion in giving customers and families one-on-one instruction and sharing lessons about marine life.
Growing up, his father was a Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission officer, which strongly influenced his love for the outdoors and life on the water.

Behind the scenes, the long-term plan was always to build something of our own. Matt spent 13 years working in the oilfield to save and invest toward that goal.
After a few years working for another company, we bought our first boat in 2015 and launched our first dolphin and snorkeling business in Panama City Beach, Florida.

For years, Matt worked a two-weeks-on / two-weeks-off schedule in the oilfield and ran our tour business on his off days—building it trip by trip while still working full-time.
During that same period, Jennifer was right there with him as a co-captain for 8 years.

In 2018, after a major hurricane hit Panama City, we took a much-needed vacation to the Keys—Matt’s favorite place for years—and Jennifer fell in love with it too.
That trip turned into a bigger decision: move to the Florida Keys and build another tour business in the place that felt like home.

In 2021, while Matt was still working in the oilfield, Jennifer set out to earn her captain’s license to keep trips running.
In 2022, Matt was laid off from the oilfield and we purchased a second boat so Jennifer could run trips alongside him.
With a prayer and a dream, we took the leap to work together full-time—doing what we love and sharing it with every family that steps aboard.

Today, we’re family-owned and operated out of Big Pine Key—convenient to Marathon, the Lower Keys, and Key West.