Full Day Halibut Bottom Fishing Charter - 10 Hours

Saltwater Safari - Is a first Class Act

The whole crew was on full attention and very helpful and eager to make our day eventful. We caught our limit on Halibut and moved onto cod. Saltwater Safari made our day very memorable. Thank you Jeff

Response from the operator: Thank you for your review! Glad you had a great time with us!

via Viator

DO NOT BOOK THIS COMPANY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We had a group of 9 people try to make a reservation. The office staff was not accomodating at all. In fact, they did not reserve the right number of spots on the boat AND then filled the boat so that our party could not go together. Please do not risk your fishing trip, expecially if you are travelling from out of town.

via Tripadvisor

Dragon slaying in Seward Alaska

I have used multiple charter companies over the 48 years I have lived in Alaska. Hands down, Saltwater Safari is the premium charter outfit I have ever been out with 80 years of combined experience fishing the waters of Alaska. Every member of the Saltwater Safari crew is very focused on safety and making sure their customers have the best experience they can possibly have. Their is a reason why they have such a strong and loyal customer base, that continues to come back year after year. In my circles, they are the undisputed champions of the Seward fishing charters.

Response from the operator: Thank you for taking the time to leave feedback for our company! We are happy to hear that you had a wonderful trip, and we hope to have you fish with us in the future! Safe travels!

via Tripadvisor

Biggest Halibut EVER!!

Last year instead of fishing Homer, we decided to try Seward. So happy we did! It was an amazing day with a great crew and great guests, still friends with those we met during that fabulous day!! We fished with Saltwater Safari and Captain Bob was spectacular! I caught the biggest Halibut I have ever caught and I try to fish every summer. My Halibut was over 100lbs! Heading back to fish with Saltwater Safari this August, so excited to see Captain Bob and crew again!! Captain Bob went out of his way to show us some beautiful Whales!! The whole trip was amazing!! I highly recommend!

Response from the operator: Thank you for the time you have taken to leave a review, as a small business we appreciate the feedback that you have given! We are very happy to hear that you enjoyed your time out on the water, and are excited to have you back this August. Safe travels, and we will see you soon!

via Tripadvisor

A second poor showing of Capt Bobby skills

I had the misfortune of deciding to use your company again when a close friend asked to fill spots on the legend. My son and came down and when went fishing and listened to Capt Bobby explain over and over again that halibut fishing is a gamble and there is no guarantee to catch fish. This is the second trip with him with the same results. Fish all day in one spot and catch nothing just to move to a Chicken for an hour to catch barely overs, chicken holes. I normally go on 2/3 trips a year never had I had this poor of experience as I have with Capt and company. Daniel

Response from the operator: Daniel, My name is Bob Candopoulos and I own Saltwater Safari Company and the vessel Legend that you went fishing on. Capt. Bobby Savino is my nephew and he ran the trip that you are referring to in your review. I'd like to start out by telling you a little about myself and my nephew before I respond to your negative review of my company and my Captain. For starters, I have been a deep sea fishing guide out of Seward for 40 seasons. In fact, I'm pretty sure that I'm the longest, actively running halibut guide in the state. My nephew Bobby has worked on my boats since he was 15 years old and has approximately 15 seasons of guiding people for halibut under his belt. I'm sure you'll agree that it is evident that with a combined 55 years of experience, we probably know a thing or two about halibut fishing. The close friend that invited you to join us is also a very close friend of mine as well. He has been a friend and customer for approximately 25 years. He has been with us on some incredible trips and he has also witnessed some tough days. I want to assure you that Captain Savino did not run the Legend some 65 nautical miles out, just so he would not catch you fish. Trust me, there isn't a fishing guide in Seward that doesn't want his or her clients to catch big fish! It is what drives us year after year and day after day to venture out into the gulf looking for trophy fish. I have invested millions of dollars into my boats because I love fishing. We don't get up at 4am every day just so we can go out there with customers and have a slow day. We want big fish even more than you do. It's what drives us! I think it is sad that each and every day we must remind people that there is no guarantee when it comes to fishing. It is incomprehensible to me that many people cannot understand this and have expectations that somehow we can control if and when fish will bite. I have traveled to many remote locations around the world in search of a blue marlin and have yet to connect with one. I don't blame the captains for not catching a blue marlin simply because its fishing. I know for a fact that Captain Savino took you to the exact waypoint location that he'd fished the prior day of your trip. Less than 24 hours before he anchored on that exact location where he landed 10 halibut, the largest being 158 pounds and the smallest about 40 pounds. In fact, Captain Savino brought in the nicest halibut load of the day with that catch. That was one day before he took you there. When we anchor on a spot, we know that our guests are going to need to be patient. We also need to be patient because halibut feed on the tide switch. Its a gamble for us each and every day, but this is what you need to do if you're going to try for big fish. In some peoples eyes we are heroes if they bite, but when they don't...we get reviews such as yours. I hope you realize that we aren't magicians. There isn't a fishing guide that I know of that can predict whats going to happen from day to day or moment to moment. According to our logs, the Legend arrived at the fishing grounds at 09:15. The crew chummed the waters all day and a few fish were landed and released. Two halibut were retained by your group and a lot of rockfish. But no big halibut were landed unfortunately. At 1:45 PM Captain Savino pulled anchor and moved you guys to another waypoint where he knew a lot of smaller fish could be landed. Our logbook shows that you and your son retained a total of 2 halibut, 1 salmon and 7 rockfish. You guys also released 2 halibut. Obviously, they weren't large halibut or you wouldn't have written this review, This isn't the first time I have had a negative review regarding the size of halibut landed and I'm sure it won't be the last. A lot of people don't really understand fishing and assume that every day we catch monster fish. We don't, and neither does anyone else. The one thing that I can tell you is there isn't a boat in the entire charter fleet of Alaska that has more barn door landings than the Legend. I can also tell you this...Captain Savino is an excellent fishing guide and he has always been a top producer of big halibut in the Seward harbor. I think your critique of our charter service and Captain Savino is unfair and I know that he did everything in his power to ensure that everyone caught fish and had a good time. I'm sorry you weren't satisfied with the outcome and I wish you the best of luck on your future deep-sea adventures! If you would like to discuss your experience in further detail, please don't hesitate to call me at 907-224-5232. Sincerely, Captain Bob Candopoulos

via Tripadvisor