Dirty Dolly is the owner run offshore boat on the Cocoa Beach side of the Space Coast, a private six pack charter with a Coast Guard veteran at the wheel. Captain Jason Trexler, known to everyone as Trex, is a retired US Coast Guard officer with more than 20 years fishing Florida waters, and he runs the boat himself, so the captain you book is the captain who meets you at the dock. Across a deep, current run of reviews that average 4.9, the themes that recur are safety, patience with families, and a boat that carries everything you need. The gap is on value transparency, where the rates are not posted and the offshore species list reaches for fish this coast rarely produces.
The verdict and where it ranks
At 7.3 Dirty Dolly is second in the Cocoa Beach ranking, behind Fin & Fly on the sheer depth of record but ahead of the bigger operations on the strength of a single, proven owner operator. The methodology rewards the captain who actually runs your trip, and that is the heart of this score: you get Trex, not a rotating roster, and his Coast Guard background shows up in how reviewers describe the safety and the calm on the boat. Book it for a private offshore day where you want one experienced captain and a boat set up for families. If a posted price up front matters more to you, Fin & Fly and Fired Up both publish theirs.
The boat
Dirty Dolly fishes a 32 foot Stuart Angler center console rigged for offshore work, with room for up to 6 anglers, plenty of shade, a private head, and the tackle for trolling and bottom fishing. A second boat, the 27 foot Dirty Dolly II, takes up to 4 anglers on nearshore and inlet trips. Both are center consoles, so the ride is faster and wetter than a cabin boat, and a long day in a chop asks more of you here than on a sportfisher. Reviewers consistently call the main boat clean and well equipped, with the head and the shade singled out as what makes a full day workable for a family.
The fishing and what you target
The offshore trips troll and bottom fish the Space Coast spread: mahi mahi from late spring into fall, cobia on the spring and fall migrations, king mackerel in the runs, sailfish on the warm season pushes, and amberjack, snapper, and grouper on the reefs and wrecks, with deep drop trips reaching the tilefish and snowy grouper grounds 30 or more miles out. The nearshore boat works the beaches and the inlet for cobia, king mackerel, snapper, and sharks. One honest note on the marketing: the operator’s offshore species list names striped, blue, and black marlin, and while a stray billfish is always possible, this stretch of the central Florida Atlantic is a mahi, sailfish, cobia, and bottom fishery far more than a marlin one. Set your expectations by the season, not the species list.
Trips and prices
Dirty Dolly sells by the whole boat for up to 6 anglers offshore, and the weakness here is that the operator does not post a rate table on its own site. It quotes by trip and advertises a first time client discount, so the clear number lives in a phone call or a booking listing rather than up front, which is the main reason value transparency is its lowest factor. What is clear is what the price includes: the fishing license, gear, ice, and fish cleaning are provided, so the boat rate is most of what you pay before gratuity. Expect rates in line with the rest of the port. Our cost guide sets out what a private Florida charter runs and what drives the number.
The crew
The crew is the whole case for booking here. Trex owns and runs the boat, and reviewers tie that directly to how the trips feel: a captain who watches the weather and the water, briefs first timers, and keeps a calm, safe deck, which his Coast Guard service backs up rather than just decorates. The record is deep and current, averaging 4.9 across several hundred reviews, with safety and family friendliness the themes that recur most. Because it is a one captain operation, the limit is availability rather than consistency: popular dates fill, and there is no second offshore captain to absorb the overflow, so book ahead.
Booking and what to know
Book by phone or through a listing such as FishAnywhere. Ask for the rate up front, since it is not posted, and confirm the trip length and the departure time at Bluepoints Marina. Bring food, drinks, sun protection, and a soft cooler for your fillets. No fishing license is needed, as the boat’s license covers everyone aboard, and the crew cleans and bags your catch at the dock. The boat is set up for families, so it is a sound pick for a first offshore trip with kids, provided you are comfortable with a center console ride.
How we scored it
Dirty Dolly scores 7.3: a strong, proven owner operator with a Coast Guard veteran captain and a deep, current review record, on a capable if open center console, held back on value transparency because the rates are not posted and the offshore species list overreaches for this coast. Captain and crew is its strongest factor by a clear margin. See how we scored this boat for the full rubric and weighting, and compare it with the rest of the Cocoa Beach charters, including Cocoa Beach Sportfishing.