{"id":35658,"date":"2025-11-06T11:00:12","date_gmt":"2025-11-06T11:00:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/35658\/"},"modified":"2025-11-06T11:00:12","modified_gmt":"2025-11-06T11:00:12","slug":"hubbards-marina-acquires-competitor-with-pirate-ship","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/35658\/","title":{"rendered":"Hubbard\u2019s Marina acquires competitor with pirate ship"},"content":{"rendered":"

MADEIRA BEACH, Fla. \u2014\u00a0Hubbard\u2019s Marina<\/a> has expanded its waterfront entertainment options at John\u2019s Pass in Madeira Beach by having acquired competitor Sunshine Scenic Tours<\/a> on Monday, which included a pirate ship, according to Capt. Dylan Hubbard.<\/p>\n

What You Need To Know<\/p>\n

Hubbard\u2019s Marina acquired competitor Sunshine Scenic Tours on Monday
\n
The sale included the Royal Conquest Pirate Ship, Dolphin Quest, Shark Boat and about 20 employees
\n
Capt. Dylan\u00a0Hubbard said he plans to continue to operate the popular tours seamlessly\u00a0
\n
The PTSA will vote next month on whether to officially name Hubbard’s Marina as the new operator of the Cross Bay Ferry<\/p>\n

\u201cThe addition of these attractions marks a significant investment in John\u2019s Pass and Tampa Bay tourism,\u201d he said. \u201dReinforcing John\u2019s Pass as a top destination for family-friendly adventure.\u201d<\/p>\n

The price of the sale has not been disclosed.\u00a0Hubbard has added three boats to his fleet with the purchase, the Royal Conquest Pirate Ship, Dolphin Quest and Shark Boat.\u00a0Hubbard took his first ride on the Pirate Ship on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is definitely a little bit of a different ride than I’m used to. Normally by now, we’ve got the rods out and we’re already baiting hooks,\u201d he said. \u201cI’m excited to get dressed up like a pirate with the kids.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Renee and Dustin O\u2019Neal operated Sunshine Scenic Tours for more than six years, while the pirate ship has been at John\u2019s Pass for the past 25 years. O\u2019Neal said it was not an easy choice to sell the business but trust Hubbard to continue the legacy they created.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe wish Dylan, the Hubbards, and our beloved crew all the best,\u201d he said. \u201cWe loved running\u00a0Sunshine Scenic Tours.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hubbard said the O\u2019Neals could have listed their business on the open market but chose to work with him, which he has been humbled by.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was pretty cool to have that opportunity and that vote of confidence, if you will, from a fellow competitor,\u201d he said. \u201cTo give us that opportunity to continue upon the business they had built.\u201d<\/p>\n

Along with the boats, Hubbard said he was happy to get about 20 employees. Marine Specialist Kirsten Smail said the employees have been excited about the transition.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe whole vibe around here is all positive,\u201d she said. \u201cWe’re really happy that we’re going to be under Dylan Hubbard.\u201d<\/p>\n

During the 2024 fiscal year, there was $6.4 billion in direct spending from 15.4 million visitors, according to Visit St. Pete-Clearwater. Normally, John\u2019s Pass draws one million visitors annually and has been a top attraction in Pinellas County. Since the back-to-back hurricanes last year, business at John\u2019s Pass has been a lot slower as the area still works to recover.<\/p>\n

Hubbard has had better luck in the past year, he said his business had four record breaking months and he hopes to spread that success to the newly acquired attractions.<\/p>\n

\u201cPlug our resources and our team and our logistics in behind what’s already been built,\u201d he said. \u201cHopefully continue to rise the tide for John’s Pass as a rising tide raises all boats.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hubbard said he plans to continue to operate the popular tours seamlessly, ensuring no interruption of service. It has been a year of expansion for Hubbard\u2019s Marina, as the PTSA will vote next month on whether to officially name the business as the new operator of the Cross Bay Ferry.<\/p>\n

\u201cCurrently we have the intent to award from PSTA staff,\u201d he said. \u201cWe’re hoping that at the PSTA board meeting in December they’re going to finally ratify that RFP award.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Hubbard family has been connecting the community with Tampa Bay\u2019s water for 4 generations and has nearly a century or maritime heritage and operational expertise.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"MADEIRA BEACH, Fla. \u2014\u00a0Hubbard\u2019s Marina has expanded its waterfront entertainment options at John\u2019s Pass in Madeira Beach by…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":35659,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[274,24779,2968,115,596,202,204,203,199,201,200,135,278,835],"class_list":{"0":"post-35658","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-st-petersburg","8":"tag-app-top-stories","9":"tag-business-now","10":"tag-josh-rojas","11":"tag-news","12":"tag-pinellas-county","13":"tag-st-pete","14":"tag-st-pete-headlines","15":"tag-st-pete-news","16":"tag-st-petersburg","17":"tag-st-petersburg-headlines","18":"tag-st-petersburg-news","19":"tag-tampa","20":"tag-top-stories","21":"tag-vod"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35658","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35658"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35658\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35659"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35658"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35658"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35658"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}