Captain Dans Around the Island Tours

09/17/2026

2026 Deer swim!

Not as popular as the pony swim, in fact I was the only boat there 😂. They swam across from The Bow to Morris Island.

I probably see swimming deer once or twice a year. I think this was the first time this year.

Of course we saw ponies, dolphin and eagle on that trip too. But everyone knows about that stuff, this is more unique 🤷‍♂️

CaptainDansTours.com

09/17/2026

Capt. Dan’s Tours will be closed from 9/20-9/28 for scheduled maintenance and downtime.

Swag wagon will be open, and rentals will still be available on Saturday and Sunday, but no boat tours from 9/20-9/28.

09/04/2026

Labor Day weekend sale. All instock merch 20% off.

Capt. Dan’s and Foal Patrol: hoodies and T’s
DSC 2026 Stallion & Mares booklets, 2026 Foal Booklets, 2027 Calendars.

Capt. Dan’s Swag Wagon
4161 Main Street

08/24/2026

A few photos from the last few weeks. Of course we see ponies, but we see and talk about a lot of other stuff too 😃

08/04/2026

Capt. Dan’s 2027
Pony Swim Time
Prediction:
10-11am
On a low tide

07/31/2026

📷 Professional baby photographs.

I’m sure everyone on my page already knows, but DSC has such a high standard for their photography, every picture you get will be amazing.

I know for a fact, Darcy and Steve have on multiple occasions, hiked 100+ miles, just to get better pictures of a foal because “it was a little dirty in the pictures” they had already.

When you see an amazing picture, that’s what it took to get it.

Attention new foal owners!

Each year after the auction we offer new owners a deal on their foal’s baby pictures. Rather than the normal $10 - $30 per image we’ll offer you a very substantial bulk discount to purchase all the images we have of your new baby.

This falls under our “Personal Use License” which basically means you can do whatever you like with the images as long as it is for your personal use.

This is the only time of year we make this offer, because we think everyone should have their foal's baby pictures!

Please PM us if you are interested!

07/30/2026

Last minute Return Swim Availability:

I've got 6 seats available for the 2026 Pony Return Swim tomorrow morning on our 6 passenger boat.

- We leave at 5am
- Swim scheduled for 6am
- We watch the southern herd "diffuse" back into their neigh-borhood
- Then we cruise around the north end to see if any northern herd ponies are out.
- Plan to be back by 9am +/-
- $200 per seat.

Click the bookeo link to reserve:

07/30/2026

2026 Chincoteague Pony Auction Results:

Greater minds than mine will crunch these numbers, and I may have missed something, but from what I saw…..prices are back to “normal”, or 2024 average.

80 foals sold at auction:

73 “take home” foals totaled $394,600

Low was $3,000 high was $10,500
14 were online bids totaling $66,100
59 were in person bids $328,500

So the average price to purchase a foal and take it home was: $4,871……call it $5k

—————————-

7 “buy backs” that stay in the herd (buyer purchases the naming rights)

7 “Buybacks” for a total of $237,200
Low $20,000 high $60,000
1 was an online bid for $26,000
6 were in person bids for $211,200
So average price to buy one and name it: $34,000

————————-

Total for all 80 ponies sold: $631,800 with $92,100 of that in online transactions.

I didn’t include “non-pony sales”. And my numbers could very well be off. I just totaled them from the auction website, and I’ve got fat fingers 😂

Carry on.

07/29/2026

Pony Swim 2026 was a success!!

The wx was great, and it seemed like the process was fairly smooth. Our charter guests seemed happy, and I think our pony swim pontoon rentals were too.

Hoping the auction, and return swim go just as easy. 🤞

07/21/2026

Some photos of the past few days.

Raven’s fresh foal (born 7/18), a few eagles, and….. I don’t typically get excited about royal terns, but I was telling my “banded oyster catcher” story, and noticed 5 banded royal terns on the oyster rock.

I’ve not tried to look up the bands yet, but it looked like they all had an aluminum band on one leg, and easier to read band on the other.

I like the non-typical creature sightings, keeps things interesting for me.

Carry on!

CaptainDansTours.com