What It Is

A 70-minute educational ride on a real, operating shrimping boat, where passengers can learn about and witness firsthand the process of shrimping along Mississippi’s coastline.

Where It Is

Biloxi, Mississippi

When We Went

June 2022

What We Did

We boarded the Biloxi Cruise Company’s 42.5-foot double-decker boat, the 72-year-old Sailfish, which captains have used since 1954 to teach tourists and locals about the history and heritage of shrimping in Biloxi.

Current owners Captain Mike Moore and Brandy Moore had just had the Sailfish restored and returned to water four months before we stepped foot on the boat, which was beautiful and clean.  Although passengers are welcomed to sit on the open-air upper deck, my family and I chose to sit on the window-surrounded main level, which features cushioned, bench seats that were donated to the Sailfish by the Biloxi Sanger Theatre in the 1960s, when the theatre was renovated.

Once everyone was aboard (we had to wait a few minutes for a late-arriving journalist), our captain took us out of the Biloxi Small Craft Harbor and into the waters of the Mississippi Sound.

There, he dropped a 16-foot net into the typically brownish-green water and started cruising through the Sound between Deer Island and the Biloxi shoreline, dragging the net along the sea bottom behind us as we went.

While we trawled, scooping up critters, Captain Mike talked to us about the long history of shrimping in Biloxi, the challenges shrimpers face, the seafood industry in general, and regulations fishers have to abide by.  

He also talked about how the seafood industry has changed and how those changes have affected the shrimping industry and the people in Biloxi in particular.  I’m not a shrimp eater, but I found the information interesting and eye-opening, and I gained a greater appreciation for what life is like for professional shrimpers.  Our captain was also very funny, which made the entire experience enjoyable and relaxing.

When it was time to harvest the fish, Captain Mike hauled in his net and dumped the contents onto a large sorting area at the back of the boat.  He carefully and skillfully identified each type of marine life, threw some back into the water, and put others into an aquarium, where passengers could get a closer look.  He also passed around a few of the larger shrimp for closer inspection.  The small fish that remained on the sorting platform became lunch for the seagulls who had been eagerly—and noisily—waiting their turn. 

I passed up the opportunity to handle the shrimp, but most of the kids onboard happily embraced the chance to touch the funny-looking little crustaceans.

When our shrimping trip was over and the Sailfish had returned to the harbor, my family and I spent a little time looking at the monuments and memorials at Glennan and Guice Parks nearby before getting in our rental and heading to Biloxi Beach.

How Much We Spent

I don’t have a record of what we spent in 2022, but the 2026 rate is $30 per person over the age of 4.

How Much Time We Spent There

We spent a little less than two hours.  We arrived around 1:00, 30 minutes before our scheduled departure time.  The tour lasted a little more than an hour, and then we briefly explored the nearby parks.

What We Liked

We really liked our boat captain.  His presentation was informational but entertaining, and he gave us much to think about.

What We Didn't Like

As much as we liked the captain, we didn’t like what we learned from him about the Biloxi area itself before our boat experience even began.  

First, we got there right on time for check-in.  However, we all needed to use the restroom since we had just come from Mobile, Alabama, where we stopped to try treats from A&M Peanut Shop.  The captain directed us to the Port Commission Building behind the Small Craft Harbor, where we met the boat.  We needed a code to access the bathrooms, and the captain all but whispered it to us because he didn’t want any of the homeless—several of which were in the area—to hear.

Then, while we were waiting for the journalist to arrive, he told us that Mississippi’s gun laws are about as loose as Texas’s, and he warned us about the gas stations in town, particularly the one near the casino.  He said that both he and his shipmate, Nate, had had near-violent encounters there.  He didn’t specify which of Biloxi’s seven casinos he meant, but there were two of them between the harbor and our hotel, and we didn’t like the idea of running into that kind of trouble, especially with our kids with us.  Because of that, when our shrimping tour was over, we visited Biloxi Beach briefly and then headed to the Hard Rock Cafe & Casino for an early, 4:00 dinner before returning to the hotel, where we stayed until checkout the next morning.  We usually like to explore a city a little and eat something regional, but we were sufficiently spooked by the captain’s stories to venture out.


Was it worth it? 

Definitely.  The ride was calm and relaxing, our captain was very knowledgeable and entertaining, and we generally had a very good time.  Yes, we were spooked by safety concerns while we were there, but we later regretted letting one man’s stories restrict our experience in a new city.  Looking back, we wish we would have talked to the folks at our hotel for insight and guidance.

For more information, visit https://biloxishrimpingtrip.com/.

Did You Know?  Biloxi harvests three species of shrimp: brown, white, and pink.  

Brown shrimp are most abundant from June to October and make up roughly 75-85% of Biloxi’s harvest.  Brown shrimp like being 15-120 feet below the surface and are usually caught at night.  

White shrimp like it a little shallower.  They’re usually found no deeper than 90 feet and are usually caught during daylight hours between October and January.

Pink shrimp can be found in waters 36-108 feet deep.  They’re typically caught at night between October and April.

Was It Worth It?
Biloxi Shrimping Trip

​Posted June 19, 2026, by Janet Wolfe