VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — A Virginia Beach charter boat captain says rising fuel prices tied to the war with Iran are not enough to push him to raise the cost of fishing trips for customers.
Captain Bill Pappas Jr., owner and charter captain of Playin Hookey Charters, said unleaded fuel at the marina is currently $3.70 per gallon — still well below the $5.85 per gallon boaters were paying in 2022.
"A lot of people do want to know if the fuel price is going to affect what's going on for us and to be honest it's not impacting us at all," Pappas said.
Playin Hookey Charters runs inshore and offshore fishing trips out of Rudee's Inlet Station Marina in Virginia Beach. Pappas said most charters at the marina match each other's prices and keep rates in an affordable range.
"Mainly for us the prices have went down so low and stayed there consistently for as long as they have that even if they went up another dollar we would still be better than we were before," Pappas said.
Pappas said boaters typically pay about a dollar more per gallon at marinas compared to gas stations on land.
Captain Bill says most charters at Rudee’s Inlet Station Marina match each other’s prices and keep trips in a range that’s still affordable.
So I asked Captain Bill if his fishing trips would cost more if fuel prices increase.
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"We're not raising our prices, none of us are raising our prices at all because like I said we're still going to be underneath where we were when it was the toughest for us and we made the least amount off our trips. And we had the prices right at the breaking point of people being able to fish for fun and enjoy themselves at the VB oceanfront or they're gonna have to stay home and just choose something else," Pappas said.
Pappas says boaters pay about a dollar more per gallon at marinas compared to gas stations on land. But even if fuel increases, Pappas aren’t worried.
"When it comes to raising rates I may raise my rates just a little bit just to meet the other boats and have the same rates as them but that has nothing to do with the fuel prices at all because we anticipate they'll be going back to where they were or even manageable still under what we were paying in 2022 and years prior," Pappas said.
