Clever Styacation: Desert Belle Tour at Saguaro Lake #ScottsdaleAZ

I’ve lived in Phoenix all of my life and I thought I’d done it all, seen it all. I was wrong. I was asked by Scotts­dale Con­ven­tion & Tourism Bureau to “explore Scottsdale”. When I looked at their website, I noticed there was so much I’ve never done.  So much to do and so much to see from the activities, shopping, dining etc. We decided to spend our Spring Break in Scottsdale!

One thing I found on the site that I knew my kids would like was the Desert Belle.  It is a boat cruise on Saguaro Lake that happens every day throughout the week throughout the day.  Most are narrated  where the captain explains the history of the area along with teaching about wildlife in the area. The 5:00 one we went on actually had a live band which was pretty cool. They played some fun songs that even my kids danced too! We did the 5:00 tour because I knew it was around sunset (and as you can see in the above photo, I was right). So we got to see the day features as well as the ones at sunset right before dark! Here are a few photos from our trip!

(hint if you do not see the photos, click the Read More option)

Fab Points & Tips for the Desert Belle:

• Free to park (normally you have to have the Tonto pass to visit Saguaro).
• Try both tours! Take the narration tour, enjoy lunch then take the 5:00 music tour!
• Crew was friendly, in fact the captain stayed late to answer all of Clever Guy’s questions about his boat and his captaining experience)
• The views. Amazing! It may have been the perfect weather, the perfect skies, the timing or all of the above but it was simply breathtaking. The water was beautiful, the scenery was fabulous with the mountains, cacti, blue skies etc.
• Premiere seating, well worth it! It’s only $5 more to get the premiere seating tickets and well worth it. You get to pick out where you sit first (general seating). You will want to sit on the front of the boat. We chose the front in front of the captain’s area, well worth the extra money, we got to see EVERYTHING! Also, you get a free voucher for a drink or popcorn (I think the popcorn was $5 so right there, no brainer)
• Bring your camera, you’ll want to remember the views and wildlife, not to mention the memories!
• Get there early, you can walk around on the pier and check out the lake from the dock!

• Definitely eat at the restaurant and sit outside. My grandma said you HAVE to go to the restaurant because the food is so good. We did and were not disappointed!