True

Whalers are good boats...
I have a 16 Dauntless... Everyone thinks of the 13, 15 and 17....but the Dauntless boats have a bigger bow and are a V rather than the flat bottom like a 17...
Mine has a 115 Merc on it....Ski tow, bimini, etc.... It moves right along for its size.
The 18 is nice as well, but the back seat is a flip down for fishing...
We run ours around on the ICW. Its a great boat for the dog and my 6 year old son and his fishing pole...
Drive it right up on the beach and don't worry about getting it stuck.

But, it's still a small boat. 4-5 people tops...

IMO, if you are wanting to carry a bunch of people, 6 to 8, you are going to need something larger than a 20 foot CC. Something around 24 to 26 might fit the bill and still keep it a single. As far as deck boats go, a 20 footer will seat a lot of people but the rough water ride is gonna be lacking. Around Ft Myers I'd say 90% of the deck boats I see are Hurricanes. For ease of use and cleanup and rough water ride I'd go CC. But if seating capacity is more important go with a deck boat and accept that it's going to be a rough ride when the wind picks up.

Not planning on carrying that many people, but it is always good to have the ability to if you are in a bind. Don't care at all about the rough water capabilities of the boat as it will never leave the intercoastal. Also, want to keep it under 20ft for all around ease of use and less maintenance. Once you get up into that mid 20's range, you mind as well use the bigger boat.

Well if ease of use is your main criteria nothing is going to be more user friendly than a small CC. Use it, flush it, hose it down and you are done. A deck boat can seat a lot of people but that means a lot of vinyl that needs to be wiped off after use and probably covered if you want to keep it really nice.

Here are (2) choices for deck boats. My friends family had a Hurricane 21 in Cape Coral. Nice boat. I really like Chaparral I've had a couple older models and they are well built.

http://www.chaparralboats.com/140/20...sta-Sportdeck/
http://www.stingrayboats.com/product...hp?model=212sc

Ok please dont shoot me:party-smiley-004:

But why not a pontoon, the new Premiers with a 250+ mercury will run 40-55mph with 6-8 people on board, plenty of room for coolers and will handle decent waves.

Not sure what your budget is that might knock a newer pontoon out but newer pontoons arent like they were 10+yrs ago, very sporty and some might even out handle most bow rides.

That's what I'm talking about. The wide front ones vs the traditional deep vee's. Adds more room, makes boarding options a lot better, and gives easy place for frt and rear ladders.

As far as cleaning, I'm in charge of everything, including cleaning (yeh! :rolleyes) my parents. Since it is wide open, it is very easy to keep clean. No snap in carpets, plus there are many drains on the floor that drain to outside the boat. Makes it very easy to clean. Keep away from dark colors in the gel, and that makes it easier.

Listen, when my parents got this boat I laughed at them...we come from a family of traditional V boats with mostly performance boats.

First few minutes of being in the boat , in the back waters of Ft meyers Beach, I turned around and told them, this is great for here ! They laughed at me. LOL.

Boat being back here (it's a 94 I believe with 500 million hrs on it...lol) it is used as a ski boat, tubing, sight seeing, and multi family hang out boat. My mom (dad is no longer with us) talks about getting rid of it, here and there, but I won't enetertain that. Too good of a boat to let disappear.

Again, these are well worth a look.

Pontoon boats are tough around here... They tend to stuff real bad when you run through the wake of a 58 Sundancer... A traditional boat will go up and over easier. The ICW is narrow and there isn't room to swing out wide for all the big bumps...
Keep the doors closed on the pontoon boat or your coolers will float away...