St. Nicholas Boat Line

About Us

Come experience a little bit of the Old World in the New World.

In 1905, Greek sponge divers came to Tarpon Springs, Florida, to develop what would become the world's largest natural sponge industry. By the mid-1930s, over 200 boats were working the Gulf of Mexico from as far north as Apalachicola and as far south as Key West, harvesting $3 million worth of sponges annually. Tarpon Springs became known as the Sponge Capital of the World — a title it holds to this day.

Beginning in the late 1930s and lasting through the mid-1940s, a bacterial blight devastated the sponge beds and the industry nearly disappeared. Today, Tarpon Springs enjoys a rebirth of its sponge beds and remains the largest natural sponge producing community in the world. The Greek heritage that built this industry is alive and well along the Sponge Docks, where family-owned restaurants, bakeries, and shops line Dodecanese Boulevard.

The St. Nicholas Boat Line was established in 1924 by Captain Michael J. Billiris and continues to be operated by the Billiris family — over a century of welcoming visitors to the Sponge Docks. It is one of the oldest continuously operating tourist attractions in the State of Florida. The St. Nicholas VII is a U.S. Coast Guard Certified Vessel.

On August 3, 1990, the St. Nicholas III and VII were added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places, recognizing their significance to the sponge diving heritage of Tarpon Springs and the broader history of Florida's Gulf Coast.