Paddle Boston: Allston Brighton — Attraction in Boston

We discovered this place by some sort of google search about stuff to do in Boston. Wife suggested we do it. I was pretty excited to try it although I though about “what if the current is strong, my wife has never kayaked before. I will be so zonked at the end”. I was wrong for some reason there is little to no current in the Charles river.

Yeah it was some work going down the river and back to the dock, but it was relaxing at the same time. It was fun seeing people walk or run by on the greenway and to see people rowing. It was a fun little/ different tour of the town.

The employees were very nice and I felt like they didn’t feel bothered with our questions. You do have to sign a waiver which is to be expected. There is a river quiz too. Proper way to be on a river and what kind of boats get right of way etc.... one of the benches actually has the answers penned on it. But there is a short sheet with the test that will be enough for you to get 100% in that quiz.

The price was very reasonable, they have a price per boat per hour and then pro rate any time after that first hour. My wife and I didn’t feel rushed to get back to the dock because of the pricing and that prorated policy.

Over all I enjoyed my time on the river and think that the employees I dealt with were so very nice. The next time I get the chance to go back to Boston, I would use this...

Had a very dangerous experience with Paddle Boston and would NOT recommend to anyone. We were not informed that there was a huge crew race happening on the river that day, with 100+ boats coming at very high speeds all morning. We were told that we had to stay to the side, as close to shore as possible, and were not given options to reschedule. The staff provided no instructions on how to navigate the kayaks nor any safety precautions for first timers.

My kayak collided with a racing boat in a narrow section of the river under a bridge. I had three very hard hits to my head with their paddles and am still experiencing symptoms from this mild concussion. While I am the only one who had an injury, my friends also had trouble steering their kayaks and many were also at risk of collision with the crew races.

Such race events are planned far in advance and this situation should have been made clear before we traveled far distances to arrive for our kayak trip. I am traumatized, still healing, and will never recommend this company to anyone. Worst of all, when I called the company to report the incident, they were extremely rude and unapologetic, and even blamed me for the accident....

Love the place. Wish it opened at 830am (UPADE: they now do!) Great team, good equipment and nice starting point whether you are going towards DT or Newton

Update 9.15.18: had our first bad experience there this morning. We had a fairly large group - 4 families totaling 14 ppl- and were treated rudely from the time we arrived. Two staff members at the check in booth couldn't have been less welcoming and one even lectured my husband In a very patronizing way. Very disappointed in out experience as customers and members.

Update 6/10/22: two small groups behind us took a long time to figure out their plans. Once I got to the window the system started having issues. Instead of holding us up, the gentleman helping us tok.dinw our info, had us pay and sent us on our way so we could enjoy the river and deal w the system when we came back...