California Watersports — Attraction in Carlsbad

A couple of months ago, my wife and I booked this place for a big gathering. We rented the big gazebo, which overlooked the whole lagoon. Due to the number of people, we are able to have prices fixed per head. Now, pay attention because here is the conniving scheme that this management has done to us. Make sure you remember this detail. We have an agreement that our time starts at 12:00 pm till 5pm closing. That was the deal!

My wife and I made sure to be the first one there. We got there at the horrific parking lot at 11:30 am. Asked the Management Office where our parties can park and ask them where exactly the gazebo is. Sorta like recon mission. They told us all the information shook hands that we are all going to be back at 12 pm. They said, "Oh yeah, no problem, glad you guys are here," and all that blah blah.

Saw some of our friends arrive at the same time or 5 mins after us. Informed them that we can not show up at their office at consensus time.

So right when 12:00 pm. hit, we started walking at the office and informed them that 75% of the attendees were here under the name of my wife. We asked how about the others that are late? We are told that one of us should stick around at the office so that we can verify that they really are part of our party. So my wife stayed while I took care of the gazebo space that we rented and got that place settled for friends that are already with us.

So we thought that everything was going well until one of the employees told us that we must leave by 3 pm. We asked why and she said that one of our friends had arrived before us and started using one of their water sports. We argued that how can that be, as we are the ones who got there first talk to the manager for recon, and checked people in one by one. If one of our party arrived there early they wouldn't be able to use one of their water sports and they would have waited for us because they have not been there as most of them are from out of town. As for the local friends, they are the 25% of attendees that came in late, so they arrived after us.

Clearly, this employee is lying. However, no matter how we try to argue, they are adamant about kicking us out at 3 pm. The supervisor on duty went out and said that they could extend it until 4 pm. When technically speaking, we have until 5 pm. We didn't want to argue anymore because we are losing the time that we can spend with our friends.

We figured that they want to close early and clean up before 5 pm. That's why they didn't hold the end of their bargain.

Such a horrible business. We will never come back here again, and we will never recommend it to...

My family and I went on Valentine's Day because we wanted to do something fun and memorable. We had read great things about Carlsbad Lagoon and there was a Groupon coupon (2 hours for a selection of watersports for $27) so we decided to give it a try. It was so much fun and a great time had by all of us! It was pretty busy for being the offseason: it was a holiday and the weather was gorgeous, but it wasn't too crowded. We arrived in the late morning and after getting checked in we were on our way. We decided to rent a double kayak and managed to fit myself, my mom and 17 year old brother into it. It was our first time being there and going kayaking and the staff was so nice and helpful. We had Josh and Cayden help us and they were great! Once we were all in and after a few minutes of getting acclimated to it we were paddling our way out. The lagoon is gorgeous and a great place for a fun, relaxing afternoon. You launch from the shore, paddle out and around to some great little beaches or keep going through the canals. We made it to the beach and dropped my mom off and my brother and I kept going through the canals. We didn't go all the way but it was so nice to just float and admire all the beauty around us! Overall, the trip was about the 2 hours but you could spend all day out there exploring. If you're in the Southern California or Carlsbad area and are looking for a pretty inexpensive, fun afternoon I highly recommend going to Carlsbad Lagoon! They have so much to choose from like jetskis, boating, paddleboarding, kayaking, peddleboating and aqua cycles. There is something for everyone that will be so much fun and make...

This place was a disaster. I don't blame the young people working there. I think they were doing their best within the limits of what the owners have probably told them to do, but there are several things one should be aware of.

NOT family friendly at all. They apparently also rent out little decks for drunken fests. Although there were signs saying, "no glass", there were glass bottles everywhere. People drinking VERY heavily. People making out on the decks. If you are renting a jet ski just beware that you will have no idea how drunk will be all the other jetski people revving around in that little tiny jet ski area on the lagoon.

They will screw you if they can. We weren't really sure how long we would be out on the water, so we took a 2-hour rental. It really wasn't what we expected, which is not their fault, but we came back in WELL under 1 hour. I thought surely they would just refund me for the difference between the 1 and 2 hour rental rates, but the best they would do in the end was store credit, so we got a bunch of what was mostly junk so as not to leave completely empty-handed. Shame on me for not seeing the "absolutely no refunds" sign, but still, that was just so chincy. This was a total contrast with the bike rental we took on Coronado island where we went a few minutes over the rental time and they just said, "no worries", and did not hammer us for the full day rental rate.

I could probably write a novel on how terrible this place was, but we'll just stop there.

Do not go here unless public intoxication and unreasonable business practices...