Corolla Watersports — Attraction in Corolla

My name is Mischelle and I am writing in regards to the awful experience we had with renting a pontoon boat. We made reservations on Tuesday May 18, 2021 for a 16 passenger pontoon boat to go fishing while we were on vacation. We planned the boating trip for Thursday May 20th for 9:30 in the morning . We were really excited. Long story short----Since we were on vacation –no one in our group was paying attention to their phones(I know hard to believe), however true. We did not see the phone call or text from Kitty Hawk on Wednesday night explaining our trip was cancelled due to a boat malfunction ?? Come Thursday May 20th, the day for our pontoon rental we received another call from Blair -direct from Kitty Hawk which I answered and she explained that our boat time was cancelled. They did not have a boat for us. Completely upset, my husband was so looking forward to this event—I asked if I could call her back. When I did –I asked if she could switch boats, did she have a 12 passenger one? She said why yes we do—we will just change the boat type and you can still come out for your 9:30 trip. Worked out for all of us and once again we planned our day. Not five minutes later, Blair called back and said, I am sorry, I misread the schedule and the 12 passenger boat was only available somewhere near the bridge where we entered, I believe (too far). We were in corolla and wanted the convenience of renting close to where we stayed. Needless to say I was again upset?? Know your information when we call, nothing more frustrating than planning a day trip within your weeks stay, only to have it cancelled. This was one of the highlights to our vacation. Dissatisfied I asked for a refund, only to here that it would take 3-5 business days to be refunded. Great --- $400—a big part of our trip money was now tied up in logistics?? This was unbelievably inconvenient, and a damper on our day. I will say that we will never use your company again due to this mishap. On a bright note we did find that Corolla Watersports not only accommodated us with a 16 passenger boat, we received a discount for using them prior with our jet ski rentals. AWESOME company to have around the corner and completely satisfied with the group of employees who helped us with our boating experience. Would highly recommend this company. Fun, laid back and knowledgeable. Please talk to your staff in regards to knowing their schedule and being a tad more empathetic with cancellations.

Sincerely...

My husband and I rented two jet skis for us to ride with our 5y/o and 6y/o. Everyone was very friendly and patient as our kids were hesitant to get on the jet skis. Jason (or Jake?) that was on patrol (the employee that keeps an eye on everything on the water) was friendly and checked on me and my 5y/o a few times to make sure everything was going ok since we were just taking things nice and slow. It was getting a little crowded, so we were careful to stay away from all the other tourists on jet skis, until a young male was headed right for us. We moved faster to get out of his way, but he changed his direction and continued to speed toward us. We couldn't get away from him, and my five year old and I braced for impact. He slowed just as he got about 20 feed from us, and he seemed pretty confused when I yelled at him and asked what his problem was. My five year old was crying and scared. He then asked what group I was with - it turns out that he works for the company. I explained to Brad that there was nothing that identified him as an employee and we assumed he was an out of control or aggressive tourist speeding toward us. Brad tried to explain that he knows how to drive a jet ski, but he was too arrogant to comprehend that there was no way for US to know that about him.

I talked to Lloyd the manager after we cut our trip short (my 5 year old was now terrified and was desperate to get back to the dock), and he was very apologetic. He asked what it would take to make it right, and for me there wasn't really anything to do except have a discussion with Brad.

We had a good time, I just wish we hadn't had that experience with Brad. My recommendation to avoid this in the future is to have the patrol wear distinctive company shirts and/or ride jet skis that clearly identify them as employees, instead of the same jet skis that the tourists...

We travel with three kiddos, one of which has special needs and requires a wheelchair/adaptive stroller. We rented a pontoon with another family for a few hours and were SO IMPRESSED with this operation from start to finish.

Instructions on boat operation were explained thoroughly. We were given great guidance on how to navigate the sound safely with five small children, which allowed us to spend time enjoying the experience rather than attempting to figure things out on our own. Communication with staff was clear and they answered all of questions with patience!

The pontoon boat itself was VERY clean and well kept and in like-new condition. The shade canopy was perfect and we appreciated the radio (bluetooth) and the navigation system.

The staff was friendly and courteous. The dock and boat access were as accessible as it gets in terms of getting a wheelchair onto the boat and staff was more than willing to assist us with lifting the chair on/off the boat and assist with bags too.

We would highly recommend this company to anyone wishing to rent a boat, jetski or other water sport option which on vacation. We would absolutely use their...