San Pablo Reservoir — Attraction in El Cerrito

1 star I would do -stars too if I could because the park itself is nice but the staff is very rude for the boating rental. Twice we went on a boat and the first time the gas was done 40 minutes before our return time on our boat. We got our gas went up to the office after, since they wasted 40 minutes of our time when we were supposed to comeback 40 minutes later. Anyways we got surprised when the staff were very rude and mad at us for asking a 40 minute credit next time we got a boat but they said that it is our problem and not theirs and we somehow agreed to the contract on it. The lady promised us a 40 minute credit next time and said she keeps her word. Next time we come back we rent a boat and ask about the 40 minute credit and she refused and got mad and shouted at me and my wife because we asked about the credit she promised, we kept asking her and then suddenly another lady came up, I don't know her name but she has hazel eyes and white hair and looked to be a manager or something. THAT woman came and told us to accept the fact the woman lied and that she doesn't care that we got stranded last time for 40 minutes instead of boating and said in a very rude tone like very rude that either we accept what she says and get on our boat or she will void the paper and will not let us go boating. She was probably racist you could easily tell. Anyways we go boating for 2 hours because we bought 2 hours of boating and suddenly when we wanted to return back for context we rented the boat and took off at 3:50 and at 5:40 surprise boat ran out of gas again and we called for gas. They came at 5:55 to give us gas and when we returned back at around 6:10 or 6:15 because we wanted our 20 minutes back but we just did it for 5 minutes and came back. WHEN WE CAME BACK THE WOMAN HAD THE AUDACITY TO CHARGE US FOR 3 HOURS BECAUSE THE GUY WHO FILLED OUR GAS RETURNED LIKE 5 MINUTES EARLIER THAN US. FIRST OF ALL WE DIDNT BOAT FOR 20 MINUTES BECAUSE THEY DIDNT HAVE ENOUGH GAS AGAIN. BUT THE WORKERS BOAT IS WAY FASTER THAN OURS AND WE RETURNED 5 OR 10 MINUTES AFTER WORKER BECAUSE OUR BOAT WAS SLOW AND SHE CHARGED US FOR 3 HOURS BECAUSE WE CAME 5 MINUTES LATER AND SHOUTED AT US AND TOLD US SHE WILL CHARGE US 70 DOLLARS ONLY ID WE NEVER COME BACK AGAIN. WE ACCEPTED TO NEVER COME BACK BECAUSE WE GOT 1 HOUR WASTED ON TOTAL BETWEEN 2 VISITS AND ON THE SECOND ONE SHE CHARGED US FOR 3 HOURS BECAUSE IT WAS "NOT HER PROBLEM" AND HARRASED AND YELLED AT ME AND MY WIFE. THE PEOPLE THAT DID THESE HORRIBLE ACTS WERE DONE BY THE 2 WOMAN STATED NEVER COMING TO THESE BOAT RENTALS AGAIN BECAUSE OF THESE RACIST WOMAN AND THEY SAID WE CAUSED THE PROBLEM BECAUSE WE WANTED OUR TIME/MONEY BACK THEY BASICALLY SCAMMED US AND HARASSED US FOR IT AND YELLED AT US AND WERE...

A wonderful place for family outings, especially on the waters.

Word to the wise, if you're renting a boat, check the gas and ask staff to refill if it feels light. My family rented two boats and one of them had almost no fuel. They only found out when the boat stopped in the waters, while they were in a dead zone (Verizon, amiright? ha). Just call their office number (listed on Google Maps) and give them general directions on how to reach you.

Other than that, my boat had a great time. The boats aren't quite made for speed boat fun, but they're more than spacious and comfortable for 10 people (outside of COVID conditions). There's tons of biodiversity visible from the lake. There's mallards, tallows, and stilts wandering all around the lake. It's not unusual to slowly drift through a raft of ducks grouped in the middle of the lake.

Something to note, something was up with our engine about 4 hours in. The motor was rev jumping, the boat wobbled a bit from the uneven revs, but the boat still functioned and we made it back to the dock fairly easily. Definitely be wary of how the boat is driving and don't be afraid to ask for help from staff. Mike is a boss and he has the magic touch.

A couple things to note right now: Boat rentals are for the WHOLE day (so for patio or platoon boats, we're talking $400 - $500 flat) until COVID conditions change. Please do NOT feed the animals. Especially the mallards. We had a mallard follow our boat for a good 30 min. It definitely learned to expect food...

View and sitting place and others were good and all BUT the staff were really rude and inexperienced. We asked for 2 hours on the pedal boat and we ended up having 1 hour and 30 minutes because of the guy managing the boats said that he asked the last group which I was in, if this is going to be the last ride of the day and he said that we basically just nodded and he ASSUMED that we said yes. This was all a lie because I was in the last group and he didn’t say anything so we had to leave early. Second if you annoy the fishers they will call the security or whatever for no apparent reason. And finally the security was very rude and aggressive towards my mother and my aunts. We knew that it wasn’t allowed to be in the water but because we were trying to get the boat off the shore because it was stuck in the mud, he came up to us and said we can’t be in the water in a VERY RUDE way and was yelling at us and said we can’t park on the shore which we were told by the person selling the boat that we could. So after all that happened the security was still circling us with his car and made us uncomfortable. And about the parking, we asked the person renting the boats where we should park to get people off and other people on and she said that we can park wherever which was a fun experience. Overall I don’t recommend going here and the...