Amelia Adventures — Attraction in Fernandina Beach

I have to start by stating that the owner gave us a 50% refund for a bad experience and was kind enough to extend his apologies (hence the 3-stars). Yet, the kayak trip ruined half a day of our very carefully planned 4-day trip to Amelia Island. We were a family of 4, and 2 of us were first-time kayakers. Our assigned tour guide was Jamie. She was knowledgeable and skilled, however no amount of skill or expertise could make up for a total lack of empathy. Despite knowing that our group included beginners, Jamie made no effort whatsoever to help/guide my wife and daughter who were struggling with their paddling. She stayed by herself most of the time, got impatient and at times rude as I started discussing ideas to help our group move. Her comments were in bad taste and all over, for example, “you can’t even paddle” (although the trip was listed as “perfect for first time paddlers”), “you booked the trip only yesterday and I still showed up” (we did not force the owner to accept the booking!), “you should have booked 4 individuals vs 2 tandem” (2 tandem was the owner’s recommendation!), “I am done dealing with this, we are heading back” (it was a 2-hour trip from 10-12, she insisted we need to be back by 11:30 and got us out of the water at 11:20). Worst experience ever. Contrast that with “Amelia Island Kayak Excursions” where we had the most wonderful kayaking experience a couple of days later with the owner Mark himself leading us (please see my separate review of that trip). I guess that’s the difference when you have owners who care vs employees/contractors who don’t give a damn. My only advice - stay away from...

Our group of five older adults scheduled a kayak tour from Fernandina Beach to Cumberland Island. We were all fairly novice kayakers, however we had been on trips with this group in the past. The young lady in the shop took time to explain what was going to occur, making sure we were all comfortable with the trip, and gave us easy directions to the boat launch. Our guide for this trip was Rachel, and she was absolutely wonderful. She was very knowledgeable, had wonderful people skills, and made us all feel very comfortable as we began our trip. Rachel gave us a nice background of the area as we were paddling, and her love of the sport was very evident. This was our first ocean kayak trip, and I learned very helpful basics as we were moving out. When we arrived at beautiful C I we had a chance to explore a bit. Rachel shared island history and we even saw several of the wild horses in the distance. Our return trip was beautiful, the wind had shifted greatly, so we really had to work hard….but it was absolutely amazing and Rachel was extremely supportive as we paddled our way past historic Fort Clinch and arrived at our home dock. This was an incredible experience for all of us, right from the moment we began. We are planning to do this tour again, slowly working up to the longer C I tour. We need to profusely thank Amelia Adventures and their staff for being kind and patient, and for providing us with a trip that will remain in our memories for...

Our family made a trip to Amelia Island to honor a family member's request to have his ashes scattered off shore of the island. After contacting numerous charter services and being told they could not accommodate us, I read a review written by someone who had arranged a similar trip with Amelia Adventures. I called and spoke with Captain Tom - he could not have been kinder or more understanding of our circumstances. He explained that he has provided "memorial" charters on numerous occasions and would be able to accommodate our family of 9 people (he holds a special license that allows him to transport groups larger than 6 people).

On the day of our charter, we were able to easily follow directions to find the marina and free parking for our vehicles. Captain Tom was waiting for us at the dock, navigated us to an area that satisfied our wishes, and was respectful during our memorial. He went above and beyond by taking a few photographs of our group, as well as a photo showing the boat's coordinates so that we could recall the exact location we scattered ashes.

We cannot thank Captain Tom enough and we highly recommend Amelia Adventures to everyone wishing to charter a boat in Fernandina Beach / Amelia...