Seaplane Scenics — Attraction in Kirkland

We had a wonderful 1hr 30min Seaplane tour with James Young the business owner on a sunny Friday afternoon 15th April taking off from Wiley Post Seaplane Base in Renton, Seattle, I couldn't fault the experience it was awesome. After booking through the 'Peek' (3rd party handling/booking) website, James Young was in touch and communicated regularly before our trip, he was brilliant throughout. Quick tip for others - Mother nature and the weather are unpredictable at the best of times especially with planes, so I'd really emphasise that you have to be flexible, both on departure time, and the locations you want to visit with these Seaplane tours to get the most out of them. If you are super tight with time / heart set on a specific location you'll probably get disappointed at some point, which I could see from the odd 1 or 2 reviews, which is a shame, as we went totally with a we've got all day, lets just get in the air and go on an adventure mindset and we had a blast. James Young the owner is a super experienced, charismatic, friendly person. He will know what's best and with a few back and forth's about you're wishes for sites and the experience, he'll craft it all for you in the air, you're sat right next to him chatting, so anything excites you, just tell him, he'll probably point the plane towards it at some point. We love old train routes, and he found a beautiful abandoned one for us whilst on the way to other things. We took a train out of Seattle, got off at Rainier Beach and then took a taxi to Renton from directions in emails from the company. (You turn off onto Perimeter road and follow road left all the way along to a picnic spot right at edge of lake / runway, you'll walk through the gate next to picnic spot onto end of runway and onto the Seaplane Jetty's). James Young meets you at the gate and walks you to the plane very close waiting. You'll see him popping the plane into the water before hand, was all really exciting to watch, amazingly he'd flown in just before from his home not far away near another airport (yeah he's that sort of awesome knowledge / life of a pilot lol) We had a safety briefing, got in the plane and popped our headsets on, taxi'd slowly out to middle of lake and off we took ! The flight was hilarious and so informative, James Young is quite the character, funny, witty and knowledgeable, he talked with us for most of the flight, and we had such a fun time, showing us all these sites, celebrity houses, waterfalls, abandoned train lines, wildlife, mountains, snow, railways, interesting historical sites, and new buildings. I mean they try to put packages together to make it look easier online / on websites, but once you're in the air it doesn't matter, it's all so beautiful, he'll go wherever he can take you in the time. Landing was really smooth, much smoother than a runway landing and we chatted after for a while and headed off having felt we'd had a truly unique experience we'd never had before which was so personal and tailored. 1.5hrs was a perfect amount of time, I don't think i'd have wanted it shorted or longer was just perfect. I'd highly recommend James Young, Seaplane Scenics, and a Seaplane tour in Seattle, it's a fantastic once in a lifetime sort...

Of all the things we did on our visit to Seattle- this one was the BEST. It even beat the whale watching boat tour and that was 10/10. We booked originally on a Tuesday through Viator and it was cancelled. Booked again Wednesday by phone. Very frustrating. Then I got email telling us reservation declined. I was sad, but decided we wouldn’t get this seaplane tour as we were leaving the next day.

Then a miracle happens. Lol . Shelly from SeaPlane Scenics called us directly. Viator is a third party company. Call Seaplanes Scenics vs a third party service when you book. You will be happier and your wallet heavier. Shelly booked the exact flight we requested for the next day. It was raining and I was worried we would be able to see much. We could see perfectly, and the clouds helped us take great photos with the glare of the sun. Shelly gave us perfect direction to Kirkland where we boarded the seaplane. We didn’t have a rental car, so we grabbed a yellow taxi. We arrived a bit early, so we got drinks at Starbucks. Our Pilot Janes was wonderful. He even took photos before we boarded the plane. It’s a small space, but we were comfortable. They give you headphones with mic to hear each other and talk. Our pilot was very knowledgeable, calmed our nerves. We saw things we didn’t expect on the tour. Like seeing houses of famous Microsoft and Amazon locals. Seeing the city from the air is like nothing else. I can’t recommend this tour enough. Best part of our entire trip. We took taxi from Kirkland back to hotel near the space...

Booked, confirmed, and paid for a tour of Mt Rainier via TripAdvisor's viator over the Memorial weekend. Drove from Seattle to Kirkland, parked, and arrived at dock C at 1:30p, for our tour scheduled at 2p. Pilot James Young didn't meet us at scheduled location; instead we were asked to walk over to dock E. The dock helper remarked "That's James for you".. which was a sign of things to come, and an appropriate characterization of James, who arrives at 2p at dock E. James asks me if I'm Doug or Kirk or someone else. I replied, "No, I have a 2p tour of Mt Rainier and show him my viator confirmation" (he doesn't bother to look). He says I don't have a trip with him, proceeds to check his phone (without really looking for anything), and rambles on about how TripAdvisor keeps doing that to him, making him "look bad" in front of customers. He leaves shortly after for a 2:20p tour, leaving us on the deck having paid for the trip in full. In truth, James is a selfish, crafty, weasel who conveniently cashes in on partnerships with TripAdvisor and possibly other travel sites during the off peak season, and picks and chooses which he wants to honor, during the peak holiday times, leaving the other unlucky customers stranded on their own...