Very untrained and unprofessional company. DO NOT bring children, elderly or inexperienced people on this tour. our tour started out fine, the bioluminescence was not as prominent as I would have hoped, but i understand that some things are out of our control. but on the way back from the island, our kayak filled with water and eventually sank in the middle of the channel, in the middle of the night. we remained calm and grabbed one of our tour guides, BOB. i understand accidents happen and knew that this was a risk i’d be taking, but i also thought that our guide would at least be capable of rescue procedure or that there would be a protocol in place for when these things happen. but that was not our experience. BOB panicked, didn’t know what to do, and paddled helplessly into nothing while we waited for our other tour guide, LOGAN, to return. he also didn’t seem to care about our safety, and was more concerned with the kayak over getting us back to shore. we must’ve been hanging on for at least 30 minutes until LOGAN got back to us and sprang into action, quickly flipping the kayak over and getting us onto his paddleboard. LOGAN eventually got us back to safety, with NO help from BOB who only got in the way, crossing paddles with LOGAN and paddling in the OPPOSITE DIRECTION from shore. BOB looks to be at least 50 years old, is easily tired, and seemingly has no experience in paddleboard/kayak rescue procedure. why on God’s green earth would you trust him to take you a mile to the island and back across the river if he can’t help you when an accident happens??? why is he even employed here???
i really want to drive home how amazing LOGAN was though. throughout the tour he was very knowledgeable about local wildlife and ensured everyone was involved in the tour. when it came to rescuing us, he was very lighthearted and kept us calm, but wasted no time in getting us back to shore and stressed the entire time how important our safety was to him. it is a shame that such a good tour guide was dragged down by such an unqualified...
Read moreWe recently went on a 10:30 p.m. bioluminescent kayak tour. It was absolutely amazing, Logan is extremely knowledgeable and Jen is so funny. They truly made the experience amazing. They take pictures of you during the excursion that you can download for free, however somehow another we were missed in all of the photos on the water. But we never expected that and I'm not holding it against the guides. They truly cared about safety and made sure that nobody got lost or left behind, I'm like one poor soul we encountered whose tour forgot him on the water.
The way the kayaks are set up and the availability of a tandem kayak, makes it where people with mobility difficulties or impairments could enjoy the tour. It may take some finagling to figure out how to get somebody that is wheelchair-bound into the kayak but something tells me if you reached out to the company ahead of time they could probably manage to load at the dock as a post to by the woods.
That said, the office staff made it extremely difficult. Trying to locate where to meet at the park was very difficult and the person who answered at the office was short and clipped, clearly stating that there would not be any signage for us to see that we would just have to wander around to find them. She cleaned they were by the bathrooms, and said to follow a fence. The fence runs in two opposite directions... And they were not here where she claimed they would be. As we continue to be lost and tried to call her back she would not answer the phone.
Something else to keep in mind, while we were out on our excursion we encountered a gentleman from BK excursions that the tour had completely left in the middle of the intercoastal at 11:30 p.m. at night and forgotten about him. I was very thankful that we did not use...
Read moreAmazing tours, incredible guides, and fun experience! We experienced two of Epic Paddle Adventures’ tours in Orlando, their Pup and Bunny Paddle in Paradise and their Urban Glow in Paradise tours on Lake Ivanhoe and loved both experiences. Both of these experiences left from the Lake Ivanhoe boat launch area, passed under Interstate 4, and lasted for about an hour. For our morning tour, Shannon, our guide, was fantastic and give us an upbeat and energetic introduction to paddle boarding. We had never been on paddle boards before but were given confidence after our introduction. Once we got on the water, the view and experience was incredible. The skyline of Downtown Orlando reflects on the water as you paddle across this spring-fed lake. This experience included a bunny interaction as part of the experience which added an element of fun and whimsy to the day. We loved this added element and noted that we could have brought our own pup if we thought he’d stay on the board. The nighttime experience was great as well. Our guides, Patrick and Richard, were fun as well and led this group of paddle boarders and kayakers across the water at sunset. This tour was fantastic and a great option for those wanting to get out later in the day. We loved the glow element under the paddle boards which lit up the clear water in areas allowing for you to see fish and the lake grass. It was really therapeutic paddling around the lake at night with the city lights reflecting on the water like the skyline had during the day. Overall, we enjoyed our two tours with Epic Paddle Adventures and can’t wait to try out one of their other experiences.
*Note: We did experience these tours as part of a collaboration with...
Read more