Clearly Tahoe — Attraction in South Lake Tahoe

UPDATED 9/16 I received a phone call from Clearly Tahoe 9/14 about this review. I am updating accordingly due to their attempts to remedy the situation. In short, Kelsey from Clearly Tahoe called me to explain that the Caldor Fire situation was not something guests should be faulted for for cancelling, and I should not have been charged a fee due to Lake Tahoe evacuations. She also explained I was one of the first reservations where this was into affect, so, my reservation, essentially, accidentally "slipped through the cracks" with normal protocols and I should never have been charged.

I do appreciate her professionalism and calling me to explain the situation and doing her best to remedy the errors. We had a very pleasant conversation and she took the time out to apologize instead of only sending a message online.

Despite the extra difficulty, I would now attempt to return to use this company due to them attending to the errors and doing their best when it was brought to Kelsey's attention and overall professionalism when correcting an error.

Thank you for the help, Kelsey!

Before I write this review I would like to make it clear that I did not actually get to partake in the kayak tour that I purchased - the disappointing review is for the poor customer service and bad business.

I purchased a tour for 8/29. At the beginning of that week, the Caldor fire was moving towards Lake Tahoe and Heavenly Resort shut down for the year and our trip had to be cancelled.

I had SEVERAL bookings in Tahoe - wine tastings/tours/ dinners, all were refunded for the full price without question or difficulty.

I received a “high risk cancellation notice” email from Clearly Tahoe on 8/24 and also elected to cancel this tour. The day I cancelled, 8/25, Clearly Tahoe was closed. Because they were not officially closed on the date of my tour, I was charged a $60 cancellation fee.

Lake Tahoe continued to have evacuation warnings that turned into mandatory the week of my tour, and clearly Tahoe continued to remain closed.

I called to ask why I was charged a fee if the business continued to be closed leading up to my reservation and the only answer I got was “oh we are expecting to be open by then, people are even asking to go out and kayak now”. Mind you - this was the week the air quality was labeled “hazardous” and people were frantically trying to escape from a horrible fire.

In the days leading up to my reservation, mandatory evacuations were in place and the entire city was shut down.

REALLY sad when a business model is “lets charge every fee possible we can during a disaster” when every other business around you will refund without question given the entire city shut down.

I had a $500 wine and boating tour that was refunded with one phone call, no fees, no nothing. I had a $1400 room refunded with one click with no fees. But a kayaking tour outside during a raging fire that was closed anyway charged the fees

Would never recommend this company. I truly have never been more disappointed in a...

I see a lot of great reviews for this company and their various tours, but I myself give tours for a living, I’m a certified interpretive guide and the logistics for this tour were not great. I took the scenic shoreline tour in Zephyr Cove and had a tour guide named Chris. I’ll start off by saying that overall, Lake Tahoe is beautiful and being able to see the rocks underneath your kayak is an amazing experience. You can’t not have fun on this tour considering how gorgeous the place is. Chris has a great tour personality, I could tell he really enjoyed sharing about the dance floor and Tahoe Tessie which as a visitor is so fun to hear about. However, the logistics need to be greatly improved. When you take a group to a stop, as a guide you need to wait for your group to catch up before you start sharing information. “I’ll wait for the group to catch up before getting started” is all you need to say. This would also give folks a break and time to relax while not paddling and enjoy the scenery. Chris talked as he kayaked and as a result, the people who were struggling to catch up couldn’t hear a single thing he said. This tour costs over $200 and I would have liked to hear everything that was shared about the lake. I wasn’t the last kayak in the group, but the kayak who was, was very far behind and Chris just kept on kayaking and did not wait for them. When pointing things out like the lady of the lake, he ambiguously pointed to things making it unclear what he was pointing out. We’re in a lake surrounded by trees and mountains, trying to show something simply by pointing isn’t going to work especially when your group is scattered around you. This is where waiting for your group to catch up before pointing to random landmarks is important. I ended up googling the lady of the lake after and it’s not what he was pointing to. A waterproof mic pack is a necessary item for your guides if you aren’t going to wait for the group to catch up as you speak. Your voice needs to be amplified so people can hear what you’re sharing. If you’ve never kayaked before or are not a strong kayaker, you’ll spend a good amount of time trying to catch up and get a hang of the kayaking technique and miss out on neat information about the lake. It’s unfair for the amount you pay. Additionally, Chris spent about half the time giving out recommendations for things to do and see in the area but that’s something you do at the very end as you’re wrapping up, it shouldn’t be a part of the program you pay for. The allotted tour time should focus on information regarding the lake and the surrounding area. The lack of logistics is made up for with the scenery and clear kayak. I don’t know if these logistics differ from guide to guide, but with Chris’ setup, it was better suited for people who could keep up and were able to hear what he...

I would give 0 star if I could. Their costumer service was terrible and Kelsey had such an condescending attitude the whole time we were there. We booked a tour for 8:30am and left Sacramento at 5, the navigation shows we would get to their address by 8:00 am. at 6:51 I received a text from Kelsey indication they have a new shuttle pick up location and we need to get their 30 minutes prior to the tour. When we put the new address in the GPS, it added 46 minutes to our trip(They did mention another address in the confirmation email that's different from the google address), which put our arrival time at 8:27am, I then immediately texted her back with our new arrival time and explained that we won't be there by 8:00am so should we reschedule? She later on replayed: ''Just come as soon as possible.'' I tried to call her and text her afterwards but she just would not pick up. So we drove 46 minutes to their new shuttle pick up location and we went in, she started lecturing us why you need to be here 30 minutes early. Her attitude was so terrible and she kept scolding us for not getting here early enough and not knowing everything about how their business work. I then asked her what's gonna happen next, she said she'll try to reschedule for today if they have any openings and they will call us. We waited for a whole day and no one called. They also refuse to refund and I played $483 just to drive 3 hours to listen to Kelsey lecturing us on why we need to be there 30 minutes before the trip, thanks for that. Please hire professional customer service staff instead of nose up on their heads teenagers girls for front desk jobs, know that you are supposed to help people, we...