Urban Kai Tampa — Attraction in Tampa

absolute nightmare. Rude staff (guy mid 30s dark brown hair & woman mid/upper 40s blonde hair)

We arrived 12 minutes late due to an emergency outside of our control (dog throwing up) and once we were there, the kayaks were not ready and they took their time having us fill out all the paperwork.

By the time we got on the water, it was 6:30. I asked if we could be back “a little bit after 7” due to it already being 6:30 and the guy SNAPPED. Not sure if he had a bad day or is always this miserable, but he LIED and said “NO, you WILL be back by 7:00PM. It’s state LAW.”

I believed him at the time so came back 30 minutes early. Then, I contacted a friend who’s a lawyer and another who boats all the time and the law he was mentioning is in regards to boats being out past sunset.

It’s middle of August and the sunset is not at 7pm. The workers even told us no one is signed up after us and the place closes at 9:30 AND they offer lessons past 7pm.

So, they both lied to our faces, overcharged us by 30 minutes & were incredibly rude to my extended family who is visiting from South America. I informed him that they don’t speak English when he was explaining the instructions & he got annoyed.

We still made the most of it and enjoyed the short time we had even though the boats are in horrible condition

This is my 3rd time going to this place and I have reccomended COUNTLESS people to go there.

Theres another place downtown that is much better in every way. It’s right by the convention center and the people are NOT rude nor do they lie about laws or rude to people whose first language isn’t English.

Some people are just miserable & have little control over anything in their lives, so project that misery on others & use what little control they have on customers to feel some sense of empowerment. I know to not take it personally, but I hope that they (the guy especially) seems to improve other aspects of his life rather than be a total jerk as an employee at a…kayak rental place.

And to the older lady in her upper 40s, the rudeness was completely unnecessary

DO NOT GO HERE. OTHER OPTIONS WITH BETTER EQUIPMENT, PRICES AND...

(Spouse of richard)

Sold an hour, delivered 30 minutes, blamed “state law” & rude staff

We booked a one-hour paddle at Urban Kai Armature Works on a weekday. We arrived at 6:12 pm after an unavoidable emergency. Staff took 18 minutes for paperwork, the kayaks weren’t ready or in the water, and then we were told by the male & female workers that everyone had to be back by 7:00 pm because of “state law.” We paid for 60 minutes and got ~30.

My family flew in from South America and this was one activity we were most excited about. We planned our evening around it, but the delays and the 7 pm cutoff took half the time we paid for.

Basic facts don’t support that explanation as sunset on Aug 20, 2025 was 8:05 pm, weekday hours run to 9 pm, and they even list 7–8 pm sessions on some summer dates. Their posted pages don’t say anything about a 7 pm cutoff.

If you advertise an hour, deliver an hour. Extremely disappointed as i have been there a few times before & recommended it to many students here on visas. I have now made it clear with several different groups and a local guide here, to avoid this place.

A late fee makes sense, but cutting time in half and (either lying on purpose or not knowing - they should know) stating a false state law does...

I never leave bad reviews, but this experience was upsetting, especially with how they treated my dad. He’s an experienced, very athletic paddleboarder and was given a damaged board with the bottom peeling, likely waterlogged, making it nearly impossible to paddle back.

After missing four of our calls, they eventually came to retrieve the board but offered zero accountability on there end. Instead, they bizarrely stared at us, deflected all responsibility, and implied the issue was somehow on us rather than the broken equipment. A simple apology or an ounce of accountability would’ve gone a long way. The complete lack of empathy and basic customer service was genuinely disappointing to witness.

unfortunately wouldn’t recommend this place, until they learn how to properly maintain their equipment and treat customers with...