Weeki Wachee Springs State Park Kayak Rentals — Attraction in Weeki Wachee

DISABLED INDIVIDUALS BEWARE! I was told on 2 separate days by staff they were ADA compliant and had a lot of experience and took pride in making the kayaking accessible. I was told the staff would give me any help into the Kayak I needed and help me launch. I was told to go down 2.5 miles down the spring to the rendezvous point where they would get me out of the water and my wheelchair would be waiting with the shuttle to take me back. SOUNDED GREAT!

What I was not told is that the rendezvous dock had around 4 flights of steps to get up to the road. After pitching solutions to the staff, I was told the only thing I could do was crawl up the steps on my hands and knees. Thank God this was something I could physically do since I can't walk. I burned my hands on my knees crawling up the stairs in 98-degree weather. It was humiliating, all the other kayakers were there watching, commenting, and waiting for me to crawl up.

Then the shuttle was a van with a high step-up. The employees tried to lift me into the van but couldn't do it properly (not their fault) and I ended up wedged between seats on the van floor, unsecured, for the ride home. This left me with a large bruise from being dropped and wedged between the seats.

I called the office later and was asked to submit my experience in an email, which I did. I then had to send a follow-up email 18 DAYS later because no one responded. They finally called me and I got a "we'll look into and do what we can" brush off. I asked for a refund, but none has been offered. The woman on the phone was also very rude and treated me like an annoyance.

I was told by staff that there are those in the company wanting to put in a ramp, but it stalls in the committee. Please, Weeki Wachee Springs, either put in the ramp OR tell the disabled person sitting in front of you in a wheelchair signing up for Kayaking that there is an unavoidable set of stairs at the end! If I had been told we could have found solutions. I could have made an earlier reservation time so I could paddle back to the start before the park closed, or maybe I would have just been better informed and I would not have faced this physically and emotionally battering experience.

I hate giving this place a one-star review, the actual kayaking experience was wonderful. The staff were nice people, but it was obvious the staff at the rendezvous point were as bewildered and frustrated by the situation as me.

You need better staff training and to figure this out or you might face lawsuits.

Your staff knows it. The moment I made it to the top of the stairs, panting and burned, a staff member asked me not to sue. Come on guys, you...

Don't listen to all those negative reviews. each individual obviously is gonna have a different experience. We booked online. Very easy. Each member in your group has to fill out the waiver. If they don't online...no problem, you can do it in person as well when you get there. Check in was a breeze. EVERYONE was friendly and helpful. They give you a life vest. You can't bring anything disposable like water bottles, plastic bags etc. Just use tupperware for everything, and if your phone is not water proof, bring a container to hold it in. Your cooler can not be over 10" big. The first mile or two is very tranquil and peaceful But as you exit the Weeki Wachee area all the rules they enforce go out the window. Any size cooler will be seen. Any kind of container etc. Is seen. Got to give them credit for their part in keeping things clean on the river. Now as river widens and your leaving the park area things change. There are endless amounts of motor boats and wave runners going in both directions, as well as numerous kayaks also going in the opposite direction( very annoying). However it's more of a party atmosphere as folks are all having a good time partying, swimming, socializing etc. This would be a great experience for large groups. Like I said all rules go out the window downstream as people are drinking and smoking AND swimming everywhere. So when they say you can't swim, that only applies while your still in the parks property. I saw 2 patrols on wave runners checking folks for alcoholic drinks, so make sure your not blatant about how you display things. It took us 2 1/2 hrs to make the trip. We paddled almost non stop with only 3 short stops. We had one of us tip over and lost a few things. So make sure your valuable items are in airtight flotation container. Next time we will take our time making it last about 4 hrs. Yes, about half way down there is a pit stop where you can buy hotdogs and ice cream. So bring some money if you want that. And yes, as someone said, there is a couple Trump flags in peoples private yards down river. But that's their 1st amendment right to display as they please. There was nobody yelling or pushing their political views on anyone. Over all I rate this adventure 5 stars because it was a fun, cheap( $37 for single), and memorable experience. I think any group or family, or even a single individual would enjoy this trip down this beautiful river. Once again, as for the employees there, they where perfectly fine, and we had no problems whatsoever. One more thing. Just because you have a certain time to leave doesn't mean you have go at that time thankfully. Basically as soon as you check...

First thing, an overwhelming majority of reviews are for the park itself and not the kayak rental service specifically so I wouldn’t trust the rating as it stands. It’s been some years but the course has been shortened significantly from what it once was, this was not reflected in the price as the cost has only gone up. I was given a kayak that had a hole in its bottom slowly filling the internal cavity with water over the course of the trip. This was not immediately observable as they only rent sit on kayaks so you wouldn’t know you were taking on water until eventually it gets so heavy that you capsize. Which is exactly what happened about a third of the way along the course. Calling the help number was largely not an option as a torrential downpour was happening at the same time. Had to float to a shallow and drain the kayak which took a good 10-15 minutes to get most of the water out. It was insanely heavy. Had to stop once more before the end of the run to do the same. Pre rental inspection feels largely non existent. PFDs smell insane, and were not fitted in any helpful way. Not sure what standard procedures are for that but it feels odd that they wouldn’t be disinfected at some point or at least frequently enough to not reek. On the topic of smells I’m gonna guess the shuttle bus is never properly dried out or regularly cleaned enough because it also had an indescribably bad smell. Might need to do more cleaning for a bus regularly filled with soggy sweaty people with windows that are essentially completely covered up with graphics. This is more of a nitpick but to opt to only rent tandem kayaks instead of also renting canoes as they had in the past feels like a choice. Another nitpick is the waiver process, they send you a waiver online which was filled out for everyone in my party but only one went through. Then you are to sign additional waivers in person which feels insane that they wouldn’t be sent digitally as well. The river is incredible and wildlife is something that everyone should see but the business practices leave a lot...