Island Kayak Adventures — Local services in Gulfport

Our family was looking specifically for an "eco kayak tour" after having enjoyed them on other vacations. We called Island Kayak Tours and spoke to Carissa who was very welcoming over the phone.  They had availability for their next tour and it lined up with our day's plans so we booked it.  How fortuitous a decision!

We arrived at the launch site which sits just off the road in a grassy area so it is very easy to spot and no worries about driving your rental car over.  The kayaks were right there and the water only six feet away.  Our guide was tour owner and operator, Scott, who immediately made everyone feel welcome.  He is quick to smile, crack a joke and tell you all about the history and nature of Shell Key Preserve.  Our tour had three families totaling thirteen paddlers spread amongst single and tandem kayaks.

After a mandatory safety review and paddle how-to, we were off and away.  The pace was leisurely and folks were free to spread out and enjoy the scenery.  Sea birds swam along side our boats and scored fish that were spooked by our presence.  All the while Scott is sharing stories, reciting facts and checking in with all members of our tour group.  "How is everyone doing?" "Are you having a good time?" "Are there any questions?"  Carissa was in the back of the group to help any stragglers and as a second set of of eyes and ears in case of an emergency.

After a twenty minute paddle across calm water we entered our first of three mangroves.  Scott said is was like entering a swamp from Yoda' planet Dagobah and he isn't far off.  That was a first for me and really cool.

The next highlight was a sandy beach/channel that was created by Hurricane Irma.  We paddled up and saw a mother and baby dolphin frolicking in the water and beached our boats and jumped in the water.  The pull of the tide made swimming in the water almost like a water park ride.  I learned about the "stingray shuffle" and saw the brown pelican perch.  This was a tranquil and relaxing stop.

After hopping back into the kayaks we went through another mangrove and paddled to a second beach for more swimming and relaxing.  The final stretch of paddling brought is back to the launch. Scott even took a group photo for us and texted it free of charge.  All in all our trip lasted almost three hours.  Everyone in our group was grinning from ear to ear.  The trip lasted the right amount of time, the pace was comfortable and the mix of sun, fun, and facts was spot on IMHO.

TIL: The best eco kayak tour in the St Pete Beach area is Island Kayak Tours and the top guides/operators are Scott...

The location of the launch site was changed last minute. A text was sent regarding this but it wasn't super clear as to the change as it still told me to go through the toll booth and park in the first lot, which I did. I finally got in touch with Karissa and informed us they would be in a grass lot BEFORE the toll booth. We went there and were greeted and put in kayaks. All was going well and I was thoroughly enjoying the trip. Once we arrived at shell island, the male in charge from Island Kayak Adventures approached me to address the error in location. Instead of just saying, "hey is everything good?" or "sorry about the miscommunication", he decided to berate me and yell at me (and HE DID YELL AT ME) in front of my friends and family, as well as the people on the trip that I didn't know. He wanted 100% to prove he was right and that "everything was my fault" he did not let up until I was crying and had to tell him multiple times to walk away from me. I'm not sure why he felt the need to do that and definitely not at this point in the trip. He ruined the entire experience. Despite his unprofessional actions, they still deemed it fit to charge me full price. If you want to be yelled at and pay for it, this is the trip for you!

As you can see from their response they do not understand that the change in the location is not why I am upset. It was the harassments and argumentativeness received from them during the middle of our trip. They have never apologized to me in any way .All communication from them has only been to prove how right they believe they are. Zero customer service from these two... I was not upset until they approached me in the middle of the trip and were hostile towards me. Could the directions of been clearer, sure, but that IS NOT...

Very rarely do I feel I have received service worthy of a 5 star rating, but Island Kayak tours is the real deal. My wife and I celebrated our anniversary week in St. Pete and decided to spend our actual anniversary kayaking. While I had kayaked before, my wife had not and was very nervous. Scott and Karissa, the owners, made her feel very comfortable from the very start and spent extra time with her to teach her different strokes before we launched. While neither my wife nor I were fast paddlers we never felt rushed or compelled to paddle faster than we wanted to. Both Scott and Karissa are very knowledgeable about both the area and the wildlife and the commentary they provided along the way felt very organic and unrehearsed (a departure from other tours I have done). While we had originally signed up for a 50/50 tour so we would have some time to explore on our own, Scott and Karissa were so friendly and knowledgeable we did not even want to break away in the middle of the trip. On the return we saw a pod of dolphins which swam right around us to feed and even though we were coming up on the end of the time the tour was supposed to be over Scott and Karissa asked if we wanted to hang around for a while to watch the dolphins. The simple fact that they were willing to extend the tour by 30 to 45min at no additional cost to ensure we enjoyed ourselves proved to me that they are in the business for all the right reasons. The price for the 3(+) hour tour was more than fair and I would even go so far to say the price could be much higher given the value we felt we received walking away from the trip. I wish the owners much success and encourage anyone considering a kayak tour to give Island...