NautiKayak adventure tours — Local services in Gulfport

Let's start with the positive. We had a great time out on the water and made it out to shell key. It was beautiful and everything we hoped for. Couldn't make it into the mangroves because it was low tide, but that's ok. My issue with the whole experience was Neil. We got there about 15 minutes early to our 3pm launch. Waited 10 minutes and then called to make sure we were in the right spot. Neil answered and said he would not be there for another 45 minutes. He said just grab the tandem boat and the single we rented. My husband brought them down to the water for us. As we were headed out my son said his paddle felt wiggly. We still proceeded thinking it was just the connection. On the way back in the paddle snapped. When we made it in I called Neil to let him know what happened. He was in the parking lot and came over. I just was showing him what happened and he goes "whoa, you don't need to get all defensive." Confused I said "I'm not, I'm just telling you what happened." He proceeds to tell me I am being defensive and he says he could charge me for the paddle, but he's not going to, but he can. Well Neil... if you weren't going to be 45 minutes late to your appointment you maybe could have checked the gear before we launched. VERY...

We did the 1.5 hour private kayak tour with NautiKayak on 3/29/23. My wife didn't want to do anything longer than 2 hours and we were kind of last-minute in making our reservations (scheduled the night before) which is how we wound up with NautiKayak. We had a great time! Niel was a great guide, very knowledgeable and personable. I was immediately glad we had gone with Niel- there was another group from some other company struggling to get into a mangrove tunnel with at least 16 people in their group which didn't look like much fun to me! With Niel, it was just the 3 of us. Niel knew where the quiet little spots were too. We didn't see any manatees or dolphins, probably because of the time of year, but there was still plenty of wildlife around. The cormorants were particularly nosy... swimming right into you and under the boat while you were trying to paddle, then choking down a fish 4 feet from your face! All in all it was an experience to remember for an incredibly cheap price. I would totally do it again...

Neil, our guide, was fantastic!!👍 We booked a 2-hour kayak ride with him on Memorial Day weekend. The traffic getting over to the launch site was awful so plan ahead. There is free parking along the road and even on Memorial Day weekend we were able to find a spot.

Once we arrived, Neil showed us our kayaks and handed us a water proof phone case we could borrow.

He went through a couple of safety things and then helped us get out onto the water. When we were on our way, he was very knowledgeable about the wildlife and the geography.

It was a pleasure going on his tour! It was fun, relaxing, and enjoyable. I would highly recommend this tour!

A couple of things to remember to bring along:

1. sunscreen!!
2. a small cooler with something to drink.
3. a snack that doesn't melt.

Our tour was supposed to last 2 hours but Neil asked us if we wanted to go longer and we spent the majority of the afternoon out on the water. I really can't thank him enough for taking this extra...