Woody's Watersports — Local services in Madeira Beach

Tour or Instructional Jet Ski ride, Woody’s is the place to go! We visited Woody’s Watersports while on vacation. I’ve ridden a jet ski once; my wife and kids never have. I decided to sign us up for a tour since I thought it would be better than being left to our own devices and I knew it would be more comfortable for my wife. We ended up signing up Friday afternoon (while eating lunch at the Boardwalk Grill) for a Friday evening tour. Upon leaving, the weather was looking pretty grave. But much like every night, it was a 50/50 on which way the clouds were going to move. We decided to take the risk and headed out. Kevin (our tour guide) was in contact constantly with the owner. We probably only got about 10 minutes out before he got the call to head back in immediately; which we did, and good thing for that! The owner (Stephanie) met us upon return and immediately offered to refund or reschedule. Since we had a couple days left, we decided to reschedule. Both her and Kevin were very flexible, working with our limited time left on our vacation. We ended up getting back out there two days later and had a fantastic time! Kevin is a great tour guide, showed us all around, showed us famous houses, sunken boats, all kinds of things. There was even scheduled time for us to free ride, with him in eye sight, so if we needed anything he was right there. He was even a good sport when we sped by him because he looked too comfortable kicking his feet up and taking pictures for us :). My wife was super happy with the experience and my kids had a blast; So thank you Kevin and thank you to the Woody’s staff! As I started, if you’re uncomfortable with taking a jet ski out on your own and/or if you want to learn some history on the water in an unconventional way; head down to Woody’s and...

Had a great time last week out on the water, however, our experience with this place wasn't great. They called to ask us to come later because they overbooked themshelves by several jet skis. We kept our slot anyways. They had us sign a bunch of paperwork and rushed us onto the jet skis. Not once did they go over the jet ski for damages like they said they would and one of our members asked for them to do this. I had to ask how to even start it and steer it, as I've never driven one before. We come back and are met with immediate hostility and were accused of "having someone hit them." Odd comment to make. There was a scratch on the back right but it was not from us. If they had provided jet skis without damages and had thoroughly went over the jet ski like they said they would, we wouldn't have been accused of this. Someone had to take the blame I guess amd it obviously wasnt inspected prior to providing it to new guests. They charged our group member (an active army personnel who just got back from deployment) nearly $600 in damages we did not cause... on Memorial Day weekend! The woman here is hostile, aggressive, and rude (you can see from her comments on their other negative reviews lol). We go to this area every year, but we will be using a different jet ski rental company next time, and I recommend you do too!! They're basically a scam, will do anything to get extra money from tourists, and their other negative reviews were surprisingly similar to our experience. Management - No need to take the time to write out a hostile response to this review, as I probably won't even see it and you should just take the advice to better your...

Today was great!

We took out four jet skis for an hour from Woody’s in St. John’s Pass, and had a blast!

From Stephanie on the phone who took my reservation to Mike at the shop who got us checked in, and Brody and Cole who were our dock hands helping us get oriented and off to run the waves, we had an amazing time & everyone was super nice.

This is a family owned operation and it’s friendly and professional. Safety is 100% emphasized and all staff are trained and explain clearly how to properly operate the jet skis, where to go on them (and where NOT to go) and what to do in an emergency.

We took the Yamaha runners through the Pass, out to the Gulf and down to Treasure Island and back up by Madeira Beach. They were super-fast and in good working order, well maintained. Amazing fun!

Tips: go early. Call a few days before and make a reservation for the early slot (9:30 am). If you have a big party (we had 6 with two runners doubling up) show up an hour early at 8:30 to get checked in. Remember - if you’re an out of state tourist and under 18 and operating the jet ski (minimum age 14 to operate, 18 to rent) you need to take the Florida Boaters test & get a 75 passing score. They will give it to you on site. ($3 instead of $10 for an online test)

Also, getting there early you will probably get a parking spot right at their store instead of having to pay in the lot across the street. AND the runners are less expensive at that hour, as well.

Can’t say enough about how much fun we had at...