Monterey Bay Kayaks — Local services in Monterey

Unhelpful staff who are not prepared to handle crowds, and who even harassed us at one point for allegedly being on the wrong side of the beach. Way understaffed on weekdays. I showed up with six people to rent kayaks. To save time and expense, we chose to take three tandem kayaks. There were several other bigger groups, and even though there were plenty of boats and paddles, we had to wait outside for about an hour to get on the water. We had to wait until about thirty other people were ready, and then they did things that further demonstrated their inability to handle large groups, like finally tell every one to go one by one to get a paddle, causing a big jam. (I took initiative and helped hand out paddles to save time). By the time we finally got in the water, two members of my group only had 45 minutes left before another commitment. On the way back, two of us decided to cross to another beach about a quarter mile away. We had not been told this beach was outside of any bounds. After resting on the beach for ten minutes, we were preparing to re launch, when one of the staff walked over to us and accused us of being "a mile and a half" outside the rental boundary. Moreover, this salutation was delivered in a belittling tone, and the staff person offered no help. We paddled back to the shop in about five minutes.

While the sights in the bay were nice, I would never ever go back here...

To be completely honest, this experience was everything I had hoped it would be. My family (myself, wife, 18 yr old, 15 yr old) did the 2 hour tour from Monterey with Alexis (Alex) as our guide. He was incredible. He knew exactly where to take us to see the wildlife (seals, sea lions, otters) we wanted to see. His pace was easy to follow and allowed us to enjoy the beautiful sights and take photos and videos along the way. We were not experienced kayakers and that did not dampen our experience at all. The shop had wet suites and jackets for us to use at no extra cost if we wanted them (we used the jackets). I would recommend getting a waterproof phone bag so you can record and take photos without worrying about it going overboard but if you forget they have them in the shop to purchase. We bought the better one that cost 22 dollars and it worked great. You can’t tell the pictures and videos are through a case. I would highly recommend this trip and company. It was everything I...

MBK literally has the best staff ever! Customer service is A+++. Booked a double kayak for a couple of hours at Elkorn Slough and had an amazing time! They took their time to explain safety protocols, as well as 101 on kayaking. While we were kayaking, we saw a lot of wildlife like sea otters and sea lions, which were adorable! It was one of the best kayaking experiences I've had. After kayaking, I actually realized that I left something valuable at MBK. I contacted them and they were able to find it for me and coordinated the whole shipping process to return the item back to me. Extremely grateful for all their time and help cause they really went out of their way. Thank you so much! Would 100% recommend Monterey Bay Kayaks for the excellent experience, good rates, and...