Action Water Sportz — Local services in North Myrtle Beach

I DO NOT RECOMMEND! When we booked the 2-hour Scenic Dolphin Watch Trip we knew there was no guarantee we would see dolphins. What we did not expect was such an awful experience.

We booked our tour online the day before. Upon booking, we received instructions along with a link to complete the waiver in advance. We arrived 30 minutes early, as instructed, there was a large group getting signed in so we had to wait. We were then given more forms to fill out along with the credit card authorization. They forgot to give us our bracelets indicating if we were a driver or a passenger so we had to ask for them. When we were told to move down to the dock they were pulling people aside to take a photo. By the time that was done there was a limited amount of life jackets mostly in XXL or bigger. At that point, while we were trying to find life jackets, instructions were being given on what to check on the jet ski. We had not been assigned a jet ski. We were then assigned two jet skis at opposite ends of the dock. Note, the person giving instructions was not speaking to the entire group and was eating and chewing while he spoke. They were trying to get a jet ski to start next to us and we could not hear over that and then they had us move to a different one that had more gas. There were 13 jet skis that were part of this tour and by the time they had us all in the water, the majority of the group was long gone. We were told that typically a group that large has three instructors, ours had two. Although the site says "Once we get everyone comfortable and ready with their personal water craft, it's time to leave the docks", this did not happen. Unfortunately, there was a family of two jet skis with one of them being a first time driver. Since the rest of the group and one of the instructors was long gone, we kept having to slow down and even turn around and go back at one point to accommodate the first time driver and stay with the other instructor. The site states "We'll slow down to idle speed through the NO WAKE zone" and we were instructed to not exceed 5 MPH in those zones. We were alternatively told we should follow a boat that was on a dolphin tour and then the instructor decided to leave the 'slow' drivers behind with directions where to go and told us to follow him. By the time we reached the ocean we were told we had 5-10 minutes before we had to turn back. The rest of the group and the shrimp boats we had told were out there were not in site and we stayed in that area and did not see any dolphins because we had to turn back. When we started back the 'slow' drivers were just making it to the ocean and they too had to turn back. At one point we saw the man that had been giving instruction on the docks (the one chewing while speaking) ride out and then he came back by at full speed in a NO WAKE zone. Why is the company not observing the NO WAKE zone or enforcing it with their riders? When we got back to the dock we had beat the 9 other jet skis. They got to go out so much further than those of us that were following the rules. When we were walking up the dock the captains of the boat tour asked how our experience was and we shared that we were not happy. They told us that it was the first day of the NO WAKE zones and they were adjusting. That is not true, the website describes the tour including the NO WAKE zones. Then, when I expressed displeasure when retrieving my credit card the response was - 'that is why we offer private tours'. How about you do not oversell your tours or have enough instructors along with large groups? Do not tell someone they should have booked a private tour because you had too many jet skis in one tour. Also, I have looked around the website and have not been able to find any offering of private tours. We paid $472 to rent jet skis for two hours to ride along the Intercoastal waterway and then turn around. Aside from Nick, the instructor who kept apologizing to us, the entire...

This 1-star review is not based on the staff that we dealt with onsite, but rather the entire experience which went beyond that. Everyone we encountered were friendly and professional, and were simply following the procedures set by management/owners. However, they are simply not being very clear on what you're paying for. I called ahead of time to ask about renting 3 jet skis for an hour, asking if we were allowed to take them to the ocean since they are located on the Intracoastal Waterway. They told me we could do that, with no further explanation, so I booked them. It wasn’t until we sat down on the jet skis that we were told the specifics which were much different. They have a 2-hour guided jet ski tour, meaning you would have a guide accompany you along the way. This is not what I wanted. So I purposely booked the 1-hour rental which said nothing about a guide. We were told that they could not be taken out to the ocean, and that we had to stay in a section of the Intracoastal Waterway that was about a half mile long at best. We were told to stay to the right as you go up and down the section, so basically you are doing a long counter-clockwise track back and forth. Not what I agreed to at all. Then you have babysitters on jet skis out there with you like you’re on a go-kart track. Again, not what I agreed to. And even after expressing the importance of keeping to the right as you go up and down, as you’re supposed to anytime driving a watercraft, I still had to be mindful of the babysitters buzzing up my right side coming straight at me! HOW IS THIS SAFE FOR ANYONE?! I have to watch the large boat coming at me on my left, AND watch the other jet ski guide coming at me on my right! They said they were there to make sure we didn’t get too close to the bank, hit the bottom, and damage the jet ski. Here’s the thing though. You made me sign a contract! If I damage the jet ski, I pay for it. PERIOD! So if you are making me liable for the jet ski, THEN MAKE ME LIABLE! Let me do what I want with it. If I damage it, then you have every right to charge me for the damage. So we circled the large bathtub for an hour and then headed in. It was still fun, but not what we wanted at all. Then to make matters worse, I tried contacting the manager the next day, who was on vacation. So I waited a week and spoke with him, who was unsympathetic. So I left several messages with staff to speak with the owner, sent several emails, and have never heard a word back. Whatever! Places like this do not need to worry about a tourist like me, which is why this review probably won’t do anything. They don’t have to worry about experiences like this because they do not make their money on repeat business. They only care about getting you in the door the first time. At least I know we won’t be back, nor anyone that asks me for recommendations in...

We had a reservation for Saturday 8/8/20 for North Myrtle Beach location at 8 am. If you look at the google maps, both locations say North Myrtle Beach. We thought we had reserved the one at Barefoot Landing and left in plenty of time to arrive before our 8 am ride. Our GPS led us to what looked like a private gate so we called the location to ask where to park. The girl that answered the phone informed us that we were at the wrong location but could easily switch us to her location but just needed us to park in the right lot. (Mind you this was still 7:30 am and still in plenty of time to do what had to be done) She began telling us where to go but it confused us and we got turned around. At 7:48 we finally found the place and was parked. She was on the phone with us the whole time but her tone had changed and she had begun to speak very unprofessional to my husband and I about how we were holding up the tour and should have paid better attention to our address and came to the correct one to begin with. We could also hear her on the phone with the other location telling them how we had screwed up and she was going to have to “fix our problem”. Apparently the person on the other end said something she didn’t like and she yelled at them and said “well I’m telling you that I am putting them in THIS tour!” We had arrived like I said at 7:48 and was on the phone and she told us she had decided that she didn’t have time to wait for us. We explained we were there in the parking lot. Had already paid, signed our waivers online and everything and the tour didn’t start for 10 min. She still wouldn’t let us on the tour. She rebooked us for the other location for the 10’am tour at Doc Holiday Marina. They were superb. I would give them 5 stars by themselves if I could and the other location a zero!!!! The check in was a breeze. Took all of 3 minutes. We arrived 45 min early due to the embarrassment we were put through the last time. They told us no need to stay that long and to come back at 9:55. If that was the case.....we could have done the 8 am tour since we arrived at 7:48 and had no issues. However the Lord knew what he was doing by letting us switch locations with more appropriately staffed people. It would be nice to get a call from management with an apology for that...