Clear Kayak Tours Sarasota — Local services in South Bradenton

We booked our experience for the 9:30 launch time. The group before us ended up coming in later then our launch time. We were reassured that the weather was nice. The storm wasn’t coming our way. We were maybe 10 minutes in before we had to turn back and cancel the whole thing. I was told to call in the morning and see how they could do. I called and nobody answered of course. It just simple says to Text the number. So I did, I asked” If refund is out of the question then yes, we would like to reschedule?”. All I got was a simple reply back of “date?”. So I just said that Thursday which was in 2 days. Well, we went to Disney the next day. (We already had that planned.) I have young kids so my youngest wasn’t feeling well and wasn’t looking like he would be able to attend the rescheduled date. I got no reply back about if they could refund us ANY amount. Just flat out ignored. They put in their registration that if they launch. No refunds are issued. I find it hard to believe that a storm would hit us so quick and that they had 0 clue it was coming. For them to reassure us that it wasn’t going to come. So 345.98 for 10 min of kayaking. I also tipped $40 on our bill before hand which I regret immediately since we were only out there for MAYBE 10 minutes. They wanted us to launch so that they didn’t have to refund us.

To answer the “why didn’t you send us email?” I sent 2 messages to that phone number. You guys have no problem replying back regarding booking or directions. But when I asked for even a partial refund you guys were silent. I don’t see how you got 4 days either. The original tour was on Monday night. It got canceled literally 10 min into the tour after being reassured multiple times that it was going to miss it. Tuesday, I messaged to reschedule for Thursday. So if we’re including Tuesday that’s 3 days. Since you want to say my assumptions are just false and untrue. Calling me a Karen is completely unprofessional. I have every right to my opinion. We showed up at the launch time. We launched LATE cause the other group showed up late. We were reassured that it wasn’t going to storm. I was told to call the next day during a certain time and somebody would answer. Nobody answered so I messaged to either get a refund or reschedule. All the response back I got was “date?”. Sorry that my child got sick unexpectedly and I waited 6 hours before the launch time to ask if there was anything you guys could do. Instead I got 0 response back regarding the matter. Also, this is my first hearing back about a “gift card” or refund of my tip. So don’t make it sound like that was offered beforehand. My review is based off of poor communication and showing up late to your own guided tour if you needed absolute reasons since my assumptions are...

Our family of four (2 adults, 2 teenagers) was very much looking forward to this LED nighttime kayak tour. Booking went smoothly and staff were very responsive. Our tour’s location was moved the day of the tour due to high winds. No biggie. However, the tour just should not have happened and a reschedule or refund should have been offered instead. The new location was not working at all. It was a bit of a comedy of errors. To his credit, the tour guide did everything he possibly could, but he was in a no-win situation. The water was extremely shallow from the get go (maybe 6 inches deep of seaweed). He spent about 15-20 mins pulling kayaks (more than half) that got stuck and moved them to deeper water. We then paddled on to where we could possibly see manatees. We literally saw no creature at all. The water was so dark and murky. Using the scoop nets we got nada. No manatees? Fine. But literally the only thing we saw was one shell that the tour guide picked up. Midway through there was some yahoo teenager on the other side of the treeline yelling that someone tipped over. Not the tour guides fault, but again a comedy of errors. It would have been obvious if someone tipped but after a headcount - it was definitely clear we were good. Said tour guide spent time telling the yahoo he was a yahoo - he was. At the end, it seemed the guide was just searching for something else to do and make the most of a crappy situation so he suggested we head back to the shallow water. Our family decided that was a bad idea as we didn’t want to spend another 15 minutes getting stuck in the sandbar waiting for him to yank us off. Like I said, I’m sure it would have been a great experience if we were at the original location, but the owners should have refunded/rescheduled the tour altogether. We made the most of it, but it left a bad taste in our mouth. We will find a different company or...

Tl;dr I loved this tour and have been recommending it to friends and family ever since. Great for kids. Our tour guides, Cat and Jay, were amazing!

A group of tour-goers had a misunderstanding with their reservation which delayed our tour start, but Cat and Jay made sure we made up the time, which I was very grateful for.

We had a lot of kids on our tour, some pretty young, and both guides did such a good job engaging with their questions and keeping them excited.

We did have a manatee sighting but it was so dark at the time my boat missed it. But even if you don't see dolphins or manatees you will see wildlife. I saw a lot of fish and crabs just looking through the clear bottom of the boat (the lights make it so easy to see and attracts a lot of animals). And if you use the net (they provide one for each boat) you can see starfish, shrimp, anenomes, and a bunch of other fun things.

The paddling is not too strenuous and it's easy to manage your own pace if you need breaks. You get a bit wet inevitably but the worst is getting in and out of the boat. Having it be a sunset tour is perfect for the miserably hot florida summer so you can't beat this. Bring a water bottle though! And consider leaving your shoes in the car.

100% this is worth your time especially if you're lucky enough to get Cat and Jay running your tour. I'm sure the guides are all great but they are...