The team at the Kayak Shack were the ABSOLUTE BEST. They were very responsive over phone, helpful in making recommendations of when to come and where to go. They were great about getting you in and out of the launch and it was such an easy and painless experience. They were super kind and friendly. I really enjoyed my time with them and kayaking the area. Great experience!!
Competitive rental rates for the area and shuttle service to the launch point - their location requires no shuttle to take out as they are located right on the river. Be sure to plan ahead on weekends or summer days as they are busy and the shuttle can only hold so many people. It took my boyfriend over an hour to get to the launch where he was meeting me and the other parties in our group because the shuttles were so full - so just communicate a plan with everyone and with the shack so you can time coordinate.
Good Kayaks & prices are good. You can launch at sight or Wekee Wachee people are very nice and now has more parking
We rented a canoe from here and it smelled like cat urine
The employees were really nice and friendly. Their kayaks are clean and well kept. They also offer parking, light shopping and a restroom. The area is absolutely gorgeous with wildlife, crystal clear water and interesting housing all along the river. The only downside is the location of the shack. You paddle up river for as long as you can handle (about 2-1/2 hours for me) and then float downstream back to the shack. This means you have not only a tough workout, but no privacy because the other companies drop people upstream. You are constantly passing large groups and boats while working your butt off to get up steam. If they shuttled you up, it'd be 5 stars. I was looking for something more relaxing, instead it was a steady workout on an already blistering 80 degree day. Maybe if it was cheaper than $35 (two person kayak) it wouldn't be so bad, but if you want relaxation, have a small child or aren't in good shape, check out one of the other companies in this area. PS: Bring cash and you can buy ice cream on the river
The people who own this kayak shop are so helpful and wonderful.
Wouldn't let us put out our own kayaks or shuttle us up river...when i came down river after having to pay another location to let us put out she tried to say i couldn't use the restaurant next door's dock to get my kayaks out. It was my birthday and i spent over $100 at the restaurant they did not care that i used the dock but she wouldn't even let me use the rope which she said was hers even though it wasn'ton her side. Very rude! Would never use or recommend them!
We ve rented from The Kayak Shack twice now and I can t imagine renting anywhere else. Awesome team and I love the dogs! Great little business.
It was a very enjoyable day there. Staff was very helpful with my handicap son
Don't let the bad reviews stray you away from this place. Just go and get your own experience and you will not be disappointed. I dont often do reviews but this place deserves 10 stars! Very friendly, affordable, great customer service and great attitude towards children. We went once and our family is hooked! This was just our 2nd visit but so excited to make this a regular outing for our family. Reservations are recommended but that being said you can make your reservations and there is no pay up front commitment when reserving. Already have our next trip planned. Thank you kayak shack our family appreciates your family friendly business and great employees.
We had a wonderful time!! Plan on going back this Friday.. Thank you for the rental. Best place to rent your toys for going down the river!
Great way to spend your day! The people are friendly and Price's are great. It will take you about 3 hours from start to finish but you have till closing to turn in your rental. So we used to take our time and stop to swim and just really soke in the atmosphere of the beautiful spring fed canal. I was able to swim with manatees a couple of times. A young manatee calf swam right up to me and was so friendly. It was one of the most amazing experiences in my life. Some of my fondest memories of Florida where renting a canoe from the kayak shack and spending the day with my fiancee paddling down the canal enjoying nature. Absolutely wonderful experience that I highly recommend!!!
Absolutely amazing. Worth every penny. At one with nature
One of most fun Kayaking trips I've been to. The ride is downstream for 5 miles, take your time ,no need to rush....
I was a bit disappointed as when we used them 2 years ago they would cart us upstream to the Weeki Watchee launch to kayak down to the shack. They were very friendly and explained the situation. The price is also fairly priced... I just didn't want us to have to paddle upstream. It was a bit tough for my daughter who pooped out after a few miles. The paddle back was nice though.
My family and I have gone to this place twice both times where amazing the staff are very friendly and helpful It didn't feel like I was at a business but with family.
The staff is awesome and it's hands down the best place to go for kayaking! The river is amazingly beautiful and peaceful and the best part is you can take your time going down river because your car is parked right where you end so you don't have to wait on the shuttle and you also do not have to worry about rushing your trip to avoid paying late fees. I would recommend Kayak Shack to anyone looking to spend the day on the Weeki Wachee and I'm looking forward to being a repeat customer for many years to come.
Been here with the family multiple times and the staff is always on point and great costumer service i would give them 10 stars is i could
Average rental pricing for kayaks, but best deal when it comes to how long you can have them for. The staff was hospitable and treated us like family.
Definitely recommend and will use them the next time we decide to go kayaking.
2nd choice but ended up better, kayak the river, swam, great price, friendly staff.
I gigged a mullet in the river in sight of the nasty woman who works on the dock (Wich is perfectly legal). She started screaming at me that "spearfishing in the river is illegal".. I calmly informed her that it's perfectly to gig a mullet from your boat... Stay in your Lane and rent kayaks... She continued to scream and curse at me in front of my wife, my children, the customers, and all the kids at Rogers Park(while flipping us the bird)... I can't believe ANYONE would continue to employ such a disgusting person. I have contacted fwc (as it's illegal to interfere with a fisherman)... What an ugly little spot in such a beautiful area.
The kayak shack is the ONLY way to go to weeki wachee!!! You'll be sorry you didn't choose such a nice, family owned, efficient stop on the river for kayak rental!!
Great location, good kayaks and friendly staff. Weekie Wachee is beautiful and you can easily spend the day out on the water.
BRING CASH!
This shack charges 20% for card terminal usage (absolute robbery).
Affordable, great people! Beautiful, clear water float. Just dont expect to see manatees or many fish. They leave when people get on the water.
Had a great day on the river, nice kayaks and staff was super.
Awesome place for kayaking. Beautiful clear water. Will be back soon to see manatee.
Helpful staff and friendly people. A great way to spend the day. Good equipment and reasonable price.
Great place to launch. Staff are super friendly and helpful.
Wonderful staff, very helpful! The stream is absolutely clear and there's even a chance of seeing some manatees!! Definitely worth whatever drive it will take to get here! Make sure to arrive by 12 PM, as that is the latest you can get a kayak!
They are the only place that lets dogs join the ride
Buyer beware: These guys lost their license to drop customers off at the headspring. They will tell you that "any 5 year old" can paddle upstream. That's a lie. You will paddle for hours upstream in brown water until you reach clear water. The clear water is several miles away from this shop, and the current gets a lot stronger as you go upstream. These guys misrepresent the facts.
Long story short, I had ordered two canoes a week ahead but didn t have them ready when we arrived. However, they were able get the two after waiting a few minutes. Secondly, when we were put in the water we were only told to go up river make a left and the rest will be rights. Never came back down as they never told us too so we spent all day going against the current. After hours of paddling and a tiring day we arrived back at the Shack and owner was very rude to my family and I saying it was our fault he had to stay over-time and just yelled. I was ready to for him to charge us for the extra time but there was no way I was going to pay him for his business giving me the wrong instructions and disrespectful service and not even having our canoes ready. He s lucky he s got the money out from me in the beginning to pay the rentals. Not getting another penny out of me.
This was a lot of fun, crystal clear.spring water and a great time amongst nature and a thousand walks of life. The shack supplied our scout troop with 9 canoes and 2 kayaks and a great time was had by all. It was a cultural eye opener for me but all good.
Friendly employees. Wonderful trip down the springs.
Staff is awesome and friendly, equipment is very well maintained
DO NOT GO HERE!!! Let me start by saying I have never had to write a negative review for any business in my entire life. I went to the "Kayak Shack" after scheduling a reservation. We waited in line for our kayak and we had to fill out the waiver and paperwork. The wait and parking situation was not good but that is not our complaint. As I approached the employee checking guests in, I politely requested if she could take a few steps back so I could maintain proper socially distance. I did so in the nicest way possible. She looked at my strange and started to get upset - I guess not understanding that a) FL is a COVID hot zone and B) the science shows social distancing helps reduce the spread of this infectious virus. She began to get upset at the fact I just wanted a few feet in between us when I thought this was a very reasonable request given the current climate. I took the paperwork and backed up a few steps filled it out and put it back on the desk. In an effort to ease the tension, I said thank you and that's all I wanted was to create a little distance so we could clear the situation and move on with our days. She then said I was extremely paranoid, shouldn't be here and was both disrespectful and rude. Next, she proceeded to kick us out and rip up our papers all because we wanted a little distance! We are in the middle of a global pandemic - absolutely unbelievable!
BOTTOM LINE: DO NOT go here if you want to be treated with dignity and respect AND of course are concerned about your safety. I'd doubt they even clean off their kayaks properly as well.
Awesome day, awesome owners, best way to spend a day!
loved everything about this place! nice,informative &very very accomdating! I had to call several time this past weekend to change my prior reservations because of the rain &they gave me no issues! we will definitely be back! all of their staff were nice &answered any questions we had. &the best part is their location.
Every time we have company in from out of town this is one thing we always do.
Staff is super friendly and funny. Price is for all day not 4 hours, you just have to be back by 5. Price is cheaper than any other place around.
In the area from Cleveland, OH, I really wanted to experience the Weeki Wachi river. This was a day before my birthday and a truly magical experience. We saw SO many manatees. I m so glad I chose the Kayak Shack! The owner (I assume) was extremely welcoming and friendly. Thank you for this experience I will never forget.
We have been there 3 times in the last year and we loved it each time. Very organized and professional place.
Go give your business elsewhere - we had an amazing experience with a place .1 miles from here called Weeki Wachee Marina! Friendly staff and CHEAPER Kayak rentals. I went along with one of my friends to this Kayak Shack first before we found the better place. He already posted his horrific experience and the owner replied. I can attest the owner is a liar and her comments in reply to his review were ALL FALSE! The owner was never sitting and was getting very close and standing right next to people as they filled out paperwork. We were never miserable, didn t mind the line, kept our distance in line and therefore didn t need masks. My friend was never loud or obnoxious and acted extremely professional as I watched this situation from afar. This companies employees and apparent owner are not only rude but lie.
Kayak was clean, sturdy, saw lots of wildlife including 7 manatees, however, you have to paddle upstream for the most part, which is difficult because the majority of traffic which is coming downstream. A much more pleasant trip would be to start out upstream and paddle downstream (there is a company who does this), so wish we would have been told that ahead of time before renting.
Excellent place to rent and take off for the river! I ve gone out from the Kayak Shack multiple times and it is always an awesome experience. The owners are super kind, welcoming, and always interested in hearing your stories from the river. When the tide is high, it is just a tad harder to kayak up river, but the experience is still incredibly rewarding and beautiful.
Always a good vibe at this place. I've rented kayaks from here several times & I've never been disappointed. Also my go to place when i have guest in from out of state.
This place rocked! The staff and owners were great! And we had a blast! Definitely recommend!!!
So easy to deal with. Good quality kayak at a very fair price. Very friendly. They drive you up to the beginning of the river, and you kayak down stream and end up at their location. No need to rush to be picked up. Next time we go kayaking, we're going to the Kayak Shack!
It was awesome really nice paddle got to see manatees really really Pleasant owners super nice place highly recommend
Weeks Wachee is an amazing Beautiful River you can Kayak Canoe and Swim can see all the Fish and Amazing Manatees come right along side of you water is AClear 72 degrees all year long Highly recommend it to any one and there family Also great place to eat on river and on the way to Weeki Wachee!
Staff was extremely friendly. Easy to rent and quick to get on the water. Kayaks were good and great location. Liked not having to use a van to get back to my car, paddled upstream and floated back. Great experience
The Kayak Shack, hands down, has the best prices on the river! We have been using their services for years. All the staff is incredibly friendly, honest and helpful. They have both canoes and kayaks. They're also conveniently located right next door to the Upper Deck, which has some of the best food on the river.
Horrible service, they took our money and put un in kayaks but they never told us they lost their license that allows them to pick you up when you are done kayaking. So we paddled upstream for 5 hours and when we got to the end another company had to tell us we could only return the kayaks were we started from. Unwilling forced to do a 10 mile kayak trip thanks to their negligence.
A huge THANK YOU to the whole staff. I called ahead b/c I broke my foot. I was worried I would have to walk alot but thankfully the launch is right were u sign in. Parking was easy, signing in was hassle free and getting our kayaks was quick. The staff helped me into my kayak and out making sure I was comfortable the whole time. We had a blast on the river. THANK YOU AGAIN we will be back soon. Gina Wilson
Beautiful river. Strong current. Plenty of places to pull over and swim. Go EARLY, river gets crowded on the weekends.
We had a reservation with another company in the area and they did not answer the phone or unlock the door. We drove to kayak shack (we had previously used them) and asked the kind lady in the parking lot of by chance they had two singles and they accommodated is! It was a long shot because they have been so busy but I was so impressed with their customer service I will only use them from now on! Thank you!
On April 29 been here nice area on arrival neatly a place for the car and well pointed by the lady who assigned the parking places. Friendly people help you on your way calmly and well. Got good explanation about the kayak and also our foster son with down syndrome was calm and helped as well and badly as it could in the kayak bowls. Very nice getaway affordable $ 35 per 2 person kayak for the whole day and good to do. Very calm clear and shallow water so cooling off is also easy to do with little ones
Definitely worth the visit, nice parking lot, and the rate for the single kayak is $30 for the whole day. Will be back.
Nice help, cute shop and the equipment was in great shape
Loved our experience with them! Polite, knowledgeable, and relaxed. They were recommended to us & now we know why. Great people!
Was given the impression that we d float down the river when I called ahead of time to get details. We arrived, and as soon as I paid the $70 for two singles, she said, ok wait right here, we ll put you in the kayak, you paddle up and then paddle back down. Wait, what?! I ve done this several times and I ve never had to paddle up. Felt like I had gotten ripped off. Definitely going back because the Weeki Wachee is amazing, but won t be patronizing this rental place again.
This place is amazing. Staff is great and friendly and the river is a lot of fun.
Amazin, one of the coolest places ive ever been! You must go
The team was very helpful and understanding when we started our tour and shortly thereafter our 2 yr old decided he didn't like kayaking. They came right back for us and were even going to refund our money. But we'll be back next year, and maybe then our son will enjoy the river as we used to!
Great friendly service! Beautiful river to paddle. River clear all the way down!
Wow what a great place. Very friendly folks and river was absolutely beautiful. Loved it!
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