Our scheduled trip was 10:30(on the website it asks you to be there 30 minutes early). We arrived at 10:15 bc we had GPS problems and bad signal. When we got to the location, there were a few other kayaking/paddle-board businesses there. I approached āJohnā, which would eventually be the right guide, and asked if he had us on his list. He was very rude from the get go, announced he was with āthree brothersā and then told me to āstep asideā bc he was trying to back his trailer to get closer to the launch. I had to open up my emails (with horrible signal) and search for āwhoā I was with myself.
Moving on, I had forgot a plastic bag to put my phone in so I asked John if he had any āphone bags for purchaseā he said I had to go through the website to āadd onā, (well since my signal wasnāt good, I knew that wasnāt going to happen)ā¦he then very dramatically pulls a shopping bag out from his pocket and says āthis is my bag!ā With a snicker. I asked if he had any extra, his reply was ā$10.99!ā I gave him a look and he responded with, āI have student loansā!
So, sadly I put my phone in my car bc I didnāt want to risk itā¦so I have no pictures from our tour. Anywayā¦
At this point the time is now 10:30 (scheduled launch time) and John is just pulling out his first kayak. He asks the group how many people ordered a kayak, the group responds with 3. John says he only has 1 tandem and we as a group will have to figure it out.(?!?)
John continues to unloadā¦.for 20minutes. We all stand there in the group waiting and watching.
At this point John has one kayak and one paddle-board out(group is 16), and all of the life jackets and paddles on a huge pile all together tangled up. John tells us to grab a paddle and life jacket from the pileā¦so we do. Life jackets are WET and smelly, paddles are tangled together. We all have our paddles and we all have a jacket, great.
John goes through a little talk about safety and starts loading everyone onto the paddle boards one by oneā¦.mind you, he is running to the trailer for each paddle-board as we load one at a time.
Group eventually loads and the time is now 11:15.(45 minutes late)
This group is NOT happy and yet John thinks everything is fine and goes on with his tour as if he didnāt make this group late, angry and uncomfortable. John never once apologized for the time or the inconveniences.
The tour was boring and John had a dry sense of humor with a side of pompous attitude and a glass of immaturity.
We saw NO mammals on this āDolphin/manateeā excursion! I understand it was no guarantee, but on top of the experience, it was a double whammy.
When we returned back to unloading area John announced that we could right a good review and leave a 20% tip he would like thatā¦.ummm.?!? No thanks.
How about a refund???
The only good thing that happen was that 1 found a pretty shell on the beach we docked on for 15min.
Warning to ALL who are bookingā¦.GO WITH A DIFFERENT COMPANY.
I will be looking on viator to make sure this review gets posted, if not, I will be contacting viator personally.
This company should not be top 3 when searching for this activity.