My friend and I left the tour early, after getting into our kayaks, due to the extreme unprofessionalism and potentially unsafe conditions created by the tour guide, Marco. Iām a very experienced kayaker, having taken over 20+ tours, including on rapids, and have two kayaks of my own. My friend and I were both rattled by the experience including:
Ā· No real kayak launch, just dropping from ladders into the Miami River;
Ā· Asking the clients to carry their own kayaks (as my friend has a severe back issue) and then the second staff person dragging the kayaks across concrete (which damages them);
Ā· The second staff person clearly being high;
Ā· A client vaping marijuana right in front of the second staff person and nothing being said (having a high client might be unsafe); and
Ā· Heavy boat traffic on a night-time excursion.
But the most frightening problem was that one client was clearly in distress, took about 10-15 minutes to get into a kayak while her boyfriend bullied her, and said several times āI CANāT SWIM!ā Marco replied āit doesnāt matter if the water is 8 feet or 25 feet if you canāt swim.ā I asked Marco a couple times to not have her join us, as it would be unsafe. Marco said something like, I donāt want to get involved. We knew that for a two-hour excursion, the best-case scenario would be that she would keep yelling and being frightened during the trip, and the worst was that she would fall in, not swim, and no one could reasonably help her. The lack of response by your two staff members was appalling to watch and very anxiety-inducing, and therefore, we left the tour early.
I have requested a response from SoFloWaterAdventures, but they have not provided one. I have requested a refund.