Danielle and Panda were awesome- very friendly, knowledgeable, and very helpful. Unfortunately that was the only good part of this excursion.
The canoe showed up 10 minutes prior to departure. There is no sign and no employees directing travelers on where to meet or wait. The harbor is busy and it was very frustrating trying to figure out where to go. No one answered any phone calls and there is just nothing there directing us where to go. This was extremely poorly organized. I was VERY frustrated and began leaving when I saw the canoe dock. If I hadn't stopped and asked, I would have missed them completely.
Once out on the bay, we drove around to a couple of spots before we got in the water. We saw 1 manta ray for 0.3 seconds, then nothing for the remaining hour that Danielle dragged us around the entire bay, trying to use other company's lights. Other companies were seeing rays, but not us. She swam us around continuously, my shoulders were aching, we saw nothing, and finally she put us back on the canoe.
Getting in and out of the canoe was tricky- put your foot here, sit there, don't touch that, don't touch that, don't touch that.... It needs to be more user friendly. There was very little to hold onto. As a customer and someone unfamiliar with a canoe, it was difficult to get on and off. It was an uncomfortable ride and an uncomfortable situation.
Regarding the company's customer service: I was very unhappy with the lack of signs, directions or employees at the bay. Before we got there, however, we had an issue that the company took care of for us. We were originally booked for a Wednesday night, but I became ill and we were unable to go on the excursion. We asked for a refund, and the company offered a 50% refund. We then asked if we could apply the full amount for another night, and they agreed. I was very grateful that they were willing to work with us and allowed us to book for another night. They were also very friendly about it. That was good customer service.
If I were to do this again, I would book with a company that had a boat. A boat would have been more organized, more comfortable, easier to get on and off, and seems to have a better success rate at actually seeing rays. The crew on the canoe was great, everything else was not.