I will start this by saying that I was extremely nervous about trying to ride a Segway. After a couple of knee replacements, my balance is not the best. I was afraid of falling over or falling off. I watched the training video a couple of times and assured that if I could not handle the Segway during the training run that I would get a refund (while my wife would continue on without me), I decided I was game.
Our tour guides/instructors were Lisa and Mary. Arriving a little early, we were able to get our paperwork filled out and so after the official viewing of the training video, Mary took us out to start our training while the other people going on the tour were getting helmets fitted and paperwork completed. I had expressed my trepidation and outright fear, so Mary started with my wife. Naturally, she caught on right away and was gliding all over the practice area with ease. I, on the other hand, showed from the start that my fear and natural klutziness were going to be in full force for this adventure. Mary worked with me patiently, giving tips on foot placement, leg bending angles, back straightness. She also gave excellent instruction regarding weight shifting for forward, turning and stopping actions; which really helped my confidence and abilities. She assured me over and over that she would not let me go out if I wasn’t comfortable doing those actions or if she felt I would be a danger.
Luckily, I responded to all this instruction and got the hang of how to ride this thing and she was able to provide similar help to a struggling participant while Lisa was handling the rest of the group. This other rider caught on much faster than I so the group was able to get on with final instructions and we started the tour.
I have to tell you as a reader that this Segway thing is a BLAST! Oh my goodness, it was SO much fun. We did the 90-minute tour and wished we could have done another 30 minutes, 60 minutes, heck even another 90 minutes. The history and nature information we go was very interesting and informative. So between the information and the riding, time flew by quickly. It was so much fun, my wife said she wanted one. While not at all within any imaginable budget, nor usable in our 12-degree angled sidewalk-less neighborhood, she was expressing her unbridled joy at the fun riding the Segway was. I concur fully and without hesitation recommend doing this Segway tour. While I have no knowledge of any of the other Segway operations, the Segway itself is 1000% fun and worth the experience.
And, I clearly want to call out Mary at the this Hilton Head Segway operation for her complete patience, kindness and confidence she showed in me. Left to my own thoughts, I might have just bowed out, refund or not. As it was, I am SO thankful for her just making my (our) day of fun on the Segway.
In summary, I will offer one word about whether you should ride the Segway on the tour in Hilton Head: GO!