The trip itself was just beautiful, and I'd do it again, but with a different company for two reasons; inadequate kayaks and inadequate communication.
We were scheduled for an 11:00 AM tour with instructions on where to meet and to arrive 30 minutes early. We were told the guide would message us sometime the evening before. What we got was a message from the company some time after 9:00 PM that our 11:00 AM tour had been changed to 8:00 AM with only a vague reason given. So, we showed up 30 minutes early to find several companies setting up, but when I said we were looking for someone with JoyFun Tours, no one seemed to know who they were. We waited until about 7:45, and I messaged the company through Viator to ask who I should be looking for. I received a message at 8:00 saying the tour would begin at 8:30 and to arrive at 8:15, plus a little more information on what to look for, but still no name for our guide. In the end, we found each other, and though we got up earlier than we actually needed to with the new changed time, all was well. Except for the kayaks themselves. As we watched other companies unloading and setting up, their kayaks were larger and they had double seat options (there was only one double in our group). The kayak my poor husband had didn't seem ready to handle his 6 foot, 190 pound body. It took on water and he spent the trip to the hiking portion under threat of being submerged. Our sweet guide, Ben, was kind enough to trade with him at that point (his personal kayak?) On the way back the winds really kicked up (which turned out to be the reason for the time change), and that wind, combined with wakes being generated by motorized vehicles once we left the canyon created some significant waves that I'm not sure our kayaks were equipped to deal with. (Thank goodness my husband wasn't in his original kayak at that point!) We made it with a few kayaks getting water from waves, but I have to admit I was a little nervous for a while, and I don't scare easily.
Long story short, it was beautiful kayaking and hiking in the canyon, and our guide, Ben, was informative and patient, but I can't recommend this company until they improve their kayaks and their communication.
Odpowiedź od gospodarza
Oct 2024
Thank you for such a detailed feedback. Firstly, we apologize for your unhappy feelings about the communication. Due to the water feature of the tour and weather related aspects, all tours are subject to potential cancellation due to weather conditions, and start times may vary depending on weather conditions. We had to make changes as per the weather conditions which was out of our control. As it was a last minute choice, the staff on night shift were few and had to deal with a large amount of calls and emails. We thank for your understanding about the communication. And for your mentioned Kayak facility, we already let the management know the condition and has been working every effort to improve it. We’d love the opportunity to show you and your group around on a calmer day so you can fully experience what we pride ourselves on.