Our family of 6 had a lovely vacation on #18 Lake Vermilion Houseboat. It was clean and everything…read morewas in working order. We were given a good complete orientation on how to drive the boat and where and how to moor for the night. We had the boat for 3 nights and stayed in a different spot on beautiful Lake Vermilion each night. We had great weather the first 2 nights and had no issues finding a site to moor. The 3rd day was windy and the water was choppy. Luckily, we had 2 strong teenagers to tie the rope to anchor the boat to shore. We appreciated getting a text from Joy and Kyle about the wind speed and direction that day. They told us a time to get our boat anchored and gave their recommendation on which spot to choose. Overall, positive experience for an adventure we had never done before. Thank you Joy, Kyle and staff!!

This is my favorite vacation. For us it is a week of rest and solitude. We sleep, hammock, read,…read morehot tub, explore our campsites, play games, swim, and make ourselves really good food. We've had Kyle be our excellent fishing guide, bringing back and cleaning a Walleye feast. And, we know that there is still more to explore and do. The Soudan mine. The casino. Hiking trails. More. We will be back again and again. The boats: We've experienced 4 different boats. They're all clean and comfortable. Each has its strengths. They are easier to drive and park than you think. Kyle makes navigating the lake a breeze with good maps and easy to use GPS units. The campsites: Vary pretty wildly. Some are groomed. Others are pretty wild. Some remote. Some very near civilization. Some are rocky. Others are beach. Some are shoreline. Others are island(our favorite!). The people and the service: Kyle and Joy are the best. As mentioned above, we've hired Kyle as a fishing guide twice. One time he had to coordinate another guide and he was awesome. Scheduling responses are fantastic. Service to the boat is timely and efficient. And, emergency response is immediate and thorough (a very long story I'll tell you over a beer!).

Doesn't get any better then, local and family owned…read more My cousin from Ely had previously bought a outfit for her grand baby and realized it was too small. We went in to exchange it and they could have not been more accommodating. She did not have the receipt and had removed the tags. They knew it was their product and were happy to make the swap for a larger size. As she made the swap, I browsed through the store with my other cousin. Oh my, the variety of merchandise was mind blowing. They had everything you'd need for a camping trip. They even sell camping packages for the boundary waters and when you check-in on Yelp they offer a 15% off coupon. If you're a fisher, they also offer live bait to help you catch that big fish. That way your "big fish" story will be truth instead of a made up one. My other cousin who was traveling with us, caught so much fish during our trip, that when we left Ely, we had to stop at Spirit to buy dry ice. When in Ely, I highly recommend that you shop, Spirit.

Best outfitter in Ely. Knowledgeable friendly staff. Would recommend them especially for people…read morenew to the BWCA.

We did a full day tour in a small boat with six total customers. Our guide was Brent and he was…read moreextremely knowledgeable since he's grown up in the area and had all kinds of wonderfully crazy stories about his life here in Minnesota. The personal experience was exceptional. The small group made it an extremely personal and wonderful experience. It was a glorious day that we will never forget!

My husband and I did a tour with Captain Tim yesterday on the six hour Kettle Falls tour. Tim was…read morevery knowledgeable about the park and the area. He had a wonderful personality and as other people have said became our friend right away. I loved his sense of humor. It was a very nice boat and a top-notch operation. We would highly recommend this.

Rented the nicest pontoon. The guy was so knowledgeable, gave us a quick tutorial and off we went…read more Had an engine hiccup that the guy figured out right away. Would 1000% recommend this place! 5 stars LOVE

Horrible customer service. We dropped our boat off on the 5th for a service appointment on the 7th…read more By the 12th they still hadn't looked at it. And we were clear when we dropped it that this was our transportation to our island lake house. They didn't seem to care. If you want to be ignored, have to call multiple times to get someone on the phone, be treated rudely and have to wait five times longer than promised to get service, then by all means use these guys.

I was looking for a seat for my fishing boat. Salesperson showed me a swivel mount he said would…read morefit on seat, it clearly wouldn't fit, though. He continued to insist it would, making me feel like I was an idiot. I took the swivel out of packaging and held it up to seat- the screw holes were off by more than 2 inches! Salesperson (who appeared to be the boss) was insulting and disrespectful, and I do not recommend this business to anyone.