Here is my google review Would not recommend. Beware! They are NOT an approved kayaking company by the National Park Service. They rented my son tandem kayaks to go to the Apostle Islands. They gave him a broken radio, no bilge pump and no cockpit cover. They ended up refunding him after he told them that the National Park Service and L5 Kayak expert they ran into told them that this company was putting them at risk for injury or even death. They refused to allow me to talk to the owner. They are comfortable renting broken equipment, allowing you to kayak in a tandem without a cockpit cover so that it fills with water and then not supplying the required bilge pump to get the water out. Go on the National Park Service web page and find a kayak group that meets standards- stay away from this company as it could put your life at risk. The company responded to my google review with this lie "We provided your son and his friend with a detailed two-hour safety course before their rental, clearly demonstrating how to safely use a tandem kayak as intende, with two people paddling together. Despite this, they made the unsafe decision to paddle solo from the back seat and load gear (including beer) into the front cockpit -- a configuration we specifically warn against and prohibit in our waiver. Even though they knowingly violated the rules and misused the equipment, we still issued a full refund as a courtesy. We did this not because we were at fault, but because we recognize that Lake Superior is unforgiving, and we want all our guests to stay safe, even when they make poor choices. We sincerely hope future renters follow our safety training and use the equipment as instructed. We are always here to help, but we cannot prevent incidents when guests ignore the guidance they are given" This is a lie. My son and his friend rented 2 single kayaks. The company gave them 2 tandems. The ranger and another L5 kayak expert saw them before they launched and recommended they not go because they were rented improper equipment. They never even loaded them. What beer?! They are lying to make the reader think they are safe. Please call the Bayfield National park service yourself and talk to the rangers there. They are very familiar with this unsafe and deceptive company. Don't rely on social media. Talk to the experts yourself. You can email or call the park service and they will advise you. read more

Bayfield Kayak - Here's the owners response. - Rafting/Kayaking Near Me

Beware. 2 different canceling policies on web site. Then when you call them on it they tell you they are done with the conversation. Shady company read more

Signed up for motor boat self guided tour. The company experience was not good, the caves themselves are great. Essentially you are renting someone's personal boat and have a guide telling you where you are allowed to go. Our tour was rescheduled twice, then 1.5 hours late. All of the kayakers coming off the water were very happy with the experience, so we were hopeful. The tour guide was personable, however not very good at explaining what to expect as far as getting to the caves, procedures when something goes wrong, and safety. read more

Like other reviewers, had a hard time figuring out where to go. Never received a confirmation text or email receipt. Guide looked hungover and confused, and was late. Kayak was janky and not well adjusted. Another boat helped me to adjust foot pedals mid paddle, and first time ever I capsized. Basically had to self rescue as guide was clueless. The level of disorganization is hard to tolerate, will not be back. read more

Great trip to caves, shipwreck on the night tour. I wasn't really sure because I'm In my 60's but the staff (Todd and Pirate Paul) was terrific. i had no experience kayakin. it was a really fun time. They engaged me and my 14 year old companion, as well as the other people and made it a truly pleasurable experience. I will do it again. read more

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We had an excellent tour with Lane! He was friendly, informative, and followed all safety precautions! We kayaked into multiple sea caves. Lane was incredibly informative and knowledgeable about the local region and the history. Scenic and fun tour! Highly recommend! read more

Bayfield Kayak - Kayaking into a sea cave - Rafting/Kayaking Near Me

My family of four showed up for our 4 pm tour on June 12th ,James suggested that we reschedule due to the waves getting rough. He said his last group had a hard time entering the caves. So we took his suggestion and came back the next day for the 10 am tour. It was better weather and calmer conditions. I am so glad he suggested it to us. I appreciate him being considerate of our family's enjoyment and ability level and not just wanting to take our money and give us the bare minimum. He wanted us to get our money's worth and enjoy it. The company was accommodating when we made the switch via text. James was funny and knowledgeable. He took safety seriously. The caves are not like the big ones you see for Meyers in the Apostle Island brochures. There is one main cave that you can technically go all the way inside and backtrack out of in a very tight space.The others you don't go through you go in part way and back out . It's not like you kayak in one side and out the other like you may think.The purple color is only visible in certain lighting and times of day . I think he said it is more visible during sunset. But we had a wonderful time exploring the caves and kayaking. We wouldn't have wanted a longer tour than 2 hours for our family so this was the best most enjoyable option for us. We have a 12 year old and a 14 year old and a longer tour would have been too long .It was fun to be out on the lake. James was helpful getting us inside the main cave and very helpful with teaching us the technique to maneuver in and out of the tight space. He would point out the birds and the rock formations in the lake. Enjoyable tour on Lake Superior. James was great! read more

Had an excellent tour with Jack. My wife and I and four kids did the beginner kayak. The emails we got ahead of time were highly informative on how to find the launch. Jack gave us a 10 minute instruction/safety talk before we started which was really helpful. We saw a ton of cool caves and balancing rock. Jack got a lot of photos for the group on high res digital camera. He was extremely knowledgeable about the natural history of the lake and rock formations, wildlife, and area in general. He led us at a reasonable pace for everyone. This was the highlight of our vacation and I couldn't recommend it more highly. read more

This was by far the worst boat tour I have ever been on. I understand things change because of the weather and we were notified of the change of plans which was fine. But when got there it was basically a guy driving a boat around the shoreline. There was no safety talk before hand, so if there was an emergency we would of been in trouble. We went part way into one sea cave and that was it. The guide did not know the area at all. There was another person on the tour that knew more about the area than the guide. The guide even asked a passing kayaker where the sea caves were at. I feel so bad for my husband, he does not kayak and I booked this so that he could experience the sea caves. I wish they would of just cancelled. Stir clear of this place and book with someone else, this place is a joke. read more

Run, Run, Run away from this place. The website is great but the actual location is what looks to be an old Dairy Queen, turned into what used to be a Chinese restaurant that has kayaks strewn about-seriously, photo included. The owner was a beyond a jerk and yelled at us after he moved the trip time that we had scheduled and drove 8 hours to get there. Actually yelled. We cancelled and the only good point is he did refund us our money. DO NOT BOOK here! read more

Bayfield Kayak - Their "sign" - Rafting/Kayaking Near Me

My daughter and I took a last minute trip to Lake Superior from Milwaukee. At the meeting point, we were given our life jackets and told to proceed to the launch point a few minutes away in our own vehicle. Our tour guides were Jack and Lisa and they were excellent! We got a safety briefing and kayak "class" on the shore before we launched. They knew a lot about the area and how the caves were made. We went into several caves along the coastline and it was a beautiful day! I would highly recommend. read more

We took the beginner kayak tour to see 5 sea caves and the balancing rock. Lisa was our guide and the tour was quite good for people with little experience. It should be noted that the area we visited is NOT near Bayfield and you are not paddling in the Apostle Islands. The outfitter also was a little unorganized. We kept getting reminders that were for other trips and other people. But overall, they delivered a fun trip! read more

We booked the Ice Caves tour that tour the Chequamegon Bay Ice Caves of Lake Superior. The booking process was fine, rented ice cleats so for all 4 of us (2 kids were half off) we paid about $150. For a 3-4 hour tour, that seemed like it would be well worth it. We got a group text the day before confirming the address, but not the time. Seemed a bit random, but we knew the time we picked so oh well. We got there and got our ice cleats. The tour guide never introduced himself, never checked people off a list - nothing. Said "15 of you will go with me and the other 15 will go with that other guy" and off we went at WARP speed like he had a hot date to get to. We had no idea - are we in his group or the other guy's group. Is this even our tour? Are we in the right place? No one asked our name - like what is going on here. So we tried to match said warp speed which we never could. We realize we are not the most in shape of people but holy hell my high level gymnast kid and martial arts kid couldn't match the pace so we were the caboose of the group the whole time. We never heard the supposed tour guide say a damn word the entire tour. This was not a tour. This was - follow a guy (if you can keep up!) and be generally pointed to a few ice caves and ice formations. This was literally THE WORST tour I have ever been on. My husband said we may as well have just spent money on a map so that we could be safe on the ice and gone at our own pace. We get back to the car, I check the time - 90 minutes!!!!! It was supposed to be 3-4 hours. Seriously for ice tours (can't speak to their other tours) stay far away from this outfitter. There was literally zero point to it, would have been better just following other people or having a map. I cannot even fathom we paid $150 for this complete waste. This company should seriously be ashamed of themselves. I hope the owner reads this - I doubt the way these warp speed psychos ran the "tour" is at all how it is supposed to go down. read more

This was one of the least organized tours I've been on and that's using the word tour very loosely. We signed up for a sea caves tour and did not see any sea caves. The tour "guides" we had - one of them was somewhat knowledgeable about the area but did not wait for the whole group to start talking or give clear communication about meeting points. Half way through the tour, he lit up a cigarette and provided no further direction. The other "guide", when you asked him a question he simply stated this is my first day and did not make an attempt to answer it. Apparently no training is given to new employees. It was very apparent that they overbooked the tour and instead of turning people away, provided a less than stellar tour. The positives were we got to kayak on Lake Superior but would not recommend either of their companies apostle island kayak or Bayfield Kayak. read more

DO NOT WASTE THE MONEY ON THE ICE CAVE TOUR!!! Whomever is running this sham of a business is doing a cash grab and they should be embarrassed of what they are doing! SKETCHY business practices! The word is around town that the locals are not happy about this place and they are worried for peoples safety. The website does not tell you exactly where to go so we called and texted and we finally received a text back with a pin for the directions. A lot of people were grumbling about the lack of direction. There is supposed to be groups of like 14 people max and it ended up being about 30 people for our 5:30 group. The guide didn't check anybody's info or confirmations so I mean anybody can just show-up and go for free - just an FYI. They only had 9 headlamps to split amongst the 30 people so they wanted groups of 3 for the head lamps (mind you, most people came as groups of 2). Thankfully, (or so I thought) a 2nd guide showed up so the group was split in half and they were going to leave a little later than our group. We were told by our guide to feel free to tip at the end of the tour! About a mile in to the 1.7 mile journey we came across the first ice feature. We were there for about 15 minutes when the 2nd group caught up to us. Now we are back to 30 people and all of a sudden we had a new guide for all 30 people as our guide had to suddenly leave? We go on to the next features in our group of 30 and each time we stop the guide does a head count. We then start to head to our main attraction (in my head I'm thinking we are going to go into an actual cave for the main attraction - you know since this was an Ice "Cave" tour). We are walking on a snowy/icy surface where you can see footprints. Suddenly the footprints end and we are walking into about 9-12 inches of fresh snow. The guide stopped for people to catch up and a guy had asked exactly where we are going and he said it's just a little further. The guide did a head count. We start walking again for about 10 min and the guide stops to wait for people to again catch up. A person on a snowmobile pulls up and talks to the guide. The guide then says we are going to wait for everyone to catch up again. Once they do, he does another head count and then he tells us that we over-shot the attraction by about 200 ft. (more like 1/2 mile). He then says he is going to go back on the snowmobile to find the correct spot. WE NEVER SEE THIS GUIDE AGAIN!!!....He was probably scared that the 30 pissed off people were going to beat his ass! After walking back we finally see another guide by the main attraction and he has it lit up and it is not an ice cave, it's an archway and that is all. Not a cave like you see in the pics online. He jokingly says I hear you guys went a little too far....did you see any coyotes? People then start making the trek back to land in pairs, not in the group as a whole, some without any light. The people who were in the 6:30 group were arriving to the main feature just as we were leaving it. We are still wondering why the guide kept counting us when he completely ditched us! People could've fallen through the ice, slipped, broke something or busted their head and this tour guide company could've gave 2 shits about anybody's safety! Give us $65 and "may the odds ever be in your favor"! You are better off, going during the day on your own, for free! This tour was supposed to be about 2 1/2 hours and it took us 4 hours. Mileage was supposed to be about 3.4 miles and it was close to 5. We made the best of it and have a hilarious story to tell about a tour that really wasn't! ZERO STARS! read more

Wish I could give zero stars. DO. NOT. BOOK!!!! They also operate as Apostle Islands Kayak (no S, they are intentionally misleading to confuse with the reputable one). Completely disorganized, unprofessional and unsafe. Called a beginner cave tour at night, what a joke. Paddled about 4 miles, they do not take you to the caves (which are by the way nowhere close to Washburn where they launch). Supposed to be 2 hours and 3 hours in, 11pm, we're still in the middle of Lake Superior with the "guide" telling random stories. They weren't paying attention, not keeping the group together, not guiding at all. We were all experiencing kayakers so not worried for ourselves but definitely not for beginners and thank god no one flipped or got in trouble because these guys would likely not even have noticed. Please go somewhere, anywhere else. read more

We had Lisa and Jack on our Kayak tour today. They provided a great tour with safety brief before our tour. The tour was in and out of coves and sea caves. The weather was excellent for October. They gave great history and commentary to the rock formations and caves. I highly recommend the 2 hr kayak tour! Five Star the communication before the trip was also good. The called and texted to confirm our trip and the meet up location. Again highly recommended! read more

You can plan all you want, but when your reservation is all set up and the kayaks and guide do not.... kinda ruins your tip and vacation. Nice website, but it ends there. read more

This company made me so upset. I can't tell you what their tours are actually like because we didn't get to finalize our booking with them. They are SO UNRESPONSIVE! When reaching out to the number on their site, I never got to actually talk to someone. They did respond saying that reception is bad, please text. OK. Did that, it seemed like we may have been getting somewhere. I couldn't book the tour I wanted on their website (the Roman Caves one). They didn't have the date open that far in advance (note, this was a month ahead of when we were due to arrive). So I worked via text with someone and I assumed it was all kind of squared away when I got a Thumbs Up emoji. That's right folks. An emoji. But the date and time was indicated, so I thought, ok, maybe they are noting my phone number and I pay when I get there. I checked in about 2 weeks later just to make sure that our reservations were set since I did see that now you COULD book online, but the date and time that we previously established via text were not available. I tried calling, again got no answer. I sent a text asking someone to please call me when available. The answer I got was "I'm in an area with poor reception I can answer whatever questions you have by text". So I text back that I had been texting them about doing the Romans Point Tour and gave them the date and time that we worked out. I said I wanted to confirm that our spots were indeed reserved. Crickets. I literally responded right after the person wrote that they could answer whatever questions by text. Never heard back from them. We ended up booking with Whitecap Kayak (WK was amazing, I would recommend them for sure!). I would not waste your money on Bayfield Kayak. They definitely didn't seem to want the couple hundred we were willing to give them. read more

My three friends and I drove 5+ hours and rented a hotel room so that we could do the night kayaking tour. I tried multiple times to contact this company to ask questions about our tour but no one returned my call. We received an email telling us to be at the Red Cliff Casino at 7:45, 15 minutes prior to our tour. When we got there, we were surprised to see large heavy plastic tandem kayaks with no rudders. There were also no skirts or wet suits provided..(We were told that they aren't needed in the summer. The water was 53 degrees!). It was quite choppy with some white caps, and we were afraid to go out without rudders to steer. Meanwhile, there was a disagreement going on between the "guide" and the casino police, who said they were not allowed to launch from that site. We were told if we could wait until 10 pm, they would find a new launch site. We were also told we could go on a tour tomorrow or get a refund. Everything about this experience seemed fishy, and we walked away, relieved to be alive honestly. We did receive the full amount refunded to a credit card, but it was disappointing, especially since we had made special arrangements to be there. I would not use this this company. read more