"Five of us rented a boat and paid a $200 deposit. (cash or check only) The evening we were to get the boat, the owner calls and says there is a wiring problem that they are working on and will try to get us the boat early the next morning. We talk to him the next morning and he says he is cancelling our rental. It has been 3 weeks and they will not answer the phone or return the $200 deposit." "cash or check only" should have been a red flag. read more

BIG SCAM - I got a call the day before my boat was to be delivered and was told the boat was being towed in. I got a call later that night stating the boat would be under repair the entire week I was expecting to use it. My $200 deposit has not been refunded and I can not get a return email, phone call or text. Now I know why he would not take a credit card for a deposit. I even offered to pay in full in advance as I was short on time to get them a check. He would not take it & said he had to have a check. I can't believe Seaside Vacations recommend this company. read more

We had reserved a boat to rent in July. They had to cancel the reservation because the previous renters damaged the boat. We were told we would receive our $200 deposit back. After about 6 weeks we still have not received it. We were told it was mailed in late July. Never received. They now refuse to take our calls and return any emails. I believe this is criminal. Do not ever rent from this company, unless you want to have your money taken from you. read more

We gave a $280 deposit to rent a power boat for 4 days. We were notified several weeks before the rental that the boat was taken out of the fleet due to mechanical issues. When we arrived to KDH, we got a call that the substituted boat had a mechanical issue and the parts were expected shortly. After four days, the excuses continued and the boat never did materialize.....neither did my $280 deposit. Despite numerous emails and phone calls, no response. Reported to the KDH Chamber of Commerce and the NC Attorney General's office based on how this guy does business. DANGER.....DO NOT GO HERE ! read more

The boat was not delivered as set forth in the rental agreement. I was told the boat was in an accident on the way for delivery. I was told I would receive my refund check in the mail. There has been little to know communication from the company and it has been almost two months and several emails to the company and I have not received a refund. I also have noticed that several other costumers have gotten the same excuse that the the boat was in an accident. This company may be a big scam.... BEWARE!!!!!! read more

This business is a scam. Many other reviews claim damage immediately prior to delivering the boat, hence no boat is delivered. Despite repeated calls and his promise of a refund, no refund has been given and no calls have been returned. read more

I rented a boat with Big Wave boat rentals for my family to use during a summer trip to Nag's Head in North Carolina. We are all big into fishing, water skiing, and other water sports. Having a boat for the week seemed like a great investment! I worked with BigWave Boat Rentals to secure the 24' power boat and everything seemed perfect. I discussed our desire to have full access to a boat for fishing, cruising, water sports, etc. I was told that another family was also interested in that boat and that since I contacted him first I got "First Crack", with an expiration of the next day. I quickly rented the boat and placed my 200$ deposit via phone. Within hours, I received a confirmation email for my week rental, along with disclaimers of what I can and cannot do while on the boat. The restrictions would have prevented us from doing anything with the boat aside from inlet fishing. This is not what we discussed on the phone, and within 24 hours I called to cancel my reservation. I was promptly told that I had already placed a deposit and would not receive a refund on it until the boat re-rented. I was frustrated in that BigWave never once told me on the phone that I could not use the boat for water sports, tubing, etc. I was more frustrated that instead of sending me a disclaimer to sign first prior to charging my card, which would have let me know this boat wasn't for me, he charged my card immediately and send the disclaimer second. Lastly, since I had found the error within 24 hours of the original rental, I assumed that BigWave would be more than happy to return the deposit minus any processing fees. All good businesses have at least a 24 hour grace period on returns and reservations extending little to no cost to the customer. When I called and asked, BigWave told me that I would not receive my 200$ until the boat re-rents. They stood firm, stating that their website says they dont give deposits until the boat re-rents, and blamed me for not knowing the laws and ordinances of NC that prohibit water sports. I was also told that I should have read their entire website prior to calling to rent a boat, as the disclaimers were provided there. I called to make this reservation because I prefer talking to a person that can help me make a good choice on what will be best for my family vacation. Instead I got a predatory salesman who took my money and cannot provide the service that I asked for. I highly suggest that any other vacationers be very careful when renting from BigWave. If possible, speak to one of the other boat rental companies in the area that cares about your customer experience and will help you to rent something suitable for your interests. Also, make sure disclaimers are provided to you for signature prior to being rushed into submitting any deposits!!! Edit: In regards to the owners reply, Yes the confirmation email from my deposit said no water sports - Unfortunately that information was needed PRIOR to me paying!!! This was the first time I had ever seen or heard that, and upon reading it I immediately asked for a refund. We spoke for nearly an hour about the rental, and whether or not Dave remembers, I told him my whole family (10+) people were major water people who ski, tube, fish, etc. I told him we wanted to have full access to do any of these activities, hence why we were renting the boat for the whole week instead of just one or two days for fishing. There is a huge problem that the disclaimers came after the deposit was taken, all of this would have been avoided if Dave had been honest with me on the phone prior to my giving him my credit card details. As for the information being on his website, it is there. When i call an owner, I hope they will tell me the important pieces of information critical to my desires and requests. Please view his website and see how difficult it is to find the information he believes I should have already known. I think its crazy that Dave is blaming the customer for not reading every part of his webpage prior to calling him. I'm sorry, but I much prefer to talk to a person to get the information I need! http://www.outerbanksboatrentals.com/rentalpowerboats.htm read more

WORST EXPERIENCE EVER! TOTAL SCAM! Booked the 5 day boat rental with Dave months prior and the day before delivery he calls to tell me has a problem with the boat and he will keep me posted. My family and I had spent more to rent a house with a dock to accommodate the boat. The day of delivery - I hear nothing. He doesn't answer my calls and finally texts me late afternoon saying I told you it wouldn't be ready. He then suggests I rent another boat 25 miles away for only 2 days and more $$ or provide a refund. 2 days later I have to call from a different number to get him to answer. He tells me the part will be here late Tuesday and he could possibly salvage 2 days by the end of the week. I never hear from him again! Come to find out - the boat was booked in another person's name the same week. After some research; concluded he went with another booking because I booked the boat months prior with his website discount. VERY DISHONEST PERSON!!! read more

For my families Outer Banks vacation last summer I decided to rent a boat instead of towing ours to the beach from our home in Ohio. I found several boat rentals there, the selection of boats to rent were all pontoons except for bigwave boat rentals who advertised nice center consoles and cuddy cabin walk-around boats. I called them and discussed with them my experience, where we could dock the boat and info about the ones they had available at that time. I reserved the 24 foot Sea Pro walkaround and made a reservation to slip it for the week in Pirates Cove Marina. I have to say everything they do is detail oriented, from when they met us at the launch ramp, to the test ride, securing it in the marina slip, the rental paperwork and the fishing. We caught fish in the bays and one of the days we hired them to take us deep sea fishing. My son caught a citation sized Dolhphin and a Wahhoo. We had a great time using their boat and enjoyed being on the water. Thank you Big Wave Boat Rental, we will be back this summer! read more

I've been going to the Outer Banks for over twenty years and have rented boats on an hourly and part-day basis before, and got what I expected. In August of 2014 I decided to take the leap and do a four-day rental, so I called Big Wave. I got a return call from Dave the owner very quickly. He was helpful and informative. The reservation process was simple. When we arrived I checked in with Dave and all was good. On the morning that the rental was to be delivered we spoke and there was a problem with some of the electronics on the boat I had wanted, the 22'. Dave didn't want the boat going out, even though the problem was seemingly insignificant and didn't impact the safety or performance of the craft. Instead Dave reached out and got me upgraded to the 24' for the same price. He and the boat's owner delivered the craft and went over all of the paperwork and operations of the boat's systems. A brief test drive and a quick proficiencies test and I was good to go. It was reassuring to know that they are not just dropping a boat off and letting just anyone use it. I had to go through various maritime procedures and knowledge before it was turned over to me. Yeah there's lots of paperwork, but it was very well explained. Overall the experience was terrific. The 24' was exceptionally well maintained and very well equipped. I will certainly do this again and would recommend Big Wave without a moment's hesitation. read more