If you are interested in Apostle Island kayaking, this is the place to go! Troy, and his family-run…read morebusiness provided everything we needed to feel safe and confident. The views! The laughs! My family will be making this our annual trip. It was a beautiful experience. Thank you Rustic Mukwa Den.

We booked a sea caves kayak tour with Rustic Makwa over Labor Day weekend, and my experience could…read morehave definitely been better. The good - Our guide was excellent - he showed great care in talking about safety while on land, he was patient with the people on the tour who were new to kayaking, and he made sure to lead us to all the sea caves and point out great pictures spots without making the tour feel rushed. The experience on the water was good, and the beauty of the sea caves is just breathtaking. The bad - The communication prior to the start of the tour. We arrived at Meyers Beach around 15 minutes before our 3 PM tour (per the instructions in the confirmation email), and we did not see anyone there associated with Rustic Makwa. Time passes until 2:55, and we still do not see anyone. I check my email: nothing. I eventually call the phone number on the email, and I am assured the guide is "on his way, will be there shortly after 3". We waited until about 3:10, and nobody had arrived. I call the number again and am told that the guide will be there by 3:20. We wait until 3:30, and I text the number: I am told the guide is close by. Finally, around 3:40, just as we are about to leave, our guide finally arrived. Apparently, the guide was waiting for the winds to die down a bit before starting the tour - hence the delay. While I appreciated the tour's commitment to safety, the lack of communication was disheartening. There were only three groups on our tour. The time it would have taken to update us on the tour's current conditions/status (via email/text/phone call) would not have taken long. I understand the weather is unpredictable, and it isn't easy to make the call sometimes on whether or not tours can safely be conducted. However, providing information and updates (without having me chase the information down) would have allowed us to better use our limited time in Bayfield by not having us wait in the parking lot area for almost an hour.

Confused about all the negative reviews. The company texted me the day of with specific directions…read moreregarding launch point. Our guide Tyler was very safe and knowledgeable. We had a great time!

Here is my google review…read more 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.

Here is my google review. This is the same company…read more 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.

Terrible communication. Txt only dispatch. They have a similar name to another company and sent me…read morearound three spots and no showed every single one of them.

Kayaked out to the sea caves yesterday and had a fabulous day!! Jared was our guide and he provided…read moretop-notch service before, during, and after the tour! Highly recommend taking a paddle with this company if you're in the area!

Had a wonderful trip our first time sea kayaking, would definitely do it again! Jared was a…read morefantastic guide, and enjoyed the experience of a small operator vs a big group. The sea caves are gorgeous and other-worldly. Highly recommend!

We had an amazing time on the sea cave kayak tour with our family. From check in, to the adventure,…read moreeveryone was super kind, and informative. Highly recommend. A+

what an experience! our tour guides were wonderful and fun. it was a once in a lifetime experienceread more

We did the half-day sea cave tour and it was really cool! Our guides, Paul and Tony, were great!…read moreSuper friendly and knowledgeable about the caves and the area in general and very safety conscious. If you are used to only paddling rivers, and lakes that are not Lake Superior, be ready for a workout. If you don't kayak a lot, I'd recommend the half day option. It was a great day! Highly recommend!

My husband and I had so much fun on our full-day tour! It was the main basis of our trip, and was…read moreone of our favorite parts. It was strange that they have a whole packing list on their website, but then they said in person that it would be better to bring as little as possible. We thought it would be fine to still bring our bags, but we think it ended up weighing down our kayaks (along with the things the tour guides packed in our kayaks for everyone's lunches like water jugs). Anyway, we ended up being pretty slow (even though I have quite a bit of experience with kayaks), which made things a bit stressful when they kept yelling at us to keep up. The lunch they provided was delicious and the sights were beautiful! It's just hard to be with a group when they're on a time crunch and want us to keep paddling when we want to stop and look at things, but there's not really another option if you're unfamiliar with the wind/weather/current patterns. Overall, it was a good experience, and we bought some nice embroidered sweatshirts after at their store!

We went on a 5 hour tour with the captain, Marlin. He was very informative and good natured. He…read morereally turned the experience into an extraordinary experience. the scenery was gorgeous!

We had a fantastic time. There was a small group of us, and…read morethat's cause it was the end of the 2nd week of October. We got to actually sail the ship and enjoy being 'sailors.' I think our sailor/tour guide's name was Matt and he deserves recognition. He takes great photos. The cost was worth it for me because of the experience, and the small group size. This does cost more than the Apostle Islands Tour, but it's almost like a private sailing session. I would advise sunscreen due to exposure, even if you're not white. We were fortunate that autumn had a late ending, until the start of the 3rd week of October. Peak colors and perfect weather.

We had a great time on the kayaking around Devil's island. No problems with the boats, the tour…read morewas split between several guides (about 4-5 kayaks/guide) and the information on the island and cave formations were interesting.

We booked a Friday morning kayaking tour of Devil's Island. On Thursday night they sent us an…read moreemail saying they were having some electrical issues but would keep us posted if it would affect our tour. As we never head another word, we arrived at the scheduled time only to be told that our trip had been canceled and they wouldn't be able to reschedule us on Saturday, Sunday or Monday (when we had to return home) and no other kayaking tours in the area were still running. As no other customers arrived for the tour and the wait lists were full, it was pretty clear that the other people signed up for our tour had been notified of the cancelation in advance. As we drove over 500 miles to kayak the sea caves, this was EXTREMELY disappointing and they made absolutely no effort to help us find other arrangements. At the end of the day, it turned out to be a blessing as we wound up booking a last minute wonderful private speed boat tour of Bear and Devil's Island with Rift & Ripple Island Tours that turned out be be cheaper, covered a lot more ground without battling challenging waves with a kayak, and still provided an intimate tour in and round the best sea caves in the area. I would definitely not book Aposte Islands Kayaking again and would highly recommend Peter & Ashley and Rift & Ripple Island Tours instead.