We went on the Lower Dells jet boat adventure. This was our favorite part of our trip to The Dells!…read more The price for tickets is $37 per adult. But if you purchase them online you can get $6 off each adult ticket. The price is the same for the lower and upper dells tours. The lower dells tour seems to depart more frequently. The upper dells tour is a little longer. Parking was plentiful for the Lower Dells. There's bench while waiting for the next tour. Be prepared to be soaked. They don't sell ponchos. You will be drenched from the power stops. The spin outs are fun but not as wet. Literally every seat will be wet. No life jackets for adults but children are seated towards the center of rows and do get life jackets. Our tour guide Nate was great. He was very knowledgeable about the scenery. The rock formations are very pretty. Your tour guide gets very close to the rocks. One guy in the front row reached out and was able to touch it. It's a great activity to get a break from the heat. But you should have a change of clothes ready, a towel, a swimsuit on, or be prepared to go back to your hotel for a shower afterwards. It was well worth the ~$30 for the tour. We liked it so much we considered going on the upper dells tour the next day but the timing didn't work out since those tours are more limited.

Our visit to the Wisconsin Dells area began with a journey along the River Walk. To our left was…read morethe scenic Wisconsin River and towering above to our right was the tourist-trap laden Broadway. In between, the River Walk features stories of the citizens of the Dells from the past and present. The stories displayed along the walk perfectly lay out what the Dells are - A narrative of 'loving and protecting' the nature while operating an area that exists solely on the exploitation of said nature. This is where we meet our Upper Dells Boat Tour. The Dells Boat Tours leave from a handful of flights of stairs down from the River Walk to a dock on the river. An elevator from street level is available to access the docks as well. I brought our youngest down the stairs in my arms while my wife brought our other children down in the elevator. Arriving at the front of the dock I was refused a seat as my whole party had not arrived yet. I explained my wife was on route in the elevator and would be joining momentarily, this was met by the greeter with a "We know what we are doing." My wife explained when she made her way down that voyage on a boat was first come first serve and apparently the ability to sit served as a queueing mechanism. Sure! The boat ride itself? Comfortable enough. Old boat, river tour. You know what you are getting. The boat had access to two stops (Witch's Gulch, Stand Rock) for some interaction and up close views of the natural wonders formed in the area. At face value there, the whole tour was pretty good. Nice sites. About two hours of activity. To me though, the tour, and all of the Dells collapses underneath the weight of its own hypocrisy. The guide and captain both carried forward the "We know what we are doing" and "Loving and protecting nature" attitudes introduced at the beginning of this experience, while also contradicting themselves throughout. The tour references George H. Crandall, speaking lightly to his idea that 'No man can own the Dells' and his quest to purchase and preserve as much of the land as possible to promote stewardship over private exploitation. You are then dropped off at a raised platform hammered over the Witch's Gulch area to walk to a concession stand and souvenir shop built onto a paved area. Early on in the tour the guide points out and celebrates a carving into the rocks by Leroy Gates, an early entrepreneur operating Dells Boat Tours, advertising himself and his tours. Later in the tour at Stand Rock, security cameras and warning signs surround some exposed sandstone where curious tourists have etched initials over time. Also carved into that sandstone? Another concession stand where you can purchase a beer or a $55 sweatshirt. Now, I'm not encouraging carving into the rock but these messages feel mixed. Stand Rock also presented a bizarre presentation of a dog jumping over a 5.5 foot chasm up 46 feet in the air, to recreate a famous photograph taken by local H. H. Bennett in 1886. Bennett is celebrated for his early photography work documenting the Dells area and discovering many of the natural wonders. This beauty is yours because others before you loved it - and we honor them by hanging signs everywhere, selling slushies, and installing this safety net between rocks in case something happens when the dog jumps? One of the more disappointing tid-bits passed on by our guide was of the local Ho-Chunk people being formerly known as the Winnebago, which was a name they did not choose for themselves and was ultimately viewed as a slur. The Ho-Chunk had to fight for many years to have their name Federally recognized. This story was told in sort of a jokey fashion, with the English translation of Winnebago landing like a punch line. It was also mentioned later in the tour that one of the Dells Boat Tour vessels includes Winnebago in the name. Near the end of the tour we are pointed toward the Kilbourn Dam which is presented as a historic and wonderful achievement. The Dam split the Wisconsin River and raised the water level of the new 'Upper Dells', which concealed many of the natural structures H. H. Bennett had previously documented. He was a fierce critic of the Dam, and died the year it was built. I am not saying we shouldn't encourage preservation and take the opportunity in our lifetimes to preserve nature for future generations to enjoy. I have loved every visit to a National and State Park and we are teaching our children to do the same. What I would prefer, is that we pick a lane here. You either rally against defacing nature, or you pump tourists up and down a river to your concession stands every 1/2 hour. You know when you meet someone who isn't genuinely presenting as themselves and it makes the whole encounter feel weird? That is essentially the feeling I left the Dells and the Dells Boat Tour with. We declined leaving with a souvenir photo.

I would highly recommend Lake Wisconsin Cruises. We did a private charter this past Saturday for my…read moreBachelorette party and it was amazing. Everyone had a great time, plenty of room, we could bring snacks, there are bathrooms on board, and the staff was wonderful. We are already trying to plan a day to try one of the other cruises they offer. Can't wait to do it again!

What a great crew and you cannot beat the amazing views! It was a cloudy day and it was still…read moreawesome! Highly recommend!

I recently experienced the Best of the Lake Tour through the Lake Geneva Cruise Line. The boat had…read moretwo levels and both were shaded. They had a bar in the back for snacks, drinks, beer, and wine for sale to guests. Our tour was an hour long and went through the history of some of the lakefront houses, who used to own them, and how they are historic to the area. The tickets for this tour were $43 each and should be a must do when vacationing here. Be sure to check out the other tours offered as well as the Mailboat Tour! (Where the mail jumpers leap from the boat to deliver mail to the dockside mailboxes) Pro Tip: Sit on the right side of the boat if you can to get a better views of the homes.

Had the weekend off and decided to try something new, What a great experience with Lake Geneva…read moreCruise Line. Captain Jeff and crew were great. Highly recommend going on the cruise!!!

After moving to Lake Geneva I realized quickly that we needed to get out on the water. I reached…read moreout to a couple of places and the owner of Geneva Cruises (Thomas) responded quickly to set up a sunset cruise on Lake Geneva. We talked on the phone and were able to set up a time for our boat cruise. Meeting at the Riviera dock was easy (he called prior to let us know what he was wearing and what the boat looked like so it was easy to spot him). The boat ride was so enjoyable! We brought some snacks and wine to enjoy while we learned more about Lake Geneva and the houses in the area. The sunset was pretty spectacular too! Thanks Capt Thom! I look forward to another boat ride in the future.

We did a 4 hour boat tour today with Captain Thom and we had so much fun! We were celebrating a…read morebachelorette party, and Thom provided us a cooler with ice and some drinks also with room to add our own, a music Bluetooth hook up, beach towels, water floats, and sun screen! He even gave us all flowers to make a wish on for the bride, it was very sweet! Thom was really knowledgable about the lake and we enjoyed the interesting facts he shared about the various beautiful lakefront properties. We cruised around, toured the lake, and even got to float off the boat in the water! We could not recommend him enough! If we are ever back, we would love to take another trip with him! Thanks for a great day, Captain!

had a group of 14, alex and britney were literally so fun so awesome so amazing love them so much…read more i hope y'all intend to keep them because they're soooo amazing and truly did make the experience better. britney is iconic and alex is actually so hilarious with how he engaged with the big group. love them both!! tipped them great and I hope to see them again next year if we come again. :) pls show this to them so they know the yelp review was left.

These have been around for a very long time. Cool concept, a motor vehicle that goes in the water…read more You probably have seen them driving around downtown Dells. Seats are a little tight but other than that...a great time!

Wonderful 2 + hour boat ride on Lake Geneva! Such a fun afternoon on the amazing lake!read more

Jenny was great had an excellent experience! Very knowledgeable and easy going! got great food…read morerecommendations and bar recommendations for after boat trip 5 starts

This is a MUST do!! What a fun girls' night on McHenry Boat Adventures. Bring your own wine and…read morecheese tray. Fabulous way to catch up and view an amazing sunset. Owners are super friendly and hospitable. Loved every minute.

What a gem in downtown McHenry. Easy parking and super friendly staff. We went on an 80 minute…read moreboat ride with coworkers. What a great way to get on water. There was not a bad view from the boat.

We took the Fall Tour and it was great. Captain Troy was very informative and encouraged questions…read more The marh is beautiful and serene.

This is a Must-Do!! Our group of four loved the marsh boat tour/including two of us who were local!…read moreWe all enjoyed being out on the water and the beauty of the marsh. The two tourists in the group loved the history and learning about the area. The proprietors (husband and wife) were kind and welcoming.

Go with the best forget the rest. These guys are true professionals. Why ride in a tiny boat and…read moreget lost in the waves. Captain Charlie and first mate Johnny will get you on the pigs. It was our first time and their enthusiasm matched our own. No need to be nervous they will coach you. We landed everyone we hooked , great banter, beautiful boat, and they even clean the fish. Crack a cold one and rip some lips. Thank you again captain Charlie for the fish and thank you for your service to this country.

From the owner: Salmon charter fishing the Manitowoc/Two Rivers area of Lake Michigan in Wisconsin. If it's salmon…read morefishing you'd like to try, come experience this awesome adventure on the largest, most comfortable charter boat Manitowoc county has to offer. We plan your adventure with an attention to detail like it's our own. Give us a call and let's go on an adventure that will create life long memories!

Lily and ruby were great host. If I did it again I'd ask for them. They went out of there way to…read moremake sure we had a great time. They even laughed at our stupid jokes. The tour was about 2 hours long. And we hit three bars on state street and university ave area. We had a great time and The two groups before did as well. It was more work then we expected but with 10 or more people it was manageable. If you have a large group I suggest you go earlier or the wait time for dinks at each bar will eat into the number of places you can go to.

Cancelled our tour of 5 people, 2 hours before it happened. Super disappointed to say the least…read more Claimed there wasn't enough people for a public tour, we could have added people if we had known. Cancelled us for a private tour, just unprofessional. wasn't very kind on the phone