Definitely the worst rental business I have ever seen, and not safe either. Actually, it was a nightmare. On Sunday May 17, 2015 my gf and me decided to rent a kayak at this place because of its proximity to Hudson River. The woman who took my credit card and my driving license as a deposit, gave us a map of the river and explained, that we start on the creek, and it will take us about 15 minutes to get to the Hudson river, after that we can paddle either North or South on the river for a couple of hours or more. An old man (as we found out later, the owner of this business) gave us a kayak. Nobody notified us that during the low tide it would be impossible to get back from the Hudson river to the creek to return the kayak. It took us about 15 minutes to get to the river, then we paddled south for about 45 minutes, and then back towards the creek. But now, in about 1.5 hours after the start of the trip, the water became so shallow because of the low tide, that it was impossible to get back to the creek. We got stuck in about 200 yards from the creek. The water everywhere got so shallow, we could see the bare feet of seagulls standing everywhere. It was impossible to wade in water either, because of the swamp-like river bottom, which sucked in my leg immediately when I tried to step on that mad. Of course, we could paddle back to the river, or wait for the high tide, but we had to return the kayak by 5 pm. Starting at 4 pm, I have called Paradise Boats multiple times and left multiple messages, asking for their advice what to do in this situation, and to let them know that probably it will be impossible to return the kayak by 5 p.m. Nobody ever answered my calls and messages. In about an hour, inch by inch, and with enormous efforts, we were able to get to the creek. All our clothes and faces in mud, we finally returned the kayak, but we were 15 minutes late: it was 5:15 pm.
What followed after the return of the kayak, was even worse than the trip itself. The owner of the business, instead of apologizing for our troubles (of course he knew that we would be unable to come back to the creek of the coming low tide!) and unanswered phone calls, started shouting at us for the late return, and even used F* words. Finally, he tried to overcharge me $10, and when I refused to pay this extra 10 bucks, he said that he would call the police. I said: Go ahead. He called police, but the police officer who arrived, after making his own investigation, did not see the reason for the extra $10 charge either, so he allowed me not to sign that credit card slip with the wrong charge, and recommended to apply to the Better Business Bureau, and dispute the charge with the credit card, if it still gets charged by the business owner. Then the owner asked me to pay $6 extra, instead of $10 extra. This money extortion was really ridiculous. Of course, I did not agree, but the owner charged my credit card with the full overcharged amount of $10 even without my signature and against my will. Of course, I disputed that charge with my credit card company, but the Sunday was ruined completely, and I would definitely recommend to stay far away from this so-called "business". read more