We booked a pontoon for an hour through Pine Knot Marina for the Labor Day weekend. The staff was friendly and helpful in showing us how to drive the pontoon. They even offered to let us use their manual wheelchair so we could wheel my son down the ramp to the boat, and just left the wheelchair in the pontoon so he could come back up after the boat ride. Everyone had a great time roaming around the lake. Would have loved to ride for 2 hours - just have to book it earlier in advance when it is available !! They also offer jet skis for rent, and paddle boards, and kayaks on a first come first serve basis. read more

Pine Knot Marina - Pontoon time!! - Marinas Near Me - Big Bear Lake, California

I selected this marina because I thought it would be less busy. Not only was the staff accommodating but the boats were much newer than all other locations. We had a wonderful time will definitely come back . read more

Pine Knot Marina - Big Bear lake - Marinas Near Me - Big Bear Lake, California

We went on the Miss Liberty and had a great time on the tour. The captain is funny and well versed in the history of Big Bear. The older girl in the galley seems to not want to be there but the younger one was very nice and helpful. The galley is nicely stocked with a good selection of snacks and drinks. The reason it's not 5 stars is the confusion with where to go. There is a sign just before Pine Knot Ave that says boat rentals however the office for boat rentals is actually on Pine Knot Ave. read more

words of advice!! They are SCAMMERS and do NOT rent from them!! They WILL say something is wrong with the boat even though nothing is wrong. Disgusting business!! I will be filing a formal complaint with the city. read more

We had a very disappointing experience at Pine Knot Marina. Before going, we had read many negative reviews about unfair charges, so we were careful and even took photos of the jet skis to avoid being blamed for prior damage. Here's what happened: we rented two jet skis for 30 minutes, and two more for 1 hour. Nowhere did they explain or clearly mark which jet ski was tied to which rental period. We just took the ones that were given to us. When we returned two after 30 minutes and the other two after 1 hour, they suddenly accused us of keeping the 30-minute rentals for an hour. In the end, they unfairly charged us a $500 penalty, Overall, this was one of the worst customer service experiences we've had. The lack of clear instructions, combined with the unprofessional attitude, left a very bad impression. I would strongly caution others to think twice before renting here. There are plenty of other marinas in Big Bear, and I would not recommend Pine Knot Marina to anyone. read more

Absolutely the worst experience we've ever had in Big Bear. We booked a jet ski rental at Pine Knot Marina despite seeing so many negative reviews online. When we called ahead to ask about those reviews, they told us not to worry--that they weren't real or only rare situations. Unfortunately, everything written in those reviews happened to us exactly. * They took our entire deposit without explanation, claiming some vague "reason" that was never clearly communicated. * There was no damage to the equipment, yet they refused to explain why we were charged. * The staff and management were incredibly rude and dismissive--they wouldn't even provide names when we asked, and the manager was the worst of all. * Instead of professional customer service, we were treated with disrespect and arrogance. As residents of Orange County who frequently visit Big Bear, this was by far the most unprofessional and disappointing experience we've ever had with any rental company. We will never rent from Pine Knot Marina again, and I strongly advise anyone considering them to look elsewhere. read more

We were almost scared off by the negative reviews but are so glad we decided to try it out ourselves. Our family of 4 rented 2 wave runners and the staff was extremely helpful throughout our experience - from helpful tips during booking through showing us how to operate the wave runners through checking out. Everything went smoothly and we had a great time. Would absolutely rent from them again. read more

I wanted to rent a pontoon boat for 1 hour . This marina is right next to my hotel , so decided to give it a try . I had been on their website "boat rentals at pine knot marina" Not only was the price charged much different than shown , but didn't get the 15% discount advertised. I did not have my phone to check , so I paid and came back the next day with my phone. I was told that website is 9 years old and no longer accurate. However no one has removed it in 9 years , still looks valid. Very disappointed, unless something changes we won't be back! read more

Pine Knot Marina - Information on one of their websites - Marinas Near Me - Big Bear Lake, California

Busy weekend, I called / checked a bunch of places... finally found a "high performance tri-toon" pontoon boat that met our time preferences... booked online without checking reviews (which are horrible). We didn't find anyone unpleasant, place was mobbed and employees were nice enough. Equipment is all 100% haggard, not a nice or clean boat in the fleet. Bottom of the barrel as far as lake rentals go in big bear. That said, we made best of it and it was a lovely day on water. There are much better options, but, this place works in a pinch. Take a video of boat before you leave and you should be ok if you don't break rules or run boat into shallow water / grass / reeds. read more

Don't rent from this place at all. Please read the reviews, they are real. We didn't pay attention to this many bad reviews thought it's exaggerated, but it was so true. Our group rented two jet skis. One was supposed to be 30 minutes and the other 1 hour, but this was never explained to us when we checked in. We ended up riding them in reverse--brought one after 30 minutes and the other after 1 hour. Sure but Instead of being understanding about their lack of explanation, they took our entire deposit without proof or fair reasoning. When we asked for clarification, staff and management were rude, unhelpful, and refused to explain. This was not our mistake--it was their poor communication. Losing the full deposit over this is unfair and dishonest. Avoid this place. read more

Scam, please read all the negative reviews. They are all right, we should have listened. They charge you extra for the services they don't provide. They keep your deposits and find a way to charge your credit card. Don't go.... read more

The employees could improve by learning basic professionalism, respect, and customer service. Instead of acting like they're doing everyone a favor just by being there, they could actually explain things clearly, treat people decently, and not talk down to paying customers. If the staff dropped the attitude and remembered they're running a business -- not a high school clique -- this place might actually be worth visiting. On top of that, they shouldn't even be running a boat rental business if they can't provide the absolute basics: a map, clear rules, straightforward instructions, or vessels that are actually maintained. Instead, customers are left guessing where they can and can't go, what the rules even are, and whether the boat will hold up while out on the water. Pair that with their rude, dismissive staff and it's obvious this place cares more about taking your money than offering a safe or enjoyable experience. ZERO STARS read more

We rented a pontoon boat at 10:00 AM with 3 people onboard. Prior to our rental, we were told we could not dock the boat to pick up others. Fair enough. We met up with another boat on the lake and safely transferred more people onto ours--no docking involved. About 30 minutes into the rental, the boat completely stopped working. We called for help, and shortly after, the manager on duty sped out to us. From the moment he arrived, his attitude was shockingly unprofessional. The first words out of his mouth were, "We have an issue." Thinking he was referring to the boat malfunction, we lightly laughed and said, "Yeah, we do." Instead, he immediately began scolding us for having more people on the boat than when we first left the dock, accusing us of docking and breaking the rules--something we never did. We had kids and older family members with us, doing absolutely nothing wrong, yet we were spoken to like we were intentionally causing trouble. He then said he was canceling our rental and ordered us to return the boat. We had to ask what was even wrong with the boat--it turns out it had nothing to do with us; it was a mechanical issue on their end. Back at the dock, we tried to clarify the situation with another staff member who originally helped us. When we explained we met up with another boat but never docked, he suddenly claimed he told us to stay 100 feet away from any other boat. That was never said--he only mentioned keeping 100 feet away from a red or white flagged boat. I gave him credit for that, but the rest felt like they were just making things up to cover themselves. We asked for the name of the manager who came out and was incredibly rude (dark hair, nose piercing), but of course, they refused to give it. We were left feeling disrespected, uncomfortable, and like we'd been treated unfairly on what was supposed to be a relaxing vacation. Just like others have said in reviews, I'll be writing to the city directly to file a formal complaint. This was completely unacceptable and unprofessiona read more

From shortly after the moment we boarded and set out, it was obvious that the vessel wasn't maintained. There were visible signs of that -- a throttle and reverse gear that would not work the way it's originally supposed to be, uneven acceleration and noises not consistent with a smooth running engine that made many of us uneasy. What's worse, not a single crew member conducted a safety briefing or demonstrated the use of life jackets (which, by the way, looked in poor shape). Many of us had prior experience with boating and the group was already excited about this, which is the only reason we decided to go on. It was shocking to see staff so disengaged from basic maritime safety protocols. No communication, no guidance in case of emergency, and no evidence of any inspection certifications onboard. The map they provided did not even had the basic markings or highlighting that will ensure a safe and timely return. It was as if they wanted to us run over time so they can charge overtime (which we did not since we kept track of land marks and planned the return very early on). Everything felt reckless and deeply unprofessional. I strongly advise others to reconsider using this service. There are other services in the same area that do better service. Until they prioritize safety and maintain their vessels to an acceptable standard, this operation is a risk to its passengers. read more

People please be aware that this company will blame you for anything wrong with their boats! They will take your $300 deposit if they find something wrong. They claim to take photos and if something is loose, or is broken that you had no part of, they do not care and blame you for it! DO NOT USE company for your water sport rentals!! read more

All the reviews are right! STAY AWAY FROM THIS PLACE!!!! Terrible experience from start to finish. Our group rented jet skis and we were told not to trust the negative reviews online because they were "rare" or "not true." That was a complete lie. What happened to us was exactly what those reviews described. They took our full deposit without justification, never showing proof of any issue. Staff were unprofessional, rude, and dismissive, refusing to explain why we were charged. read more

It's a great Boat Dock and we have enjoyed it for years. We recently had to sell it because we just don't get up there very much anymore. Gerri read more

STAY AWAY !!!! We read the reviews about this being a scam but thought by taking enough photos and videos of the jet skis we could avoid losing our deposit but they still found a loop hole to scam us. We had two 30 min appts and two 1 hour ones. They did not tell us it made a diff which jet ski we got on and proceeded to charge us $500 without any real explanation. DO NOT be fooled , they will scam you and take your money . read more

Before using their jet skis, make sure to take photos of everything they show you prior to signing. Yesterday my family rented four 2-person jet skis. It seems like a scam. They charge a lot of money for old, poorly maintained jet skis. Less than 10 minutes after starting the jet ski, a man yelled at us horribly and threatened that we should stop the jet ski immediately, saying you had broken the rules. Now that I think about it, it seems that it was a groundwork to extort our deposit money. It was our first time riding a jet ski, so we are very scared and ride very slowly, and even the 3 of jet ski's instrument panel were set to KMH. They should provide a proof that we are driving more than 5 MPH. They insisted that we all went over 5 MPH, and after seeing one of them docking unnaturally, they claimed that the jet ski had been severely damaged. They also claimed that they could not return the full deposit. We were planning to finish our trip with the jet skis and return home after a fun time but now, we are preparing to stop the card payments and take legal actions. Fortunately, my mom has a lot of photos and videos as evidence. I immediately wrote a review hoping that there will be no more scam victims as soon as we returned home. read more

Pine Knot Marina - When we asked for jet ski photos of before-riding, they emailed me blurry, low-quality photos. - Marinas Near Me - Big Bear Lake, California

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Staff was amazing and totally friendly. Boats were well taken care of and had a great time.

Pontoon was great! Looked new and ran great! Dock staff was great (very friendly), front desk girl not so much.

Please DO NOT RENT HERE, whatever you do, DO NOT RENT FROM PINE KNOT MARINA. They will scam you for the $300 deposit. The jet skiis we rented were old and busted, they charged us the deposit for damages that were not caused by us with picture proof and audio proof but they still will charge you because of the contract you sign before hand. THEY WILL SCAM YOU. I thought the previous reviews were exaggerating but they're not. They will find any excuse to charge you the $300 deposit because they are not making money here. read more

Horrible experience! Employees are extremely rude and unprofessional!! We rented jet skis for a family vacation, their website says they offer jet skis fitting up to 2 people. When we came, they said there was a weight limit and they didn't have any other jet skis to fit us. Extremely rude and unprofessional business! read more

We selected this place for a pontoon rental because of the newer fleet options. The rental was easy and all personnel were super friendly. The boat was only 3 years old and was perfect to cruise around the entire lake with our dog. My only suggestion is the option for extending a rental. We wanted to extend an extra hour from our 4 hour rental but were told there was no 5 hour rental price. I said isn't it $100 per hour extra to an existing rental and they said no. No problem, it was later in the day and hard to find shade in the boat on a hot day, so we took it back about 10 mins late with no charge (thank you guys). On the rental contract it says " Return Time Policy: $100 Per Hour over return time plus rental rate." So to me I was like ok cool it is worth an extra $100 to bring it back at 6 instead of 5, but was told no. Again, no complaints, we had a great time, but that quote is a little unclear/misleading on late returns. This boat was in like new condition, a nice change from the many other aging pontoons on the lake. Well worth it, we might even rent again tomorrow for another half day! read more

Pine Knot Marina - Marinas Near Me - Big Bear Lake, California

Booked the liberty Queen tour. It was a nice tour but no one told us that we had to pay $40.00 parking fee for 90 minute tour on July 4th. Unacceptable!!! read more

They ripped us off. Boats are not maintained and they will put the blame on customers when they return the boat and will refuse to give back the deposit. Seems as though they are trying to take security deposits from customers to pay for repairs for their boats. If you do use them, make sure you, yourself, triple check everything otherwise it's your word against theirs and their answer will be " tours assumed liability, you gotta pay". Hopefully they get shut down for horrible business practices. read more

Don't rent a boat here. Boats here are ripped off and in worst condition. Staffs are very rude, agressive and disrespectful. We had a TERRIBLE experience at this place. It's not worth the money you pay. BEWARE. read more

Rented a luxury boat here and loved it! Nice staff, everything went smoothly. Will be back!

rented a bot for an hour while staying in big bear. Easy on line reservation and very reasonably priced. Staff were helpful when we got there and explained everything well. $20 to park in the lot which was a lot but it is what it is:) Highly recomend, and 1 hour was enough to tour around the lake. That is all we wanted to do. read more

This was a terrible experience. I found on Yelp that many others have had similar experiences. The staff was very rude, constantly yelling and making you feel like everything you did was stupid. Shockingly, they canceled our reservation within half an hour, claiming we broke their rules, and refused to refund any fees. It's a place where you feel mistreated and unable to speak up due to their aggressive behavior. read more

Expected quality service and was severely disappointed. Attendant messed up our reservation for a boat by creating a reservation for 2:30a instead of 2:30p. Marina isn't even open at 2:30a. Our boat was given away and zero effort was made to remedy the egregious oversight by offering subpar jet skis (only offered 3 when we are a party of 4) in an attempt to "make it worth our money". Initial reservation setup was incredibly frustrating due to a lack of technological understanding of their own equipment. read more

I wouldn't recommend renting a boat from them on July 4th. They were more expensive than Big Bear Marina and Halloway Marina plus that it was BS that they charged me $40 parking then the parking lot was so packed it took over an hour to exit the parking lot. Also, the boat we rented the lights didn't work. Overall not the best experience. Only good part employee were nice. read more

The staff at Pine Knot Marina are so awesome! All of the staff members are extremely friendly, helpful, and very caring. My family and I had a wonderful experience on the jet skis. I definitely recommend this marina, we will definitely be coming back soon. read more

Do NOT rent from this place. Worst experience ever. We had to last minute cancel our reservation due to bad weather. It started pouring rain in the morning so therefore we were unable to go out. We drove down there to get our deposit back and talk to the manager. Thinking this would be common sense to get our money back due to the circumstances being out of our control. The girl at the front desk was very nice but when we asked for the manager he came up from the dock. When we asked for a refund due to weather he then proceed to get extremely confrontational and claimed we agreed to a contract we were never presented with. When we preceded to tell him we never received a contract he said giving them our credit card was a form of "signature" although they never stated that on the phone. He then told us the contract is pasted on the building (on the back side that nobody can see). The problem wasn't the money, we would have been fine with it but it was his demeanor that made the experience horrible. NEVER rent from this place please find somewhere else that is respectable. They are not deserving of your money. read more

Just had a nice boat ride with friends, and it was great until our "little helper" RAY who was definitely on DRUGS and should Not be working with customers when you can see he was coming down on something ... not a good look for your establishment!!! HOWEVER Thomas saved the day for This place ... extremely empathic and helpful!! Not a good look on ray, I would get rid of him before he ends up getting you guys sued on your dime... read more

Rented a pontoon boat tat was very old and tired, should be retired. I paid full price but apparently I was not lucky enough to get one of the new boats that rented for the same price. Do not use the online rental system call and make sure they will guarantee you with the newer boats or don't rent from them. The older boat was in horrible condition had problem with the prop cavitating and tilter trimmed to solve the problem it was in such bad shape. It was almost a joke that they would take pictures of it to determine whether they might keep my deposit. To top it off after paying $273 for a two hour rental for a junkie old boat. I had to pay $20 for parking because apparently they don't have any control over the marina that they rent their boats from. The nice young lady in the rental office made a point a couple days earlier that they do not charge for gas unlike many of the other rental places. Do yourself a favor and pay for the gas and get a better boat somewhere else. Beautiful afternoon on the lake and the boat floats other than that not much good to say about this rental company read more

These local scammers take advantage of tourists. This place must be getting hit hard and not taking care of their employees because they're pulling this scam. The guy showed me a paper that the boat was in good condition before we took off, but never showed me the prop. I signed it, thinking it better be good, I'm about to go on it with my family. Then when I returned it, they told me I bent the propeller. There is no way that happen because we were fishing at the dam in the middle. It's pretty deep there. If you use their run down boats make sure you take pictures of everything they show you before you sign anything, at the end they will try to blame you for their busted boats then up charge you, you can't do anything about it. It felt like I was getting scammed, They told me depending on the damage it could be $300-$450 but because the propeller was bent, $125. They already charge a lot for a boat that doesn't go over 5 mph, you can't know because the cluster (speedometer) is broken, it also has screws on the deck for you step on, and always feels like the gear is slipping from neutral to reverse and back to drive. I will never recommend this place. If you're looking at this place, be aware they pull these tactics. read more

Stopped of here to check it out. We will come back next time we are out here. We took a nice walk with the kids and it was beautiful day. There was still some snow left and let the kids run around the park area. We Need to plan better next time we are up here for the weekend. read more

Pine Knot Marina - Marinas Near Me - Big Bear Lake, California

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Staff was extremely helpful and very friendly throughout the entire day. I would highly recommend this company.

Beware: you cannot swim off the boat. Yes, I'm serious...once you step on you can only step back off onto their dock. You do not find this out until you are there signing out the boat (i.e. committed, basically). I'm sorry but I feel like this should be made known beforehand. I looked around their website to make sure I didn't miss something and couldn't find that fact. Obviously hidden since boats/swimming kind of go together. Oh, and if you think you'll just beach the boat, think again...in their FAQ section, under "Can we park the pontoon on the beach?" the answer is "No, this is not allowed by Municipal Water District or Pine Knot Marina." Boats: in okay shape, lots of wear and tear but not a disaster. Personnel: dock workers pretty nice and helpful. Price: a 22 foot pontoon is $125 for 1 hr, $210 for 2, $330 for 4, etc. Slightly high I think. I don't know why you'd want to spend more than an hour out on the water you can't even swim in though. Lame. read more