We can't recommend Sewell's Marina enough. They really took care of us on a highly packed traffic day in Vancouver. We were scheduled for a shuttle pick up from our hotel at 12:30 pm, but due to a marathon most streets in Vancouver were blocked to traffic. We were stuck on Granville Island and had no way to get back to our hotel in time. A call to Sewell's, and they sent a cab to pick us up at their expense and got us to our boat tour on time! The Sea Safari tour was outstanding. We got outfitted in our survival suits and they also provided gloves, hats, and eye protection if you need them. All you need to bring is your camera and you sit back and enjoy a two hour high speed boat tour of Howe Sound. We saw seals, sea lions, multiple bald eagles and a large variety of other birds. The guides are knowledgeable and really made sure we were comfortable and had a good time. This was our last activity on our vacation and it was an excellent way to round out our trip. read more

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Okay, I'm not a tour kind of guy, and usually I avoid any organized behavior on a holiday. However, the British Columbia coast is simply magnificent, and how bad can two hours on a boat be on a gorgeous day in July? Well, Sewell's "Sea Safari" surpassed any of my pre conceptions, and I had a simply fantastic experience. The loquacious Bruce picked us up at our hotel, and we were entertained on our 25 minute ride from downtown to Horseshoe Bay. After donning the ridiculous looking survival suits and laughing at ourselves, we hopped on to the inflatable zodiac for our journey into Howe Sound. The two hours flew by as we marveled at the incredible scenery. The Vancouver area has been truly blessed. At times our guide and captain did doughnuts with the zodiac, and we all screamed with delight. Nature lovers will enjoy seeing rare birds and seals along the way. I'm not much of a nature boy, but the soaring mountains, coves and cliffs, were astonishing to view from the water. The people on our boat were worldly and fun to be with, helping to make the experience comforting. We had a great time, and I recommend this tour wholeheartedly. read more

Sewell's Marina - Gorgeous - Boat Tours Near Me - West Vancouver, British Columbia

What a great place to rent a boat from! Just down the marina from the Starbucks and village restaurants is a small building on the dock (first door is the employee entrance!) and around the corner you'll find an entrance to a store full of souvenirs and the desk to checkout a boat. The girl who worked with me was super friendly and gave me a map that I could annotate with her suggestions and information about amounts of time it would take to get from place to place on the map. We got to see the seals sunning themselves on the rocks and then we sped around a bit before tying up in Snug Cove for a washroom and snacks stop. The 17' 60hp boat was exactly what we were looking for, though it was a bit scary in the choppier waters. The price to rent these boats is very fair and the people who work here are very helpful and friendly. The only thing I would say was risky was that we told them we would be out for 3-4 hours and they have us a boat with only enough fuel for 4 hours in it. This was a bit anxiety provoking and we made sure to come in by the 3 hour point just in case. read more

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Came here for some speedboating action. Parking was decent, and the place was very easy to find. The staff were very friendly and efficient. They answered all our questions. My only suggestion is that they may want to go over the safety bit a bit more clearly, or possibly inside a quiet room instead of on the dock, because half my friends didn't even pay attention, which did make me a bit edgy in case something did happen on our trip. The boat itself was pretty decent, but a bit slow at only 60hp This was noticeable when you went full throttle in the ocean. The PFDs were clean and didn't smell like seawater or rotting flotsam. Overall one of the better places to hit up for boating fun, though Granville Island is also quite decent. This one is farther out of the way, but you can hit up the nearby islands and other good stuff. Recommended. read more

Sewell's Marina - 60hp speedboat~ - Boat Tours Near Me - West Vancouver, British Columbia

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Here's a hidden gem of the BC Vancouver area nestled in Horseshoe Bay. This place offers an exuberant escape called the Sea Safari Eco Tour. This tour takes you quickly around the Georgia Strait and slows down at different times to discover many seals and birds including a couple Bald Eagles!! Wow!! We also saw many islands of various sizes and get a glimpse of several multi-million Dollar homes with incredible views. Before you leave the harbor, you'll put on a jail looking Orange jumpsuit which keeps you warm and doubles as a life preserver too. Feels like a space suit when you put it on. Next you'll receive some clear glasses too. You'll need those when the water splashes at different times in your direction. The closer you Sir to the front, the more water and jumpy motion you'll receive. We decided to sit several rows back to reduce the chance of activating old back pains. Josh our guide was very informative especially since he's studying marine biology. He had a keen eye to spot everything including those Bald Eagles I mentioned earlier. He showed us unique locations like Lions Peak and a home that had a Batman like bat cave. read more

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Great place to rent a speed boat! Fair pricing. And really nice staff. My sister lost her fit bit on the boat.They immediately went to look for it as soon as we called them and found it within 5 minutes. read more

Service and price is good. Staff is friendly. But family with small kids should stay away for safety reason. The staff is friendly and nice enough to rent you a boat even when you have no prior boating experience. Once you sign the waiver it's all on you as a captain. And they definitely did not prepare you for what to face out there. The bay looks calm enough but once you head out of the port, the wave gets significant for the small boat. The wave could be as high as 2-3 ft, and they are not predictable, the direction of the waves are always changing. I saw a lot of people just fill throttle I guess that will help stabilize the boat. But since I was new, I didn't dare full throttle, not to mention I have two small kids onboard. I couldn't go slow either. There are a few moment that the wave pushed the boat so high, and then when it nose dive the next wave came again. So what it supposed to be a cozy ride turns into an hour of thrill ride. I think they should not let small kids get on a speed boat and they should not let inexperienced boater get on either. Just because they pay and sign a waiver doesn't mean it's safe. read more

Is it ethical to charge a customer $150 for normal wear and tear on the blades, simply because we are what the staff called "new customers who had bad luck that our blades were hit by a rock under water?" This righteous chick does not think so! RENTERS BEWARE! NEW RENTERS BEWARE! For a special family occasion, we rented a 17 feet 90hp boat. The female safety instructor Teegan was pleasant and pointed out all the "don'ts", which we happily followed during our 5 hour perfect day on the open water; however this wonderful day was overshadowed by the awful incident when we were told about the extra cost we are responsible for. Insurance coverage is mandatory -- a $8 coverage for upto $400 in deductible, or a $10 for upto $800. Since this type of wear and tear on the blade can happen to anyone, new or experienced boaters alike, does it mean that almost all renter will be charged an additional $150?! or worse?! I can't imagine that's the normal business practice! Or, are they gauging us because they feel we are new renters and do not know any better? RENTERS BEWARE! I sure hope that our horrendous experience does not happen to anyone else in the future. Is this unethical and unprofessional practice common in the boat rental business? read more

We took our son for a safari tour and he loved it! The views were stunning and the speed was perfect! I wish the captain would make the ride a bit more frisky rather than just going straight for majority of the trip - which made me take a nap but overall it's a fun tour read more

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Out fishing in the harbour and discovered I had no downrigger releases. called Sewells but no answer and hung up continuing an on line research. 1 min later my cell rang. Megan from Sewells saw she had missed a call and returned it. Then saved my entire fishing day by being able to provide the releases. Thank you so much for the great service. read more

Our drivers MacKenzie and Laura and our guide Casey were wonderful. We had such a fun Sea Safari through the Glacier and around Bowen Island. We should have gotten out and about on the island (our fault it was an option and we didn't go for it), but otherwise it was a perfect adventure for our family of four. read more

Did the 2 hour Sea Safari and loved it! The staff were great, friendly and knowledgeable. I been living on the North Shore forever but have never seen the Howe Sound up close like this. We got to see a bird sanctuary, a family of seals and a bald eagle couple (Romeo and Juliet) So beautiful. Recommend this for the whole family, group of friends or on a lil romantic outdoorsy day-date ;) read more

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Up until seeing a Groupon deal on these guys, I've never even heard of this place and was wishing I could rent a boat out of Horseshoe Bay instead of having to go all the way up to Squamish. The area is much more convenient with a bunch of pubs and restaurants to choose from once we were done boating. We save $20 in gas too not having to go to Squamish and back, though for out of town guests, the drive may be worth it to show off the beautiful valley. The staff here are very friendly and helpful in setting up for our boat, and appear very efficiently organized. For $120 all in /w insurance, we ended up renting a boat for two hours, going up past Bowyer Island, around Bowen Island out to the ports at Gambier island, to Gibsons Ferry dock, down around Paisley Island, down to the south end of Bowen Island, out around UBC beaches, up to Lighthouse Park, around to Whiteclyff Isle, up to the Bowen Island Ferry Terminal, and back to Horseshoe bay. A pretty good run in just 2 hrs at mostly top throttle. Unfortunately, the boat we had had a really sticky throttle and it was near impossible to set to anything other than full throttle or idle, but as soon as I mentioned it to the staff, they took the boat out of service for repairs. The only drawback is they don't do reservations and parking isn't free in their lots, but they have so many boats that the lineup time won't be too long and there's plenty of 3 hour parking in the neighborhoods. Will definately be back! Gotta show all my out of town guests the wonders of the Howe Sound! read more

Great staff, service and Vancouver is beautiful to see! I'm not sure about the chance of getting a fish in the marina but driving the boat out, the amazing views of snow-capped mountains, seals, bird sanctuary and the quaint town of Snug Cove made my trip out to Vancouver so worth it. Even if its working throughout the weekend or holidays, sure! Highly recommend leaving out from this Marina versus leaving from Granville Island. The drive out is about 10-20 minutes anyway but beats leaving from the city on your timed excursion. read more

"Love the water donuts!" What a perfect day! The day was warm...the sky blue, clear...the water quiet...and there we were racing down Howe sound doing water donuts and 90° turns. When we hit wakes or mild swells it almost felt like class III white water rafting. Not a milquetoast crawling cruise. Although there are numerous stops for sea life, landmarks, ect. You will be wind worn, wear sunglasses! If you desire a quieter, slower experience...try kayaking through the sound. read more

I'm a lifetime Vancouver resident who took the Deep Fjord boat cruise this past Saturday. I was astonished that our guide knew every single weird question asked to him! Amazing! A fun, awesome boat cruise that lets you relax and enjoy the scenery without the hassle of renting a boat and getting lost around the tonnes of little islands! read more

Great friendly service. We rented a 17" ft boat with 60hp motor. Boat was in good clean condition and so was the motor. We rented the boat for the whole day. Motor and boat was fast with 2 adults and 2 teenagers, motor was more than powerful enough. Would recommend and rent again. Area is very beautiful. There is also an old warship in one of the coves just above bowen island on the mainland. read more

AMAZING service! My uncle got soaked on the boat and so we returned early and the staff were so understanding about it. They gave us some free merchandise to make up for the fact that we didn't use nearly half of our paid reservation. Water was dirty looking but it was still fun to cruise, great father's day gift! read more

Read the REQUIRED insurance disclaimer. Then decide. They apparantly don't stand behind thier own work since the disclaimer says you can't hold them accountable to anything even if they are the one at fault! Something is wrong with that. If you don't like to read legal stuff, or think its over your head, I'll make it simple. Read the end of sections 5 and 6. The part where it states "..INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE ON THE PART OF SEWELL'S" That simply means that if they where 'negligent' in something they where supposed to do, like for example patching a whole in the boat, and you went off and started to sink out in the ocean, and maybe you got hurt or someone died as a result, they want to make sure you would not hold them accountable for it, or even go after thier insurance company. I tried to talk to one of the owners, Eric, about it issue with it, but he was not interested in understanding the problem with the disclaimer. read more

Sewell's Marina - Thier Insurance disclaimer. While they insist insurance is required, the insurance disclaimer removes all insurance options for a renter. - Boat Tours Near Me - West Vancouver, British Columbia

[This review is specific to the SeaQuest activity, which I did with my team from work.] As the only lawyer at work, I can't say I was thrilled from a risk management point of view when I was told, "Hey, we're going to take the team to Horseshoe Bay and let them drive speedboats around Howe Sound as part of a crazy scavenger hunt, OK?!" Um. Yeah. BUT seriously - if you have a group of people who you want to take to drive speedboats around Howe Sound as part of a crazy scavenger hunt, this is the place for you. I have zero idea how much it costs but I'm going to go with "really really expensive," since, as I may have mentioned, THEY LET YOU DRIVE SPEEDBOATS AROUND HOWE SOUND AS PART OF A CRAZY SCAVENGER HUNT. I feel like they have to base their price on the idea that at least one (?) boat won't come back and will make a run for the Sunshine Coast. Or will be lit on fire. Or capsize. Anyway. None of those things happened! We were shown in our 5 teams to 5 speedboats, where an attendant waited at each boat to give us the safety talk (although life jackets were optional?! I yelled at everyone in my company to wear one if they knew what was good for them), had us sign waivers (ha, like those will hold up), handed us a booklet full of questions and a very rudimentary map, and off we went! For two and a half hours we sped around answering questions about the landscape around Gambier, Bowen, Bowyer Island, and Lions Bay - questions that really depended on us seeing it firsthand (sorry folks, Googling the answers while floating in the middle of the ocean won't work - we tried). They were challenging questions but not impossible, some of which required us parking our boat, hopping out to get an answer, hopping back in and speeding away. There were a few times where we were speeding to get out of the way of ferries (eeeek!) or navigating choppy waters, which terrified me on behalf of our volunteer skipper (rather than driving, I nominated myself as Navigator and all-around Bossy Lady). We also were finished most questions within 2 hours - you won't need the 2.5 hour time window- and won the bonus points for handing in our scores first. My boat ended up winning overall, which we are told makes us the World Seaquest Champions, since this is the only scavenger hunt of its kind that Sewell's is aware of. The staff at Sewell's were great. There was a sign with our branding on it waiting to welcome us when we arrived at the Marina in the morning, and the person who introduced us to the game was very pleasant, as were the attendants who met us at the boats and sent us on our merry way. Even our quiz booklets had our branding on it! By the time all our boats got back, we were ready for lunch, and rather than having us wait while they tallied the scores, the staff volunteered to walk over to the restaurant we were eating in to deliver the news on who had won (did I mention my team won?), which was going above and beyond. All in all? Super cool activity - just turn off the worrywart part of your brain that says "What?! Is this safe?! Should we be doing this?! What's the insurance for this craziness look like?! Do we need a licence for this?!" Some things are better if you don't think about them too hard. read more

Sewell's Marina - Sea Safari is a fantastic 2 hour boat trip out in Howe Sound. An amazing trip that included seeing seals basking in the sun and frolicking in the water. A wonderful tour all the way out to Brittania Beach. read more

I love renting boats from Sewell's, this company is great. I have been here numerous times and can easily say it is substantially better than renting from Granville Island. The staff here are much friendlier and more relaxed and do not snoop through your bags. In addition, unlike Granville Island, you need not waste precious boating time simply entering and exiting the marina - at Granville Island the marina is quite large and it takes a good 15 to 20 minutes to get in and out of it. That's over half an hour of your total boating time wasted. It takes less than a couple of minutes to get out of the Sewell's Marina and you're free to speed around as you please after that. And finally, the surroundings are beautiful - there are seals everywhere. I am blown away every time i come out here. read more

The Sewells Sea Safari is a great way to explore the bay if you don't own a boat and don't want to hire one. The operators and friendly and run a good tour that shows you everything from the waterside mansions of West Van to lazing seals to nesting birds. It feel great to be out on the water with the hum of the outboard and the sea spray in your face and it is all just around the corner. read more

I recently held a corporate event at Sewells marina for 70+ people, and the service was outstanding. Anyone who's looking for a very unique team building activity or client outing look into the Sea Quest adventure challenge. Basically its a scavenger hunt on boats, that takes you all around Howe Sound. Eric, and Meagan (the owners) were extremely accommodating, answering all my questions with valuable insight. I have worked with a lot of different businesses when doing events, and Sewells rates up there with the best. The majority of our group had never been out on a boat, and the thorough safety training really put them at ease. Although the weather left a lot to be desired that day, the Sewells staff made up for it by leading the groups to view killer whales, grey whales, and porpoise's. Apparently it was very rare for the grey whales to be in the area, so that unique experience left everyone very happy. Cant recommend this place enough, its so close to Vancouver, and if offers an unique experience that a bet most Vancouverites have never experienced. read more

The BEST $90 EVER spent in Vancouver!!! And I'm a local! Tourist or not, if you are wanting an afternoon out with someone or a group of peeps, this is honestly the best $90 you'll spend! The boat whips you around, the waves ANYTIME OF THE YEAR ARE AMAZING ( and I crave a good wake) and the scenery is unreal! Our leader of the day was sooooo nice, kind and full of knowledge...I've done it over 3 times and every time I learn something new and love the whipping around of the boat and the spraying of the waves!! Great deal ! If you find a Groupon for it, BUY IT !!!! read more

I called an hour before the 4 o clock guided tour and they booked me in. I also informed that I would be later than the recommended time that they set to come in and sign waivers. However, there was traffic on the way and I called and let them know I would only make it until right at 4. When the exit came, I missed it and they called and asked how long I would be and I informed that I would 10 minutes late and they said they would wait. This is so rare to see nowadays. The person on the phone was Greg and our boat driver was John, John was extremely knowledgeable and tried making the drive really fun. I should also add that I was attending through the Tourism Pass, so I was paying 1/5th of the actual price and still received such quality service! Would recommend this to all my friends and family and hope to see this kind of personalized, understanding and kind service at other places as well. Thank you once again!!! PS. We saw porpoises too! read more

I had the time of my fricking life on the Fjord tour. There's nothing else like this that lets you appreciate the beauty so close to home in a 2 hour easy mark of time. I appreciated that while there was an element to a guided tour about it -- we would stop next to islands and other places of interest and be told interesting facts of ranging from local history to animal facts -- it wasn't a constant stream of babble. You could really relax and enjoy the sights. We managed to see so many amazing animals when we were out. I would absolutely do this again when I get the time and urge others to do it too. read more

Had a great time. This was my son's favorite part of our vacation. Captain Darrell was awesome. He made sure that the boys had a great time, did "donuts" in the water. read more

NIce Location, pleasant staff, However SAILORS BEWARE . The launch is mostly unusable at lower tides annnnd there is a large tree overhanging half the single narrow boat launch at mast killing height. Also DO NOT buy supplies at Harunas down the bay. 300% markup and if you make a mistake in your purchase they have a 15% restocking fee. read more

I always go to rent a boat from this marina , and they are so friendly and good costumer service , today , i rented a boat with couple friends on board . the girl on the dock was so nice when i started the boat , but when i got back , there where 2 guys waiting for me , and once i got close to them one of them started to yell at me to slow down , and ok i handled that , and then without saying please or being any friendly , he told me to go to the other guy there who started lecturing me how i was fast and i created waves like tsunami , i have a yacht sailing license , and maybe i was a bit faster than i thought , but i couldn't feel it , and the guy didn't stop like i was some kind of ex-con ...they were really impolite , and that's not a costumer service , i hope this marina will fix this behavior of the guys on the dock , we are paying so much money out there . read more

Lots of boats, great staff, good rates and first tank of fuel is included. As for scenery, you can't beat it. Money well spent on a gorgeous summer day --2 adults, 2 kids, 60hp was fine. Highly recommend. read more

Even though I booked a tour on their website, I learned the day before the tour that my tour had been cancelled due to not enough participants. Had to scramble to find something else to do in Vancouver. Disappointed! read more

The sailors at the command are the least respectful of the area. They ignore basic rules of navigation. In one outing the boat manage to almost ran over two kayaks, cut another boat against the small island with a lighthouse, and almost capsize a small boat at anchor that was peacefully fishing. they motored at full blast by the islands and rocks where the resident seals bask in the sun sending mothers and cubs in the water. If you do not mind associating with an accident in wait of happening that is fine, if not they are likely better way to enjoy this beautiful area. read more