Pre Sail GP hang waiting for the breeze to pick up with friends, what a nice day…read more It's a Chicago gem.

What can be said about the Play Pen? If you're on a boat during the summer in Chicago life could…read morenot be better. The weather is probably great, the people are better and chances are you are on a very nice boat of a friend of a friend...(more so applies to females). The Play Pen is where almost every boating trip on Lake Michigan drops anchor. Makes for fantastic people-watching, other boats going by, jetskis, people jumping off and swimming. PLEASE be considerate with the speed and others in the water. AMAZING views of the city skyline and Navy Pier. Nestled right in Oak Street Beach. The water is chillyyyy but great for 1. hangovers 2. seasick 3, if its really hot out

Welcome to Chicago! There's no city like it and the Chicago River is one of many places that…read moreshowcases its exquisiteness and allure. Vast architecture can be found along the path here; Encompassing complete beauty and incredible historic views. Chicago is tenacious, a city that can never be sidelined. Growing up here was the absolute best, and it will always be home.

A charity swim this morning to benefit ALS on the Chicago River. Safety teams in kayaks paddled…read morealongside the swimmers, who were chosen for their open-water swimming experience, while lifeguards lined the Riverwalk to help swimmers who could not complete the course. Only 3 of the 263 swimmers didn't finish. It took some an hour to go a mile through the downtown loop with orange floats gliding across the river. It was funny to see them walking through downtown Chicago in robes with medals around their neck, what an accomplishment! The last time that Chicago sanctioned a group swim in the river was 1927, a tradition thwarted by the loads of industrial and human waste that were routinely dumped in the water. It has taken decades of cooperation between environmental groups and elected officials , including at least four mayors, to clean up the river. I understand there are now dozens of species of fish, eagles overhead & otters playing along the banks now.

Decided to be a tourist in my own city and enjoy one of the last warm days of summer. One cool…read morething about Seadog cruises is that if you look at some of the specific offerings, you can bring your dog! Which of course, I totally did. There are multiple ways to get to navy pier, so choose your own adventure. Just be mindful that if you choose to park, there are other garages near for an extra 10 minute walk for a third of the price. Or consider public transit. Pay your own expense parking at navy pier itself. Scheduling online is a breeze and if you're able to go on a weekday, the tickets tend to be a bit cheaper. However, I definitely feel I got my bang for my buck with the experience. Jake was our guide and had all the best of the cheesiest jokes while educating us about Chicago history and its architecture. When the boat locks are up, they will do some spins on the water so you get different views. It's awesome! We luckily didn't have a super crowded trip so seating wasn't an issue. I will definitely consider going back again to see what info I retained/what info Jake changed.

For 30 minutes whirling around the bay, the view of the city is nice and the weather is perfect in…read moreearly/mid October- just make sure to bring a windbreaker and you'll be set. Watch out for caps, sunglasses, and your phone if you're taking one of the faster boat rides as the wind element can definitely whip it out of your hand. Suitable for all ages, young children and elderly will likely enjoy this ride, the turns are wide so there's relatively little G force to worry about. Recommended if you're looking for a relatively affordable attraction on the waterside! Otherwise, you'll get about the same entertainment on the shore minus the lackluster commentary of the staff (designed to humor more the kids).

Came here a few months back in the summer and it was a great experience! If you even remotely are…read moreinterested or enjoy kayaking, you should absolutely try with urban for their downtown river tour! Drew and Caroline gave an excellent tour, as they were friendly, funny and were enthusiastic about sharing the unique information about the architecture downtown. The requirements are pretty straightforward, as they teach you all you need to know and the kayaks are well kept. The tour is about 2 miles overall and 2 hours in total. A bit pricey but I would say it's more than worth it for the experience and I would rent with them again.

My goal coming into this experience was to not tip over and fall into the river, and I'm happy to…read morereport that I achieved my goal. This was my first time using Urban Kayaks, and I definitely recommend it because it was such a smooth process and incredible experience from beginning to end! They have a safety video to watch, you put on your life jacket, they have an efficient process of getting you into the kayak, and there was a guide who came along with us. We were in a tandem kayak, which worked out well for us in the end. The starting rate is $30/hour. We would definitely do it again!

'Wendella Tours & Cruises' has been in existence since I was a kid, and I am in my 60s now…read more Everyone visiting Chicago should take this tour of the Chicago River and it's surrounding architecture at least once. Everyone who lives in Chicago should take this tour many times, because when family and friends visit Chi-town, they MUST be taken on this tour. Then the more friends and family coming to see you, the more time you take this tour with them. - It's Obligatory. So every time a visitor comes town, I treat them to an afternoon tour on Wendella Tours & Cruises. It's not just that Wendella offers an amazing service - it's that this service is necessary in order to understand Chicago's unique architectural heritage.

Every time someone proposes to go on a Chicago River Cruise I groan. Why would you want to go on a…read moreboat for an hour when I can see the buildings perfectly fine from here? I've already done the cruise, why would I do it again? I end up going along with the group and doing a cruise, and I love it every time. On the river is the best way to experience the skyline of Chicago. You get to see the best of the best and hear history behind it. Even though this is a tourist trap, it is one of the few that I've been on that I actually think it is worth it.

Great first time kayaking! The views were breathtaking and the staff member was very informative…read moreand kind to us. I will be doing this regularly. It's a great way to explore downtown Chicago and connect with yourself.

First, it says when booking that it will be two hours. The start time is 8:15. So I told my…read morebabysitter an end time based off of that. The day of the tour we get a text saying it will be three hours. That meant we had to scramble to see if our babysitter could stay at least an hour longer. Second, they put a green light on each kayak on each so it can be seen at night on the river (we did the fireworks tour). I am not exaggerating when I say half of the kayaks on the tour lights were out on the way to the fireworks. That made me feel unsafe and anxious. It also made it more difficult to figure out who our tour guides were because at least two tour guides' lights went out as well. Third, they directed us to "park" (not sure how else to put it) for the fireworks in a spot that the other kayak tour groups seemed to very clearly know was to be avoided because a giant boat was going to dock there. This resulted in our group being yelled at by another kayaking group that we should leave for our own safety because a boat was going to dock there. Then the boat was descending upon us and we had to play kayak-frogger across the river in a mad dash at the last minute while the giant boat honked and played sirens because we were in its way. Again, felt very unsafe. For a person looking for a a casual, fun kayaking experience, this whole thing was too stressful. Would not recommend. Other kayaking places we saw on the water seemed more organized and safety-conscious.

I have mixed feelings about this kayak tour company. I signed up because although I'm a very…read morecapable and seasoned kayaker, I didn't know this river and I like learning about the ecosystems and local wildlife. For this reason I like having tour guides. Going up the river was fine. Coming back went a bit sour. I went as slow as I was capable of paddling or not paddling, but apparently it was too fast for the preference of our tour guide. I was barely touching the water with my paddle. I have no idea how I could have gone any slower. It wasn't humanly possible. After shouting at me several times, he took to chasing me down and ramming my kayak so it'd spin in circles. Would I rent a kayak here and kayak the river alone? Yes. Would I personally use a tour guide here? No I wouldn't. Would I recommend? If you're a family with little kids or a drunk sorority house, absolutely. If you know what you're doing, just go it alone. You'll probably enjoy it more. Edit: If the tour guide had concerns for group safety, he could have said so. Although ramming my kayak with his seems to be a bit of a conflict as far as my safety goes. It was an unprofessional approach when he could have simply explained why he needed me to slow down

It almost seemed like a dream. From the very start, cruising through a large patch of lotus plants,…read moreit felt otherworldly. Very peaceful, going at our own pace. Enjoyed the cliff walls of Buffalo Rock and the shallow waters of some side passages. We paddled for 5 hours, covering 8 miles total. After we were done we headed to charming, historic downtown Utica for drinks and dinner at Skoog's Pub & Grill in North Utica, IL. I was impressed with the logistics and operation of the kayaking experience, from the guide* to the equipment and online booking process. *Full disclosure, the guide was my twin sister, but I am being objective...seriously.

To celebrate a friends 30th birthday, we chartered a pontoon with Captain Patrick and it was not a…read moregood experience - and it's hard to mess up getting a group of girlfriends together to hang out on a boat in the playpen. Not only was our Captain condescending when we asked for clarification as to our schedule, he took charge of elements of the trip without the input of the host, which made for a series of uncomfortable conversations. After charging the group for 5 hours on the boat, he had us leave the playpen two hours early so we could chug all the way to Burnham Harbor to get gas - which we didn't need in the first place - just because he didn't "include" gas in the price - all for a mere $50 worth (on top of $900 for the boat - with the mandatory 20% tip paid in advance). After spending over an hour trekking to get gas - and we almost certainly spent half of the gas money on getting to the station in the first place, we just decided to hop off the boat to avoid the headache. Another display of blatant lack of professionalism came from his demeanor. I highly doubt he would have felt the need to physically touch the hips and waists of the passengers if it was a group of young men. We left disappointed and sufficiently creeped out - all seven of us. If you're going to charter a boat, stay far away.

This company scammed us!!! They made a false claim against us in order to keep the security…read moredeposit of 750.00. The company is renting an unsafe boat. The tip of our boat submerged in the middle of the trip. It leveled out and we managed to make it back safe!!! It was too small for the amount of people they told us we could have. It was misleading and false advertising. When we docked the boat a man directed our steps then claimed we damaged the boat. We are looking into a CLASS ACTION SUIT FOR ALL WHO WANTS TO JOIN!!!