OMGGGG.... we had a BLASTTTT!!! We took the 4 hour tour with Danny (Dan-O) and he knows a lot about the history of the area. With all this COVID and Quarantines going on... this was the BEST BIRTHDAY activity I could EVER ask for. Chelsey, Chris and Dan-O did an amazing job! I did not expect customer service like this at all. The entire team is is nothing shy of AMAZING!!! Thank you all from the bottom of my heart for making this the best 37th birthday everrrrrr!! This visit was with only my husband and I. We will be returning with the kids before the end of the year. Thank you all again. Keep up the great work! read more

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So much fun! Would totally recommend! But totally bring all the water that is reccomended, and buy frozen ones from him!! After noon it gets H O T and there isn't shade. Awesome trails, he accommodated our large group, dirt bikes and quads ran great, good guy, cute dog read more

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If you have any love for your life or money, PLEASE STAY AWAY! This guy is a BIG SCAM ARTIST! Firstly, he told us his name was Chris - on Yelp Business Owner info, it says it is Randy! Secondly he said the lady who usually works with her is Michelle - when on here Kelly is responding. Also it was him alone during the whole thing. He said "Michelle" his girl has been diagnosed with cancel 3 weeks ago. Not sure if this is the truth cause nothing his lying face spewed was even close to true! He is charging us $5000 for made up bogus damages that he or us have no proof or report of. He told us - Pay him $600 first or he will charge us $5000. We took a moment to talk about it within our group and went back to him - he said it's not $600 anymore but $900. So pay $900 or we get charged $5000. We again stepped out to talk to the group - he up and left and charged us $5000 on the credit card. We talked to the guys around this business and all said this is VERY NORMAL WITH HIM. In addition to all this mess - the tour itself was nothing less than SHIT! He did not show us any safety measures to take even thought we repeatedly told him that this is the first time EVER for this li He JUST sat in his ATV and RAN - he did not ask if we have any question or concerns. . We were thrown in the ocean and asked to swim. It was A VERY BAD EXPERIENCE OVERALL! He asked us to leave all of our bags in his ATV. He has no stories and nothing else to say than some BS - we thought it will get interesting but NO. VERY POOR SERVICE OVERALL! I highly highly discourage anyone to EVEN CALL him! Because on CALL and messing he is VERY NICE - VERY RESPONSIVE- he flipped as soon as we put the ATV back in his lot, he just flipped. SUPER NEGATIVE - NOT EVEN READY TO TALK. Did not care that our friend needed the ambulance or how he was doing. VERY VERY BAD COMPANY! I encourage everyone to please not consider this company and please do ANYTHING but go to this company. With his initial goodness, I was hoping I will share with my network for everyone to come visit him. After the tour as he was, I am in shock! I hope that the sheriff takes serious action against him. I am talking to them now and will update here as I learn more from the Sheriff! PLEASE STAY AWAY! Update - The Sheriff is proceeding with all Criminal Charges. Civil charges pending against this Lying piece of SHIT! read more

I wish that I could rate this company higher just on the pure fun had but due to the lack of professionalism, this company left a bad taste in my mouth! Chelsey, our event coordinator was kind in getting my spouse and I scheduled for an ATV adventure however things took a turn for the worse once we arrived for our excursion. Our 'guide' (I use this term loosely) arrived at 6:30 despite being advised to show-up no later than 5:45am. Once we go through the excuses my spouse and I were excited to hop on some ATV's, but it was really hard to look past the unorganized nature of our guide as he rummaged through a messy trailer for (un-washed) helmets and gloves. Now to the ride - there was not much of an introduction/tutorial (despite telling Chris and Chelsey that we were on the 'beginner' level), just Chris showing us where the throttle and back break was located. The ride was actually pretty fun aside from losing Chris a few times since he was in such a rush to get through our adventure. Whenever we were able to catch-up to Chris, he was actually knowledgeable about the history and surrounding areas which was a small positive. Now where things really went downhill - my spouse and I love taking photos, so we asked Chris to snap a photo on my phone but he profusely denied claiming that 'I'll break anything', (we took pictures while on sand by the way) little did I know that this is a ploy within their business since Chris refused to send me the photos without me filling reviews for 3 different sites! This really did hurt my wife as she is an avid scrap-booker, not to mention that we should have just used our packed selfie stick! Moral to this story, please make sure to contact an ATV tour company that is professional - These people do not deserve your business! Side Note: take your own photos because Chris will use them as ransom to write a review. He got one, just not what he wanted -screenshot included. read more

Academy Rentals & Tours - Screenshots last forever - ATV Rentals/Tours Near Me - Ocotillo, California

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Took my daughter here for her 20th birthday along with my other daughter. They were both first time riders and my second. The owner and his daughter were so friendly and helpful. We all had a memorable experience and would recommend it to anyone. We will be going back! read more

Academy Rentals & Tours - Me and my girls out in who knows where in the desert - ATV Rentals/Tours Near Me - Ocotillo, California

One of the best excursions I've done and would definitely come back again anytime to do it again. Had a great experience with Chris and he definitely has a ton of experience with the guiding. We were able to have lunch and everything on the tour and drove all the sand dunes within the area, took amazing pictures and great videos, even got to do a little lake side relaxation. Would definitely recommend to anybody looking for a good time for a great price. Worth every dollar read more

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Good: Chris was flexible and able to accommodate our needs and schedule as we needed a special time frame out of the ordinarily for the tour so we could catch a flight, he is also and very knowledgeable about the area and was fun to hangout with during the day! Bad: Communication difficulties, machines not in the greatest shape, didn't listen to some requests The experience: My wife and I are avid ORV enthusiasts (mainly dirtbikes) and were visiting the area for work and decided to find some vehicles to rent to rip through the desert, there are many options in the are but eventually decided to go with Academy Rentals. We had brought all our own gear (helmets, boots, etc...) and did not use his rental gear. I wanted to ride a dirtbike I was familiar with (fuel injected Yamaha WR450F) and was told that it would be very expensive to rent so I opted for a cheaper dirtbike rental option, turns out it was a late 90s, early 2000s Honda XR400. This dirbike is by no means a modern bike, had no number plate or headlight (see picture) and a carb that leaked fuel - Chris just had me turn the fuel off while the bike wasn't running to it didn't leak on the ground. The bike did run well and the suspension was setup well and I did enjoy it. My wife was on a Honda 400ex quad that was very stiff and had loose parts. The quad ran fine though. Chris then informed us that there was another couple people who wanted to ride for the same day and time. We rode for about an hour and then went back to the lot and picked up two more people who have never ridden ATVs before. This wasn't the worst thing since it gave us the opportunity to have my wife ride something that was not a stiff and bouncy quad. We wanted to take out the 2-person Polaris RZR but it had a flat tire and we could not take it out, so we wanted to take the 4-person Polaris RZR out on our own for the tour and was told that it would be easier if we just drive the 4-person RZR and he sat in the back while the other two people that joined the tour rode ATVs behind us. The people who joined our tour were not very experienced (that is totally fine and we welcome new people to the sport!), this made our ride a little inconvenient since we would rip for a few minutes and then stop for the other people to catch up (since Chris was with us in the back of the RZR). I once again asked to go back and take out a RZR on our own and was told that it would be a $3,000 deposit and go through some paperwork from Polaris. We continued to ride with Chris in the back seat for about 3-4 more hours. Drive to our abilities then stop, drive to our abilities then stop. Chris was accommodating to our change in vehicle choices, accommodating to bringing a bike along so that I could ride a bike, and at the end of the day we did not explicitly say we wanted a "private tour" and the tours are open to anyone to join. I do not feel as if Chris did anything wrong or unethical, it was just an awkward experience at times, all in all it was a good tour and experience. After reading reviews from previous years I feel as though our experience with Academy Rentals is better than what it was before, but still has room to improve to be a top-notch rental company. read more

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Wow, that was fun let's do it again! Thank you Academy for making my sons 11th birthday epic! All my son talks about is wanting to go dirt bike riding. Well, we don't own and dirt bikes or quads or desert toys.... So, that's where Academy saved the day. After spending a lot of time calling around and several Google searches later. I called Academy and they hooked us up with an awesome deal with no hassles just good times. I have to admit that when I called originally, I made reservations for two. an adult and a kid. But then I showed up with five. Four kids and one adult. Lucky for me Academy hooked us all up and got us out in the dirt in no time. I'm sorry guys but I'm terrible with names, but the two guys who helped us were super professional super courteous and playful and fun with the kids. They set us up with our gloves, helmet, and goggles. Got our bikes gassed up and took us out on the dirt. After this adventure, this is what all of my kids want to do for their birthday's. Now I don't have to do big birthday parties anymore. More desert adventures to come with Academy making it easy for us. Pro's: - Great customer service - Yelp deals when you use the Yelp app - Easy, just show up with your water and snacks - Pay ahead of time - Kids are welcome - They have helmets, Gloves, and goggles for you - Great for groups Con's: - Darn, I can't think of any read more

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I went out there with a group of six and we had a great time. Chris was a great guide, took us to some really cool ancient spots, and made sure everyone was having a good time, hydrated and fed (we brought our own food of course). He was hilarious too, constantly cracking jokes and keeping the energy/ vibes high - which is tough to do in 90 something degree weather... Not really sure what all these people are complaining about, it's the desert and it's a rental company - these things take a beating, people destroy rentals. I personally think the quads were in pretty good shape. Coming from being a manager at multiple boat rental companies I understand how things go with maintenance and usage. I will definitely come back and hire Chris in the future. Hopefully sooner than later. Thanks again Chris, it was epic!! read more

Academy Rentals & Tours - Water break! - ATV Rentals/Tours Near Me - Ocotillo, California

Just don't waist your time. He will want to rip you off. Be careful. He has about 3-4 companies all going to the same voicemail. Just avoid them at all cost. There is only one decent guy in town-Dezert Advemtures. Go see Kenny. He's great. read more

The place is a scam. Stay away from it. They have faulty bikes and then after the trip they will claim that you have damaged the bike.

My wife and I went to Academy Rentals for part of our wedding anniversary. We had a blast. We met with Chris, who is very knowledgeable about the area and offroading, and had a great experience. Everything you need Chris has. He'll give u recommendations prior to your meet up to make sure you are ready for the ride! He even takes pics and videos if you want. We're definitely coming back. Thank you Chris. It was a memorable experience read more

Academy Rentals & Tours - ATV Rentals/Tours Near Me - Ocotillo, California

Chris is a complete whack job... but the tour exceeded our expectations all in all. We had 2 experienced riders and 2 beginners. Tour was supposed to start at 8am, but we didn't get on the road til 8:45am as Chris didn't prep any of our equipment. He took long phone breaks during our tour that kept us waiting and loved talking about himself. So just be ready for a character. He's a professional rider and knows his shit. We booked a private tour to ensure we made it to the dunes and it didn't disappoint. Don't expect to be handheld and make sure you hold on tight. Thanks for the wild ride Academy Tours! It was truly epic and our favorite memory of our trip to San Diego. read more

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5 stars all around! Chris was fun and easy to ride with. He made our tour memorable! We went through maybe different terrains and rode for a good amount of time! This was the best ATVing trip I've been on! Would totally recommend! Thank you Chris! read more

I read the reviews after renting. I probably wouldn't have gone had i read them. I have to say that I really had no problems with the experience. They were accommodating and nice. I'd go back. read more

Has a great ride with the family! Chris was great !! We will definitely refer our friends and family! Hope to return real soon! read more

Academy Rentals & Tours - ATV Rentals/Tours Near Me - Ocotillo, California

Best ATV rental in town. Had a great time and Chelsea and Chris were super friendly and helpful. Had a great time!!!

This place is cool and friendly staff I really liked my ride and really enjoyed myself we'll recommend read more

Academy Rentals & Tours - ATV Rentals/Tours Near Me - Ocotillo, California

We booked a tour with Chris and it was awesome. I guess everything changed since he got his new stuff. We got all the equipment , helmets, gloves, goggles, and backpacks for water . He explained everything to us and then we hit the desert. You have to follow his rules about safety because that's very important out there. And he always has a story to tell . There were five of us together for the whole day . We will be back because it was just fun and relaxing . Bring enough water, and of course breakfast Burritos ;) Next time we do the wake-boarding as well . Thanks again Chris for that day. read more

Academy Rentals & Tours - Day in the Desert - ATV Rentals/Tours Near Me - Ocotillo, California

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My 19 yr old son and I had a great experience! (This was the second time for my son.) We eent on a 4 hour tour with my son on a motorcycle, 5 guys on quads and me in the Razor with Chris, the owner, at the wheel. I had the best seat in the house! And what a ride!! Recommend this to everyone but suggest you take the early morning tour during the summer. And bring lots of water! The only reason i gave this a 4 is that Chrs could have been a little more reachable by phone and I didn't care for the liability release form his legal advisor had us sign, But overall, Chrs is easy going, a great tour guide and very accommodating when my son's friend had a problem riding a motorcycle his first trip out. And that kind of treatment you don't get every day! read more

Chris was awesome! I called in on Black Friday, last minute (I wasn't even planning on renting a 4 wheeler) and he said yes come on down he had one for me to rent. He was better priced than the other place I called too in Ocotillo. He said I could rent it for 24 hours. The next day about two hours before I had to return it, I called Chris asking if there was anyway I could keep it for a few mores hours, and he was like "Sure, just bring it back before we close at 5pm" I was so happy to keep it for a few extra hours. Then when I returned it he offered my husband and I and son free pizza! What an experience! Chris is the man! read more

My experience here was so much fun! The owner is hilarious and very personable. He made sure we were hydrated, went over the safety rules in depth, and explained everything perfectly. The dirt bikes and quads are all in good condition and the trails were never ending. Spent like four hours out there and loved every minute of it! read more

My husband is an avid ATV rider and has had many race quads, ATVs and motorcycles. He had never driven a RZR before, but we thought it might be something fun for us to do together. We looked online and found Academy Rental and Tours. I called and Chris got us all set up. Chris took us on an amazing RZR tour through the desert over 50 miles in 4 hours. We didn't just get a private tour, we got a private air show as we watched the Blue Angels practice! Beautiful sight from the top of the sand dunes. It was AMAZING. Chris really knows what he's doing, super friendly and energetic! He went above and beyond our expectations. I'd definitely recommend these guys to anyone visiting Cali. read more

Academy Rentals & Tours - ATV Rentals/Tours Near Me - Ocotillo, California

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Super easy to plan, Chris was such a friendly guy! Overall had a really fun time, the tour is great you cover a lot of ground. I suggest to come prepared because you do end up covered in dust by the end. Also don't forget to pack plenty of water and some snacks... The place is a bit far from everything and was starving by the end of our tour! I would totally go back! read more

After multiple confirmations, Chris no-showed on us and wouldn't pick up his phone or return our calls. After talking with various locals, apparently this is the norm....not showing or not having equipment for confirmed reservations, equipment that breaks down, and various related issues. Since he has no real storefront apparently he's near impossible to track down much of the time. Avoid avoid avoid, there are other similar shops in the area that provide a quality service. While Chris states below I had no reservation, I did indeed fill out and email his reservation paperwork in full the day prior, and we confirmed this reservation with him over the phone, including confirming the exact time of arrival while we were en-route. Stop in at a bar/restaurant in the area and ask about Chris.....you'll hear more then enough stories from the locals to keep you away. read more

This place should have 5 stars!!!! I went for my bday and had the best time EVER!!! Our tour guide was rad... can't wait to go back!

DO NOT EVEN THINK ABOUT TALKING WITH THIS GUY OR BUSINESS!!!! So after 2 hours drive, we arrive at the address listed Living Social coupon. He tells us that it's at another address 14 more miles away. We needed up at someone's house by a lake. Random place. We get there and there's two guys washing quads and say they don't know what's going on but their "friend" told them to be there to have them ready. But they at first didn't know his name or the deal or arrangement we had with Chris. It wasn't until we said we were going to leave is when one of the guys said he would call him. After it all he said he would make a deal for $250, this was on top of the living social deal we had! They had no insurance the quads were run down broken lights and all. They said if we even rolled it it would be a $100 charge automatically. When we finally decided to leave, Chris called my fiancée and cussed him out over the phone! He said to "take his little friends and get the f*** out of there then". The next few hours we were bombarded by his ridiculous texting and insults!!! I could not believe it! I will definately be reporting him to BBB. read more

Academy Rentals & Tours - The "lot" or original address listed.. - ATV Rentals/Tours Near Me - Ocotillo, California

What a fun day!!! We were vacationing in San Diego and decided to do something different so we looked up ATV's in the desert. We found Chris's company and we are so glad we did. We called the day before we wanted to go and tried to book a last minute reservation. Chris was very patient and accommodating in helping me plan it out. I told him that I was going to have two elderly people (in their late 60's), 3 kids (youngest was 6) and 2 adults. Chris worked out everything for me including having an assortment of ATV's, Rhinos and dirt bikes for my family to choose from. Chris even had a small pink ATV just for my 6 year old. My kids were so excited to see the assortment of vehicles and immediately sent to arguing on who would get what vehicle. Chris is very knowledgeable about the local area and is a good guide. He loves to talk Baja racing and mechanics so the time seems to fly by. We had a great experience and we will definitely be back the next time we vacation in San Diego. read more

Two friends and I purchased Groupons for a 4-hr ATV rental from Academy Rentals & Tours in October for $49, and we have had nothing but troubles in dealing with this company. They were very evasive about confirming a reservation, unless we upgraded to a tour package at a cost of an additional $75 per person. We did make a reservation without the tour, and then we were told that another party later booked a tour at that day/time, so they were no longer able to hold our reservation. Essentially, if someone booked a tour they would bump our reservation off. What kind of crap is that!? I did have a lengthy conversation with them about this policy, and it seems that they only have one staff member working at a time -- so if someone books a tour, then there's nobody available to just rent ATVs out to customers. They were also very unresponsive to emails and voicemails. I contacted Groupon and requested a refund after this business's shoddy practices and bait-and-switch upselling antics. I never did actually rent from this company, but given my experience I do not recommend renting from them. read more

TERRIBLE business. DO NOT USE. My family and I decided it would be fun to go ATVing for father's day so we reserved a 2pm tour. After driving for 2hrs out to this place in the middle of nowhere we find yourself looking at a fenced in RV in a dirt lot and no one to be found. After calling the number on the RV, the number on the website, AND the number given to us in the confirmation email we received days earlier we got no response from anyone. After waiting for a good 45mins we decided enough was enough and we left. What kind of company does this to its clients? A joke of a company. AVOID THIS PLACE AT ALL COSTS. read more

I just saw the reply now...Wow, just take responsibility for your actions guys! We had no reservation he is now claiming! You guys messed up my birthday present. Yes, it was a long time ago, but a screw up like that I will truly never forget. We were looking forward to the trip for weeks... Aww, just sad to see you not owning up to your mistakes. Really sad. read more

We drove to Ocotillo from San Diego to meet Chris, the owner at a predetermined time. He was and hour late! Although, ill give him 30 min slack since we agreed to a time range. So i guess he was only 30 min late. Not much safety training for beginners, not much safety gear, gloves/goggles very old & dirty. Bikes, ATVs, and dune buggies were all very old and not maintained at all. My bike's clutch broke and the engine/frame bolt broke. Although it was a guided tour, chris was full throttle all the way. He rarely slowed up to check on us. Suggest Chris have a partner to stay behind a group tour in case anyone got hurt. Good trails & scenery though. These were just the facts (except for my suggestion). Hope this helps someone. read more

Since my last review was removed for using foul language, I will kindly refrain and only speak with precise HONESTY and INTEGRITY. Two words CHRIS SPOUNIAS the owner/operator knows nothing about. I'll start with my initial phone call with Chelsey his assistant and girlfriend. She was pleasant to speak with, kind, considerate, and had great customer service! We arrived on a Sunday to Ocotillo to rent 2 ATVS AND 2 Dirtbikes. Check in was very long, disorganized, disorderly, and confusing. By the time we were allowed to start riding it was at least 45 minutes into our scheduled time. No safety or functional training was given whatsoever. If you knew how to ride great, if not well you are out of luck! A supposed "brand new" dirtbike broke down on me after a couple hours of riding with what Chris determined to be a "burnt clutch" he determined it to be a cost of around $350 to fix for parts and labor. He also charged us a "recovery" fee for having to drive out to me and put the bike on the back of his Tacoma. I told him from the beginning to bring a flatbed but instead he comes in a UTV. We loose an additional 45 mins due to this and are now passed our time limit! We payed the fees and moved on with our lives but Chris would prove to continue to try and make our lives a living hell! Which is exactly what he said in text messages sent to my girlfriend. Weeks later after my girlfriend left them an honest 1 star review Chris begins texting her with THREATENING AND INTIMIDATING DISRESPECTFUL CRUEL CONTENT!! Overall was it worth it? NO!!!! Between the costly repairs, horrible service, being shorted time to ride, given no lunch which was also advertised, attacks on my girlfriend and illegally charging her credit card over $5,000 months after we were there for NO APPARENT REASON this has by far been THE WORST RECREATIONAL EXPERIENCE IN MY ENTIRE LIFE!!! BUYER BEWARE****** DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY AND TIME HERE!***** AVOID SAN DIEGO DUNE TOURS AND ACADEMY RENTALS!! They are both owned by CHRIS SPOUNIAS! GOOGLE REVIEWS ARE PURCHASED! YELP REVIEWS ARE MORE ACCURATE!!! read more

Wrote a review based on bad experience years ago. Dialed this company by accident yesterday and got this txt back. Academy Rentals: What up dick ... Academy Rentals: Ur a little bitch Based on the other reviews here, seems this company has not changed one bit. Buyer beware. read more

Academy Rentals & Tours - Reviewed on bad experience years ago. Dialed by accident yesterday and got these txts back from this company. NOT Recommended! - ATV Rentals/Tours Near Me - Ocotillo, California

DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY. This place doesn't even deserve 1 star. The owner Chris, no-showed us for his appointment. We drove over 2 hours to get there at 9am as he suggested this was the best time to go. When we arrived to the address listed it was an empty lot and the number on the trailer had been disconnected. We spoke to a few locals and they said they never see anyone there. They also said that Chris, is notorious for doing this to his customers (as you can tell from other yelp reviews as well). He makes you put an additional deposit down for gas and never shows up, or returns the money. After waiting 45 minutes, we decided to head home. While on the road we finally received a call from Chris, he was extremely rude and never once apologized for not showing up. i would NEVER RECOMMEND ANYONE to use this guy. He is a scam artist, and this is clearly not the first incident of this happening. He has a horrible reputation around town and an even worse attitude. this was by far my worst interaction with anyone in this kind of industry. For any vendors using Chris for ATV rentals, you should STOP IMMEDIATELY, as he is rip off and is treating your customers poorly. He is using the vendors to shell out the money for "special deals" while he has no intention of honoring his vouchers. RIP OFF!!!!!!!! He also has a D rating from the BBB. Stop referring people to this guy immediately! I cant express enough how disappointed I am with Chris and his ATV rentals. DO NOT GO HERE!!!!! read more

I went here with my boyfriend because we wanted to try something new. We rented out ATV's, which were functioning and safe (important). We rode out for 4 hours into the desert with our tour guide/host Chris. He seemed cool, he fits the stereotype of a extreme desert athlete...broken bones and everything so he is an expert. He took us out to a military bombing zones, but at the time there was no target practice. We came out of it alive. We got to see the gems of the ocotilio desert and the sad history that at one point it use to be a ocean. I was more interested in exploring the depths of the desert with the ATV and that is exactly what we did. If you are more intermediate or advanced you will probably be lead to a more challenging path. I enjoyed the little baby bumps we went over as a starter :) read more

Academy Rentals & Tours - First time on the ATV, it was super fun! - ATV Rentals/Tours Near Me - Ocotillo, California

This place is a scam. They get you on the atv with no type of training. Then they make you go super fast on turns and bumpy areas so that you flip the atv on purpose and they keep your deposit. Stay away from this piece of shit of a company if you can. They freaking wasted our time and purposely tried to lose us. We ended up staying in one area so Chris and Chelsea could find each other. Edit: Let me tel you the full story since Kelly S. Wants to make assumptions. We booked all their atvs the day we went. Chris and Chelsea were both late and could not give any type of instructions on how to ride an atv knowing it was all of our first time there. Chris was such an asshole that when I stalled, he told Chelsea to hurry the fuck up and catch up. As we were riding Chris was going so fast on turns and down bumps that in order to keep up, we would go flying. Our tour was supposed to include lunch, but because Chris didn't pay attention to the rest of the group behind him nor did he listen to Chelsea on the walker talkee, half the group ended up losing him. We had one friend that was with Chris and instead of having him follow Chris, he took the keys from the atv and made him wait there alone in the heat. It took about 30 minutes for Chris and Chelsea to find each other. 30 minutes of our time where we were not allowed to even move the vehicle two feet without being cussed out. As we were going through the bumpy roads. Chris went to fast, the group struggled to keep up. My friend flew off his atv and landed on his back. He could've been seriously injured and all Chris could say was "well someone last week flipped one of the bug ones...that'll cost you $250... good thing nothing happened to the helmet, I would've had to charge you for that too" all while trying to yank the helmet off of my friends head. He could've been seriously injured, but Chris only cared about the money he was gonna collect from the accident. Crazy how a company like this has employees who don't know how to handle situations and when something like this happens, Chris just "throws on his emt jacket" to save the day. Lmfao. It's also ironic how so many other people have gotten into accidents and scammed by the same company. Crazy how a tour guide wouldn't even have a first aid kit on hand. If you want to die because of the negligence and care then this is your place. Two other atvs tipped over not even flipped and were also taken the deposit. Funny thing is there were no damages to the vehicles. Matter of fact they don't even have you walk around your atv and mark off the damage that's already been done to compare. All they do is collect the money and leave the atv as is. I would not recommend anyone making the trip out here for this, you're better off going to Joshua tree. Oh and after this four hour excursion, Chris never provided the lunch that was supposed to come with our package. read more

Great experience from start to finish. Received a call back from my initial inquiry within hours and set up a tour. Super easy payment and confirmation process. We had five pretty hard charging guys and Ret took us on a hell of a ride. Recognizing his clientele he pushed the pace and we had a blast keeping up. Totally exceeded our expectations. The ATVs were fast and fun and ran perfect all day. Comfortable helmets, glove and goggles were provided. Overall, a great experience that I can see doing again in the future!!! read more

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I want to thank Chris and JD , at Academy Rentals and Tours for a sensational time. My son and I were out for a father-son weekend, and I must say I would recommend Academy Rentals and Tours to anyone looking for a fantastic Desert experience on motorcycles, quads and dune buggies. Chris is a fantastic instructor and a true professional who obviously really enjoys what he gets to do every day. He also has a fantastic business plan for his new location.I can't wait to go back and see how everything comes together, And I wish them the best. We truly enjoyed this experience. read more

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Booked a half day atv tour for a bachelor party of 12, it was nearly everyone's first time riding an atv. We all had a blast! Getting the tour booked prior to our arrival was seamless and had great communication with Chris. It took longer than we had expected to get setup and oriented but we were all exhausted by the end of the tour and felt as though we all got our fill by the end of it. Overall a great experience, would recommend to anyone! read more