The worst business that tries to steal your money. I rented a boat and requested a refund 7 days before the date. The contract states that if a request is made before 5 days a full refund will be given. The owner refused and threatened me that if I requested a credit card review that I would not receive a gift certificate. read more

Rick kept my deposit despite canceling way ahead of the reservation week! Just beware of that when looking in the area for a rental, consider not even reserving because they want your money any way possible read more

Don't let this company hold your vacation hostage. We had a chance to enjoy some military leave so we came to Florida and tried to rent a boat to take our daughters out on the water. No one answers the phone listed at BluWave so we booked on-line and paid a delivery fee to have a boat brought to the dock near us. 15 minutes AFTER we rented & paid online, we got a text message saying nothing was available. No problem, we thought, let's just cancel the reservation we just made and we will book with someone else. But Rick doesn't allow refunds, even if he can't provide a boat for you, even if you just booked with him. The only way to get a boat from BluWave was if we drove 45 minutes to another dock. We tried to make that work but when we looked up the dock Rick said we had to use we realized that we would have to either rent a car or pay for a 45 min Uber ride both ways. Or we could get a voucher for another day, but that doesn't do us any good since we are stationed in another state. When I asked why we were able to reserve and pay for a boat at our location when one wasn't available Rick said "it's not my fault your wife can't read". At this point Rick was cutting me off and raising his voice. After 24 years in the military I have worked with a lot of personalities but I have never had someone who owns a business treat his potential customers this way. My fault, I should have read further back into the history of reviews about Rick. When I asked one last time for him to please cancel the pending reservation he told me he doesn't do refunds and that I should go ahead and dispute it because he wins 100% of the charges that are disputed with his company. Obviously not his first frustrated customer. So instead of enjoying this time with my family, I had to dispute a charge for services I never got from BluWave Rentals and write this review so that hopefully you don't have to do the same. On the plus side, out of principle I took my business elsewhere. We went to CB's boat rentals, got a bigger boat for the same price, didn't pay a delivery fee and met Adelia, one of the nicest ladies I have ever worked with. They even offer a military discount. We had a great day on the bay. Ok, I am off to enjoy the rest of my vacation. I hope you enjoy yours. Harry read more

Beware! Read this before spending your money. I wanted to rent a skiff to go fishing. Rick said he's selling them and his tritoon was a better fishing boat...NOT! The service, equipment and overall experience is nothing like their website portrays...far from it. After being charged for more than expected for fuel, I called Rick to discuss it. He explained the charge and I was willing to accept. Then, his arrogance and "don't give a sh**" attitude came out and he argued with me as I explained what my experience was compared to what his website said. Argued that his own website didn't say what it clearly in fact does say. Over talked me and eventually hung up on me. Very unprofessional! I would look into other options before doing business with bluwave and Rick. Money NOT well spent. read more

Great experience and great day on the water with my family. Easy reservation process, and efficient pick up and turn in. Also, good orientation of the boat before we launched. Easy and fun, thanks Rick!! read more

Called day before stating that the ladder was broken on the boat but I could beach the boat on the sand but any damage to the prop would still be a charge to me. Would not issue refund even though I told him we were from out of town. Said a gift card would be issued even though they could not provide a fully functioning boat. Would not recommend. read more

Rick was great booking the boat and Chad was very friendly when delivering it but be aware of inspecting the boat when you take possession of it and dropping it off. Also make sure to take detailed pictures of the condition of the boat. Read the agreement and make sure that you are willing to risk paying for any damage. I wish I had known that there was nothing covering damages. We took very good care of the boat and ended up paying extra for scratches that probably happened without even realizing they did. Overall I would go with a more stablished company that offers insurance. I guess this is just my inexperience and trying to save some money. I would not recommend this company. I am sure they are honest and well intended but you will be better of with a more stablished business. read more

Advice to everyone, use this rental company as a last resort. And if you do end up renting through them read everything possible on the website and take any precautions in booking. If ANYTHING goes wrong and they decide to cancel your rental themselves they will not give you your money back. There's a lot of missing information on their website so be sure to ask every question in the book. read more

We rented the 18' Mako. Rick met us at a nearby boat ramp (he was early) with a boat in great shape, provided a comprehensive briefing, and gave us an up to date report on the condition of Egmont Key (we were concerned about the red tide). We took off and had a great day. The boat operated well, and it was a great experience. After a bit too much sun, we called Rick and asked him to meet us about an hour early at the boat ramp - once again he was early. It was a great experience, and Rick was very friendly and professional. read more

Rick makes the process easy. Boat was in good working order we had a great day on the water. We will rent from Rick again! He is a good solid guy and very knowledgeable about navigating the bay and surrounding areas. Good people are hard to find these days. Of course you have to take care of their boats and mind the waterways. Pretty normal stuff. Thanks Rick we will be back. read more

Rented from here a few months ago. Website stated to be there 30 mins early but they showed up an hour and half late. Boat wasn't as described on website. Was slow and radio wasn't working. Thought that it might have just been the boat we've rented so thought I'd recommend to a friend to try again since he had friends in town from out of state. My friend booked it but on the day they went, boat was late again. They said trailer had flat. Was 2 hours late and was raining so owner said shit happens so no refund. My friends ended up not going and was charged for a service they didn't even get. Owner or person seemed pretty rude they said. Bad experience. Will not be renting or recommending them for future reference. read more

This is the second time I've rented and they were late to the boat ramp both times. The last time I rented, the trailer got a flat and I was essentially blamed for the flat. They were going to be 2 hours late. The trip was for people from out of town and their flight back home was that same evening. Refund was not even an option. AVOID renting from this place. There are many and better boat rental in the area. I would have selected no stars but one is the minimum. read more

Rented a boat from Blue Wave. Rick was very informative on how to operate and navigate the channels with the boat. We stayed in Dunedin and Rick brought the boat from Bradenton to a launch close to where we were staying for a small fee. About an hour drive. Now that is service!! We used the boat for fishing and exploring the near by islands. Will use Blue Wave again. Kelly C. read more

We rented the Tahoe deck boat last weekend to take a group of people out on the water and it was so much fun. The boat holds 12 people comfortably, and came stocked with a cooler full of ice and bottled water. Rick was a pleasure to work with and literally brought the boat right to us. The boat was brand new, very clean and equipped with a Bluetooth stereo and Garmin for navigation. We highly recommend Bluwave and will use them again. Happy cruising! read more

Bluwave Boat Rental - A bunch out for lunch! - Boating Near Me

I am not the type to normally post a review, let alone a negative one, but I feel compelled to look out for the well being of other vacationers. I support small businesses any way I can during COVID, but this company has no reservation with taking your money and not providing the promised service. It might be a scam. Without any regard for the customers needs, they falsely advertised the availability of a boat, we proceeded to make an online reservation then claimed they didn't have a boat for the reserved location. When we tried to cancel, they refused a refund then rudely challenged us to dispute the charges, and claimed "They never lose!" This adversarial tone was completely un-called for and I recommend taking a few minutes to research other rental companies and support any other local business. Take this review for what it's worth and if you opt to use them, tread lightly and good luck! read more

Had a run in with the owner. He ran a stop sign and I almost hit him. He was in a company truck so I called the number and explained what happened. He confessed he was the driver. So instead of apologizing he proceeds to tell me not to tell him what to do. So running a stop sign is ok? Potentially killing someone is ok? You be the judge if you want to rent with someone who doesn't care much for other people's safety. Good luck with that. read more

Bluwave boat rental was the way to go for us. My 15 year old son and I didn't want to hire a charter for just a half a day, we wanted to fish the full day and the price was very reasonable. Rick was excellent, the Waco boat was excellent and in good order. The fishing - so much fun. I am not sure what photo my son was more proud of - the one catching the 6 foot shark or the one of his hands after fighting the shark for 45 minutes. Quite a few other fish as well. He can't stop talking about it. After doing my research I chose Bluwave. My actual experience confirmed it was definitely the best boat rental service in the area. Thanks again!!! read more

Don't let the nice pictures fool you. First off Rick who I presume is the owner because if he wasn't he would have been fired long ago. Very unprofessional as he was late and showed up with a dirty boat that he attempted to clean before we boarded. When going over instructions he could not get the live well working and that was a concern as we were going fishing and needed it for live bait. When we expressed our disappointment his reply was do you want the boat or not? He put us in a tough spot because we would not be able get another boat last minute for the weekend. My son noticed that he put his portable speaker in his pocket and my son asked him for it back and he reluctantly handed it back over. That was the last straw as we said we can't rent a boat from someone you can't trust. I couldn't refer them at all but if you do decide to take a chance takes pictures of anything you rent and document all communication. read more

My wife and I had a great time with Rick of BluWave Boat Rental who gave us a hands on familiarization of the local waterways and boating. Rick is an excellent tour guide, a great and patient boating instructor. I highly recommend renting boats from BluWave Boat Rental. read more