James, our guide on our rafting trip, was amazing. He is an amazing guide who taught everyone in…read morethe raft how to navigate in the water as a group within the first few minutes. James loves what he does and has many years of experience. He speaks multiple languages fluently and is knowledgeable in everything! James made our rafting trip truly memorable. Not one second of the journey was boring with him as guide!

Bought a new Pyranha Scorch small kayak! Order went well with delivery within a few weeks. Jim…read moreanswered all questions and was very knowledgeable about kayaking was buying! Transaction went smoothly! This was a 2nd kayak after 45 years with same brand!

There is always something to do here, in the great outdoors! Whether it's strolling by the water,…read morewalking your dog, biking, hiking, or renting a paddle board, it's fun! The staff is friendly and extremely knowledgeable about boats, nature and the history about the lake and the area!! Come visit this gem! You won't regret it!!

***Addendum to my 08/08/2020 review*** completed at 08/10/2020 5pm…read more Wow! I spoke with Casey as indicated in the comment below. Casey is very professional and gave a strong impression that he a man of good ethics and goal-oriented. In our conversation I provided further information to the incident, he listened, acknowledged my issue, then came up with possible solutions that he plans to address to his staff to prevent this type of incident in the future, and then he offered me a second experience on the house. This is more than I expected, and I am impressed!!! To Casey I give 5-stars. I look forward to my second experience with Regatta Point Community Sailing.

Diane & her team did a great job of accomodating our family on Father's Day! Our father has some…read morephysical impairments, and Diane was friendly, prepared, courteous, and made sure that we had a great (and safe!) time! Her team did everything right to ensure that our paddles, life vests, and canoes were disinfected properly, too! Thanks for a great day! We'll be back!

We LOVE Nashoba Paddler. From camps for our kids, to a leisurely Sunday paddle, or a full-moon…read moretour, we've had only the best experiences here. Great boats, great river, great staff.

Stopped in very last minute as they were closing on a slow late summer Tuesday. Was driving…read morethrough and wanted to see some loon's if at all possible. The dog and very competent daughter greeted upon walking in off street. Marty the Owner came out and recommended paddle board and directed to nearby lake. They were spot on! The family of 7-loon's right in area Marty recommended (great long paddle). What an experience! So grateful found these folks... our country needs more like you these days. Thank you Marty, grown daughter and dog!

This is a great shop, very impressive. With EMS gone now we have fewer choices when looking for…read moreoutdoor wear. I really liked what they had for men's and women's outdoor clothing. Interestingly enough, they also carry a decent selection of used gear: backpacks/sleeping bags, etc.. Great experience in this wonderful shop.

I was hoping to learn sailing this summer but this place is very disorganized. The people…read moreconducting orientation have apparently not even been out on the water. And discourage you saying the water is really dirty. They have you take two classes on land on your own and then take a boat out on your own by coordinating yourself on Slack. It's not really a place to learn with a coach. Might be fine if you're just here to rent - can't speak to that.

This is a review just for kayaking:…read more On a beautiful Sunday, we wanted to kayak. We first went to another sailing pavilion that was unfortunately closed and then tried Community Boating. The office / guest services area inside is pretty well staffed and they have bathrooms and lockers so seemed promising. Unfortunately after you pay it becomes clear the main intent of this place is sailing. If you want to do anything else, do not come here. I had to chase multiple people down for us to get assistance with getting paddles and we had to go out into the water on our own with little to no direction. In the end, we didn't even get to spend the full 2 hours you pay for out on the water because it took so long to get setup on our own. Don't come here for anything but sailing!

Wonderful local owners who truly have a passion for kayaking and canoeing…read more Very convenient location. I always have a blast with this rental service and so close to home. Highly recommend.

This place is so convenient and affordable! I paid $35 for a canoe for 4 hours. The canoe was…read morebrought to the loading dock and picked up so we didn't need to worry about having appropriate transportation equipment. You'll need to fill out some paperwork prior to heading to the lake, but the lake is only 2 streets away from where you need to do this. I HIGHLY recommend!!

East Brimfield Lake, also known as, Long Pond. It is a nice, lightly developed body of water along…read morethe Quinabaug River Canoe (Kayak) Trail. The Lake/Pond is frequented by fishermen, canoeists, and kayakers. It's easily paddled along the circumference, just watch for a few shallow stones and stumps. The entire body of water covers approximately 420 acres. There are three sections, North, Middle, South. North to Middle requires a short portage across a narrow bridge. Middle to South is passable below a Route 20 over pass. The South section leads further to the South on the River Trail. We usually park on the North side of Route 20 at a public boat launch and cast off into the Middle Section.

We were out at Hopkinton State Park for a summer bbq picnic so we had already paid the $5 to park…read morein the park (ha!). To locate Boating in Boston, we drove down the main drag of the park and turned in at Birch Street, then we continued on till we spotted the boats. There's a small lot right by there, another lot before them by the beach, and after that it is quite a walk upwards to the next lot on the opposite side of the dirt road. Tip: don't park on the grass - you might get a ticket when you're not looking. Paying $25 for what otherwise would have been free parking isn't quite worth it. They had a tent set up for registering on one side with a driver's license (though they didn't take ours, they just scanned them), and for paying on the other side. With only one staffer handling things on either side, the lines moved rather slowly. Waivers are required to be completed for each participant, but only one license is needed per group. We came and left at good times when the lines weren't atrocious, but we could see how things might get frustrating at times. Once we passed the divider by the water we were fitted with life jackets, grabbed our two headed paddles (one per person), then headed on to the multiperson (straight ahead) or single person launch (to the right) where we were set in a boat and given a push. Yes, no lesson on how to handle the paddle, no nothing. But fortunately both my cohort (who took the back seat and the lead in directing our ship) and I had been around on one of these things before. But if you haven't, you might want to say something to this affect before you are sent off on your own in a boat with a paddle. We kayaked around the two little forested islands and back again. With no motor boats in the water it was a relatively calm and stress free time out in the water. Though we came with a voucher that would have covered a one-hour single kayak ($15/hour), two-person kayak ($20/hour), canoe ($25/hour for 2-3 people), or stand-up paddleboard ($20/hour) rental, we found that a two-person kayak rental was charged $1.25 in tax while the single kayak was not. Expect to get wet, so if you can, wear clothing that dries fast or consider bringing a change of clothing.

With Groupon & BuyWithMe in hand, I came here on 2 occasions, one to learn how to sail! Two - to go…read morekayaking! This location has plenty of parking, but beware, you may have to pay for parking to enter Hopkinton State Park, which they don't have posted on their website, but it's only $5/car which isn't bad at all for a day of fun! The staff at Outdoor Recreation was nothing but friendly and helpful! They do take your license when renting a kayak, so don't forget to get it back at the end of the day! Kevin, my instructor, was extremely great during our sailing lesson. Going through our safety lecture, some vocabulary, and the overview of the day. We canoed over to our sail boat, learned how to set everything up and went through some of the actions. Each of us took several turns at how to sail the boat, how to tact, how to run, and so forth. It was seriously an amazing day on the water. If I could afford to, I would love to sign up for a 4-week course, but alas this is not my time to do so. But perhaps in the near future. Upon return to Outdoor Recreation a few weeks later, it was nothing but a great time. The staff got us squared away in no time. Got our life vests on and into our kayaks quickly and safely. Spent about 2.5 hours on the water and around the lake, enjoyed the sun and fun! Would definitely love to come back again. Perhaps next time, I'll have saved enough money to have purchased my own gear. But until I have my own kayak and PFD, I'll definitely be using Outdoor Recreation again for whenever I want to hit the water and relax on the lake.

I am going to join the previous reviewers who said they had a fantastic experience…read more My husband and I took the intro to kayaking course with Kevin and there were 7 other people in our class. I was grateful because there were several other beginners like me. I'm fairly coordinated, but I've never done this before and didn't want to look like an idiot. Before we even got into the water, Kevin talked to us about the boat, sea conditions, and other important safety facts. His instruction was very informative and his funny, sarcastic side made it very enjoyable and entertaining. The water was pretty wavy and it was fairly windy out, but it was easy to paddle and it was super fun being in the water. Kevin taught us different techniques of kayaking and then at the end a "wet exit" which involved dumping yourself out of the boat and into the water. It was about a 3 hour adventure and well worth the money. My husband and I feel very confident to rent kayaks on our own or take a more advanced course, and we will definitely call Salem Kayak again. Awesome job!

You may have seen Kevin and Gillian's car around Salem with the awesome Rock, Paddle, Surf graphic…read more They took over Salem Kayak and gave it a new name and a totally new vibe. They are passionate about kayaking and have taught it and done it for many years. If you are a beginner at kayaking like I am or if you already know how and want to learn some new maneuvers, Kevin and Gillian can teach you. They also have sunset trips and full moon paddles, both of which I someday will have the courage to do. Go down to Salem Willows and talk to both or either of these people and make new friends in the process. Check out their website for upcoming events at www.rockpaddlesurf.com.