We were very disappointed with our service with tikiboat Chicago. We planned a weekend bachelorette party and rented a boat for Saturday. 2 weeks before the event, we get an email stating the boat is out of commission and were offered a different boat for Friday afternoon or Sunday afternoon. This was terrible service as we could only use the boat on a Saturday and only had 2 weeks to find a different option. This was almost impossible as boats are booked well in advance for Saturdays in Chicago. Would highly recommend Sofia with Get my Boat if you have a party of 12 looking for a great time. I am giving 2 stars as they were initially easy to book with. read more

Chicago TikiBoat - Terrible service - Boating Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Booked a party for my birthday but had to cancel when members of party tested positive for COVID. Captain cancelled the trip but I was never contacted for rescheduling or refund. I made several calls and emails that have not been returned. Very disappointing. read more

I booked Chicago TikiBoat 5 months before my brother's bachelor party. I rented the boat for a summer Saturday to go to the playpen. 3 days before my reservation I got an email saying there was no longer availability for my reservation. This was very unprofessional and caused a lot of stress for me. I was appalled that they only let me know 3 days before, making it impossible to book another boat last minute. They could have given me way more notice. Also, how was I able to book the reservation in the first place? Did they double book? I will never seek out their services again, and I recommend everyone does the same. Just a terrible way to conduct a business. read more

Over the last couple years I have done several different boat rental options for my friends and I. This summer I booked four tiki boats and I think I'll be up to booking six next year! Summer in Chicago is short so we have to make the best of it. Chicago Tiki Boat has far beyond exceeded my expectation of service. I have used other tiki boat companies in Chicago but have now decided I will NOT use the competitors again and only Chicago TIki. William is an amazing and very experienced captain that I highly recommend and feel safe with at all times on the water. Natalie is a great GM that is very responsive! And, Pablo the owner listens to any needs or suggestions that are brought to him I have one more boat next week but I wanted to thank the crew for making me and about 30 of my closest friends have very memorable experiences this summer! I'm ready to start booking my boats for 2018! read more

Chicago TikiBoat - Boating Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

If I could leave zero stars I would. Our group of 20 ppl are suppose to be on their boat right now and we aren't because as we are calling the captain to get on the boat, they told us they can't take us anymore because the captain has Covid and we can't go out until 8pm. No warning, nothing! As we all paid for Uber's to get to the spot. Extremely unprofessional and no one is trying to make the situation better. read more

STAY AWAY!!!!!! Booked a bachelor party 3 weeks in advance. Got a note from Chicago Tiki Boat canceling THE DAY BEFORE THE PARTY, citing COVID as the reason, despite the fact that Chicago has been in the same COVID phase for nearly two months with no changes. People flew in from out of state and quarantined for two weeks to be able to attend this party. After inquiring further about the reason, the owner sent a nasty, unprofessional email back asking, "do you think I like refunding thousands of dollars to people?" Oh-- and don't bother trying to call them because they never answered the telephone or returned any messages once throughout the entire booking and cancelation process; they only communicate through barely coherent emails. As you can see from other reviews, this is not an isolated incident, and sure enough, when calling another company to try to find a new boat, I was told this is common practice by Chicago Tiki Boat: they purposely overbook their boats and then cancel on people last minute. The other company I spoke to told me they get multiple calls every week from people scrambling to find other boats after getting canceled on by Chicago Tiki Boat. Don't waste your time or money on this terrible company. We will be reporting them to the Better Business Bureau. Book instead with ISLAND PARTY BOAT -- they saved the day after Chicago Tiki Boat screwed us over, and offered a MUCH better price!! Ask for Diane. read more

Just had a rockin' tiki time on the Tiki Boat Chicago last weekend. A friend and I wanted to throw an end of summer bash on the lake for our friends when we noticed the boat in all its tiki grandeur -- complete with a slide down the back -- at Monroe Harbor. When we called the owner, Paul Newman, to rent the boat for a Friday night, he was super sweet and helpful, and seemed genuinely enthusiastic about our party. We had a little trouble securing a captain, but once we made Paul aware of the problem, he made some calls and helped us find someone. While the total cost of the cruise was initially a little hard to calculate - there was an hourly boat charge, clean up and gas fees, plus an hourly captain's fee that's paid separately -- the total cost ended up being pretty reasonable for 12 people (the max) for a three-hour tour. The boat has two decks, so there's plenty of space, plus a semi-enclosed area to take refuge from the wind. Paul encourages people to bring their own food and beer onboard and provides plenty of coolers to keep drinks chilled. Other than the beer and light snacks, we hardly did any prep for the party, but it didn't really matter: The boat was outfitted with a radio, tiki/tropical decorations, coolers and the other stuff we thought we should've brought. Fortunately, we did bring ice, our swim suits and a bottle opener, though we did wish we had a corkscrew. In the days leading up to the party, we were also a little worried because storms were in the forecast. It did rain and mist for part of our after-work excursion but it didn't stop us from cruising along the shore, getting an up-close -- and for us otherwise boatless commoners, rare -- perspective on Navy Pier, the Museum Campus and the lighthouse. The rain cleared up after a bit and we were left with dramatic views of clouds hovering around the skyline, reflecting beautiful, eerie light into the night sky. For the finale, once we were docked back at the harbor, we gave the slide a whirl. It was incredibly fun and we highly recommend it as the perfect way to end your party with a bang. Fun was had by all and we're still talking about our cruise, so if you're looking for an enjoyable, memorable party with a small group of friends, the Tiki Boat Chicago is it. We're looking forward to another warm spell so we can do it again. NOTE: The web site given here on Yelp is not up to date. The web address is http://www.tikiboatchicago.com/ read more

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Great experience. Island music selections were interesting. Nice smooth tour of river. Would be most interesting if there either was some partying going on or a guide could have given some fun/historic facts of the river area. read more

This is the second time we have boated with Chicago TikiBoat for a Mom's Day OUT! Capt Jessica and Cynthia were a friendly crew to man the boat while we all enjoyed some much needed relaxation & sun. We will definitely book again! read more

Chicago TikiBoat - Boating Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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We had a wonderful experience! I booked a bachelorette party for June 2021, and Captain Cynthia was so nice--she kept us updated on weather throughout, was responsive to texts and emails, and went out of our way to make us feel welcome. We had a blast! read more

Honestly this is one of the best experiences I've ever had! Courtney our Captain was incredible along with his First Mate. They went above and beyond for us when the bathroom door locked! They were cool, calm and collected and solved the issue without worry. They both were so helpful the whole time and all my friends were blown away! I recommend this 100% read more

Seems like this is fairly common theme but these guys canceled our bachelor party reservation less than 24 hours prior to the reservation because they couldn't get a captain. Steer clear folks read more

I was really disappointed with our rental. I booked in April for a bachelorette party in August. The boat itself was awesome but our captain didn't seem experienced. We were told we couldn't go to the playpen due to weather but other boats were there. Our captain didn't know how to put the ladder down when we asked to go swimming. The captain also didn't know how to anchor well. And never figured out how the stereo / music worked. For how much the rental was, it missed the mark. read more

Amazing experience!! Both William and Troy were super helpful and accommodating. Highly recommend for an awesome day on the water! read more

Terrible experience - DO NOT BOOK WITH TIKI BOAT. In short they are liars, dishonest, horrible communication, they cancelled and changed my reservation 4 times, and they NEVER respond to phone calls or emails. I wish I could attach photos to show. If you want more details read below.... I had a really terrible experience with Chicago Tiki Boat for the following reasons. I do NOT recommend them at all - the trouble they put me through was not worth it. First - they do not respond in a timely manner and never answer their phone. When trying to book they wouldn't answer my email for over a week at a time - literally 7 full days at some points. They never returned my phone calls. Second - I received an email one month before my reservation saying that my boat is "unavailable due to COVID 19." Which does not make sense as it was available all summer until the end of July. When I asked for clarification they said there were mechanical issues related to the boat, not related to COVID 19 so first off they're not honest.  They offered me a "different vessel" but didn't tell me which vessels were available and then when trying to get a different vessel they said I could only have 10 people (I had 11) - understandable given COVID. However, then I requested they put us on a larger boat to accommodate up to 12 - which they did.  The DAY OF my reservation I received a text saying they LOST my reservation and didn't have a boat for me... i got this text "GM Katie, I have you down in my system but don't know the resolution to your booking. Linda is no longer with the company and I'm trying to figure where we left off with your booking. Was a date ever confirmed with you and if so has a Captain reached out to you if a date was set? Please forgive me for all the questions." I requested a call immediately and then was told that they can no longer get us on the boat at our normal time but pushed it back from 3-6pm to 6:30-10pm. We got to the boat and was told they can't have more than 10 people. It was not until i showed the email saying up to 12 was acceptable that they allowed us to stay. I told them I wanted a 50% refund for the trouble they put me through (changing my reservation 3 times, losing my reservation, not communicating with the Captain about number of guests) to which they agreed after I argued for a very long time. They gave me partial refund the day of and said the rest would be refunded later. This was August 22nd. It is now September 2nd and I finally received my refund after emailing them 7 different times and calling them for the past 3 days. I finally threatened to report them and then got a text IMMEDIATELY after I left the voicemail stating they'll send the refund now.  I also found out last week they are poor with communication with the captain. The captain's wife texted me asking if we would pay her since they didn't receive any money. Apparently Tiki Boat does not pay the captain at ALL and the "Captain Fee" of $190 comes from us plus whatever gratuity we want to add. However, the captain was not aware of this. So now I have to come up with this money to send to the captain. Since going I've had 3 different people ask me how it was and if they could have Tiki Boat's contact - I steered them far away and said I highly do NOT recommend them as I was lied to, ignored, and treated poorly. Definitely think strongly before going with them if you're trying to rent a boat. The only highlight of this experience were Michael our captain and his wife Elizabeth - they were wonderful, so fun, helpful, and I feel bad that they have to work with this horrible company. read more

Tourist trap... We were supposed to go out 11 til 2, we left late and came back early. At 1:25 we went back to the dock and just went back and forth until 1:50. Got kicked off the boat immediately at 1:50 with the captain saying "no need to chug your drinks you can drink on land." Even tho we were just trying to make the most of our time. They refused to go to Lake Michigan and kept the slide closed and people out of the water despite that being their main advertisement. Crew was subpar and captain was the worst. 1.8/10 would not recommend. read more

Had an amazing time out of the TikiBoat today ! All the other boats were jealous of our slide and the fun we were having! Great music, great grilling and just an overall super fun day! Charlie was the BEST deck hand !!! He even offered to blow up our diamond ring floatie and dove into the water to try and save it when the current took it away! He put up with our loud rowdy behavior and our desire to call him Anthony! The boats engine broke and we were delayed out on the lake for a few hours but that didn't matter because we were in awesome hands, Charlie manages the entire situation and kept us all safe !! read more

Chicago TikiBoat - Boating Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Best bachelorette ever! They were so accommodating and kind and even helped us search for a missing engagement ring. Thank you!

Terrible experience. Rented a boat for 12 people, arrived and was told the boat can only hold 7. The boat was not what we reserved. We had terrible customer service when trying to call and talk to the company. I would not recommend this company to anyone. read more

A friend asked me if I wanted to join in some Memorial Day festivities out on Lake Michigan via the TikiBoat and given the gorgeous weather, I could not turn an offer like that down. The boat is docked at Monroe Harbor and is a two-floor festive party machine - spacious room in the front and back of the lower level, and a second level (accessed by ladder) that has a PARTY SLIDE off of it. Yes you read that right - there is a slide from the 2nd level that launches your carefree and joyful body straight into Lake Michigan. The bathroom is spotless (which was a big concern of mine initially), and there is a fridge and a cooler to store you party beverages and snacks. You can even grab some brats and buns on the way to the boat party because there is an actual little grill you can make your delectables right on board. When we were on board, our captain, Pablo, was super friendly, very professional, and asked us if we wanted to go along the Chicago River or out onto the Lake to an area called the 'Play Pen' - a shallower spot on the lake where the water is warmer (not that we were swimming that day - Lake Michigan in May after our arctic winter? No thank you hypothermia.) and much calmer. We opted for the Play Pen and had a fantastic time drinking, eating, soaking up the sun, and listening to our music (which nicely hooks up to the stereo system they have on board). All in all - I found the TikiBoat to be the ultimate vessel for our fun Memorial Day celebrations - it truly could not have been a more perfect day. Thank you Pablo and TikiBoat Chicago!!! read more

Love this boat! Just a relaxing ride down the Chicago rivers so you can check out Chicago's pretty architecture on your own. Also has a bar so you can have a drink in hand. I try to do this every summer. read more

I LOVE THIS BOAT! Ive been on this boat twice now. Each year we go for my girlfriend's birthday. 3 words: IT'S A BLAST! It's a two level, party animal, smashing good pontoon type boat. They allow you to bring your own beer and food. They have a grill on board, TVs, and speakers to blast some tunes. It is so affordable. Split it 12 ways along your friends and everyone can bring some drinks and what not. They are docked at Monroe harbor and its best to just cab it there with all of your stuff. Once you arrive to the boat, Brian and Pablo will greet you. They are very personable and polite, such great guys! One of them will accompany your voyage as your captain and will most likely be sharing some laughs with ya! They do NOT drink on the boat with you clearly because they are driving, which is good. Once all of the passengers are on the boat you guys can ship out to a scenic route or straight to the playpen to party. I always prefer the latter :-) Once out there, you can dock.. and let the festival beginnnnnnn! They have got a slide on the top level that goes right into the water. It's hilarious. Often people will swim over from other boats and want to go down the slide. its up to you whether you can be a party booper pooper or just climb up and slide down! All in all, this boat is something everyone should do. It is insanely fun and a perfect way to celebrate a hot summer day in Chicago. If you go, tell them Paul sent yA! :-) p.s. there is a toilet on board, and it is clean. another crucial part of the boat ha. read more

My friends and I have made the TikiBoat an annual occurrence because it is so much fun. Sadly, the aforementioned owner Paul passed away and the original TikiBoat sunk (separate occurrences I have been told). However, there is a new TikiBoat and owner, which we booked last summer and will book again this summer. It's a little bit more expensive than the original, but they are much more organized and make the booking and paying process easier. We also did not have to find our own captains, which we did on the original. It comes with a captain and first mate now. Book it, grab 11 friends, bring some food, and drinks, and once the cost is split 12 ways, it's affordable for anyone. Don't forget the tip! read more

We chartered a tiki boat ride with Chicago TikiBoat for a group of 12 friends and had an absolute blast! The craft is basically a pontoon boat outfitted with an seating area in front, a grill, a covered area in back (with nice, clean bathroom), a second story deck (best area to hang out), and an awesome water slide. The captain (Will) and the first mate (Lucas) were both really nice and helpful. It's BYOB and BYOFood so we elected to bring some beers, some bubbly, some mixed drinks (in pitchers), and some food to grill. Luke offered to grill for us so we could relax and enjoy the ride, which was a nice touch but I think he might need some more practice on the grill before offering to cook up people's food. He's a really nice guy and was there to help with whatever we needed but some of the food came off either over or under cooked and when you're entrusting your dinner to someone else, you're obviously hoping it comes out well. There was enough food that we didn't go hungry but this was pretty much the only thing I noticed as a slight negative to the experience. We had such a great time that it wasn't enough to downgrade the overall review but I just wanted to provide some constructive feedback for future trips. I think this is a great way to spend an afternoon/evening with your friends and Chicago TikiBoat is definitely a professional and detail-oriented crew! Thanks for the great night! read more

LOVED Chicago TikiBoat. We rented the TikiPremier and it was the perfect summer team outing. Captain Courtney and Cee were great. Took great care of us. read more

The boat was updated and more than big enough for 12 people. Captain Morgan and his assistant stuff member were excellent and courteous. I will definitely recommend this company & captain to friends and family. read more

Captain Morgan and Trooper are THE BEST! They're welcoming, professional and respectful, funny, and super helpful! Captain Morgan was very communicative and took us to the perfect spot for swimming and views. Trooper took over as grill master while we swam. Such great energy on their boat the entire time. 10/10 would recommend these two! read more

It was a great day to be on the lake. The captain and her mate were nice enough. The only issue i had was the grill on the boat didn't work. For the amount of money you pay, the grill should have worked. For same amount you can rent a yacht. read more

We had a great time during our cruise with Chicago TikiBoat. We were originally scheduled for a day in July but the weather that day was awful and Pablo allowed us to choose an alternate date. We were so grateful. The weather on our alternate date was gorgeous and my sister had a great time at her bachelorette party thanks to Pablo's flexibility, Captain Morgan's expert navigation and positive attitude, and first mate, Sonny. Thanks again! read more

So I just want to say , I will never book with this company again. Now if you are looking for a random boat ride for an affordable price sure, but I would never recommend booking them for a special event. i booked my boat weeks in advance and the evening before my trip I received a text NOT CALL that my captain caught Covid and they had to reschedule. This was for my 30th birthday so I was devasted. how a company doesn't have back up captains for this type of thing when it happens is beyond me ! The company was simply trying to refund my money back with no special accommodation for ruining my event basically. When I finally said I wanted a proper accommodation it was rescheduled to the next week. The captain and co captain were amazing and the only reason why I am giving 2 stars. But the business ethic was terrible , the top floor of the boat and slide were also FILLED with spiderwebs. the least they could have done was wipe it down before the trip . Would never return. read more

Rented a boat with friends earlier this week (with pretty nice groupon special), and boy was it loads of fun! Captain William, and super helper Lucas were so patient, nice, and loads of fun! We were running a bit late, and as soon as we arrived they greeted us with smiling faces, helped everyone in, and got the party started! They supply you with everything you need to have a good time. There are so many awesome features this boat offers; from the slide, to the grill, to the cooler (ice provided by CTB), the bathroom, the speakers, the chargers, the sink, the life jackets, the comfy seating, the cup holders, the tables...really the list goes on, that there is no way to not sit back, relax, and enjoy the beautiful views. The sun was shining, the drinks were cool, the hot dogs were grilling, friends were sliding, and everyone was smiling. Chicago Tiki Boat will definitely become a tradition for years to come. Cheers :) read more

There is room for improvement. The morning of our trip I received a text that because of Covid restrictions we could only have 8 people on the boat. Any restrictions should have been communicated a lot sooner than the morning of. When I stated we were a family of 4 adults and 5 kids I was told we "were good" as we had minors. The boat could have been cleaner. It really looked like we were the first ones to use it this season. Lots of bugs on the slide and under. On the upper level there was an empty beer can right in the middle of the floor. Very hard to miss. The website states Floaties and Lily Pad included. We made use of the Lily Pad. Unfortunately, unless they meant life jackets there were no floaties, which we were really looking forward to. If you have a bluetooth speaker of your own, bring it. We connected to theirs and could hardly hear it. You definitely can not hear it on the second level and you can barely hear it if you're at the back of the boat by the slide. The captain and first mate were awesome. They felt like part of the family. Overall, we had a great time. We got a Groupon and I am glad we did. We would have been highly disappointed had we paid full price. read more

I reserved this pontoon for my Birthday because of all the good reviews. Unfortunately my experience was anything but good. I was told I could have 13 people, when I arrived that was not the case. The staff behaved as if they didn't say I could have 13 people. The bathroom smelled terrible and did not even flush, on a "2019 pontoon". The captain asked us to take the garbage with us as we exited the pontoon. The whole transaction was just poorly handled and unprofessional. It was quite embarrassing and I felt cheated and taken advantage of. I do wish you the best of you choose this company. They will get not another penny from me. read more

Wanted to take a nice private boat ride for a party for the first time. Unfortunately the boat was not up to my expectations, over priced payed $1800 for spider webs everywhere, the Bluetooth wasn't as loud as my HomePod, small grill only able to grill a little food at a time, it was pretty much a horrible experience. It was false advertisement for the boat I saw online and a different boat that I got on, I've been on better boats in other countries. The captain was nice and the assistant was also helpful other than that I would never recommend it to anyone I know or a stranger lookin for a good time on the lake! read more

Went out the past two days on the "Island Time" boat for the Chicago Air Show. Saturday the lake was rough and did not get as close to the action as would have been nice but safety first. Enjoyed the company and the ride and was able to get some good pictures. When arriving home on Saturday got a discount invite to the Sunday cruise and had to go for it. Sunday the weather and waves were a bit more cooperative and it was an excellent day. A much smaller group on the boat (someone said there were 10 of us) but again great company and excellent ride. I will definitely go back and highly recommended. read more

I absolutely loved it! Our captain Jessica was extremely friendly and very chill too! Loved her. It was the weather that was disappointing. Not going to lie, there were a lot of insects on top of the boat and on the slide. But other than that I loved it very much and had fun as well! read more

I'm actively trying to adjust my reservation. I called four days in a row, each day was told I would have email confirmation by the end of the day. On the fourth day of calling, I was told "well when we hang up the phone we forget so if you want to adjust you need to email us". So this brings me to another three consecutive days of emails AND calling, without any response. I'm extremely concerned about my reservation and deposit. I'm writing this review in hopes that someone from the company will contact me to sort out my reservation. read more

Hey Captain Bluebeard . We booked for a Bachelorette Party and had a great time. They went out of their way to provide us with a great trip. Captain was great, food and alcohol order was correct and it was an all around good time. I booked before checking other reviews because they had a great gift card special (if y'all could bring that back that would be great ) but after seeing some reviews I was worried. Happy to report our trip was good and would book again (especially if y'all bring the gift card deal back ). read more

Friend of mine set this up...I was skeptical and ended up having a blast. We went really far up the north branch of the river (to around Division) and it was a beautiful August night. Went swimming over by the beaches north of Navy Pier. The two skippers were hilarious (they were USCG) and great guys with stories of drunk people crashing boats. Looking them up again right now to book for a bachelor party! read more

Defianlty had a great time with captan Courtney & first mate C a board. Very down to earth, great hospitality & took us to all the site seeing spots. That you Defianlty want to see when on a boat. Defiantly worth & will Defiantly book again next summer. Not only was the crew great the owner was very helpful when I had an issue booking! Great company & staff! read more