I'm a local, but I still enjoy taking friends and family on the Willamette Jet Boat Excursion…read morebecause it's one of the best ways to experience the river, the Portland waterfront, the city's beautiful bridges, and Willamette Falls. One of our captains described the ride as a mix of Pirates of the Caribbean, the Teacups, and Splash Mountain--which is surprisingly accurate! The price is fair, the experience is unforgettable, and it's something I'd highly recommend for both locals and anyone visiting Portland.

Had an amazing experience out on the river with the Jetboat team. We live in Portland see these…read moreboats go by every single day, and figured it was time to give it a try ourselves. I'm happy we did. Our driver Doug was fantastic and mixed in the perfect amount of education, fun, and humor into his talk track. I learned some things about Portland that I wasn't ever aware of! Would definitely recommend doing this on a HOT day as you will definitely get wet. We went out in a 90+ degree day, and thus the water spray was cool and refreshing. In lower temps I can assure that you will likely get cold given the speed of the boat and temp of the water. First couple rows, you'll likely get soaked, so sit towards the back if you want to avoid that.

Great place to store paddle or rowing craft! I've had a kayak and surfski racked there for several…read moreyears. Time saved from loading, unloading and carrying boats makes it well worth the storage fee and makes regular paddling exercise a lot easier. And there's Marlon, the Harbormaster. He is a very cheerful and pleasant presence at the docks. He knows the area well and makes good recommendations. He's always happy to lend a hand, and sets a great tone for the friendly vibe at the docks.

Always a pleasure to feel at home in a familiar place…read more Wonderful view, nice people, good service and a good menu. Never a bad experience. Keep it up!

We booked the sunset cruise and it was absolutely the best. The weather was perfect and the small…read moreboat experience was exactly what we were looking for. Thank you Captain Chris for a wonderful evening.

Thank you for the sweet ride, Captain Dan! It was great and we had a great time. Perfect day!!…read moreDefinitely worth it. All the best, Celia +Jimmy

3 1/2 Stars - This is a difficult review to write…read more May 22, 2026 we went on our third Portland Spirit Cruise. We upgraded to the "Admiral Package," as this was a special Rose Festival Cruise, concluding with a fireworks display. The cruise itself was wonderful. The live piano music is a lovely enhancement, and the atmosphere was buoyant ;-). Every staff member was a delight and the captain is charming. But - The Food: Our appetizers were interesting, Mr. Wonderful ordered the Shrimp Cocktail and said it was alright. I had the Cheese Platter, some of the cheeses were hard, (as in dried out) and the crostini was *overly hard, bordering on stale. The salads were good, the dressing delicious. For our mains, I ordered the pasta dish. I took perhaps four bites and stopped eating. The pasta was far beyond al dente, the vegetables were almost unrecognizable - it lacked flavor or texture. Mr. Wonderful ordered the Beef Short ribs, and was happy with his meal. I'm going to chalk this up to me ordering incorrectly. Table clearing was another issue, our bread tray and appetizer plates remained on the table far too long. When our main courses were delivered, there was no room. We ordered our desserts and coffee. We received our coffee about 10 minutes afterwards. Then we watched as our server, served a large table next to us their desserts and a couple of other tables nearby. He may have been overwhelmed as this deck was extremely busy. Anyway, after waiting 20 plus minutes more, we requested our dessert, again. Cold coffee and dessert = not great. Our meal service from start to finish was disorganized. Viewing the fireworks from the top deck was a treat! We enjoy cruising with Portland Spirit and will do so again, but we would *not purchase the upgrade. Hint: Request (and pay for) a window seat on the *second deck, as the views are much more desirable.

It is a pleasant way to visit and see Portland by water. My friend gave me a lunch for my birthday…read more Many celebrations in the lunch tour. The food is delicious! The have an options for people who has gluten allergies. It is a great memory for your trip for sure.

My wife and I recently went on the sunset cruise with captain Seth. Nice clean boat. Seth knew…read morequite a bit about the history of portland bridges and waterfront. Since we live in portland Seth asked if we'd like the history tour or would rather just cruise up the river. We opted for the history tour and really enjoyed learning about our city. Would recommend for out of towners or locals. Great way to see and learn about the city. We also enjoyed drinking a bottle of wine and watching the sunset over portland!

Captain Seth took us on a beautiful sunset cruise on the Willamette River. His knowledge of the…read moreriver, city, and bridges is extensive. His wonderful classic wood Chris Craft boat Rosy is a unique way to see Portland from the water. I would highly recommend Portland Boat Tours and Captain Seth!

I tried to book the brew barge once a year for three years, every. single. time. I got a call the…read moreday of saying they had to cancel. I was told I would get a complimentary ride or brew barge and never heard anything back. would NOT book.

DO NOT buy from this company. 5 friends and I bought tickets for September 14 but got a call day of…read morethat they were having mechanical issues and they would give us a refund and a complimentary ride. Well its December and still no refund. Over $300!!! Many messages promising to refund but no follow through.

Tubes are $25 for a day rental! They are nice, heavy duty red tubes and have handles. Pickup is in…read morehis garage/driveway and pickup was so easy! You can take the tubes wherever you want which is nice. They're super easy to blow up and have a mesh bottom to hold your belongings close by/shield your bum from rocks. He gave us a hand pump to use to blow them up when we arrive at our location. Drop off was just as easy, we texted him when we were 5 minutes away and he came outside when we needed to drop off! Would definitely rent from him again if we are ever in the area!

We rented six tubes from Bryan on the Fourth of July. I thought we were going to be an hour early…read morepicking them up than we scheduled. I called Bryan and he was totally fine with us being early. It ended up taking us an hour longer than we thought to drop our car off at Barton Park. But Bryan was waiting for us when we got there. The process was very easy and fast. He had everything ready for us and offered us life jackets since we didn't have quite enough for our group. The tubes were a lot of fun and held up, even going over some parts that were shallow and rocky. We will rent from Bryan again if we float the river again. Great experience!

This review is for the paddle board rentals!…read more My 2 friends and I tried to book the paddle boards online the day prior. For some reason we were only able to book one, even when trying on different devices/ browsers. We tried calling but weren't able to get through so we decided to just go in person the next day. For our reservation, we were texted the instructions on where to park & how to get down to the right dock. The instructions were easy to follow. Despite the online reservation not working, we were still able to get 3 paddle boards! After signing a waiver and paying, the staff will give you a life jacket, measure the paddles according to your height, and give a quick tutorial on how to get onto the board. It was my first time paddle boarding and it was pretty easy to learn! We did a 2 hour rental (which is plenty of time) and had a lot of fun going through the recommended path and using the current to drift back. For the 2 hours it was about $30 which was more than worth it. There is a locker (without locks) where you can leave your clothes/ other items. If you want to bring a water bottle or other personal items that are ok to get wet, there is a bungee cord at the top of the board to secure those items in place. There are also restrooms with flush toilets at the dock. This experience was honestly one of my favorite parts of the weekend and I would highly recommend. I just hope they are able to get their online reservation system fixed for a smoother booking process!

Reserved a pontoon boat in the midst of COVID restrictions. A great way to get outdoors and safely…read moresocially distance. As our day approached, the weather changed. We called to check if we could switch days and they were quick to let us know we could. Perfect. Check-in was smooth. We were provided a quick training and we were off. We rented for the day and took advantage of exploring the Columbia river. Pontoon Boat was in great shape and had a larger engine so we were able to make decent time to get out to the gorge. It was a gorgeous day and we couldn't have been happier. Highly recommend, but plan ahead (we attempted to rent on another occasion and they were booked).

Gabriel was amazing! Really went above and beyond to make sure my friends and I had a great time…read more Everything went smoothly, and in time. The boat was immaculately cleaned and in great condition! Will definitely be renting from them again!!

Our family had a fantastic time on the scenic Columbia River with PDX Water Sports. We rented…read moreBrandon's Monark 205 Sun Lounger deck boat (see photos) and it runs great with a 130 hp outboard. With three passengers, we got a max speed of 30 kts and cruised very comfortably on plane at 22 kts. This is not a new boat and is missing its windshield, but it has a bimini shade and plenty of seating. The seat conditions and such are expected of an older boat, but we are here for the Oregon water experience, not two-tone leatherette. There is no online booking, so text PDX Watersports and the response is fast. Coordinating times and getting a price quote was super easy too. If you are used to renting from overpriced corprate operators, think of this as the opposite-- the hometown small business owner. Chinook Landing boat ramp has plenty of parking and is out of the Portland traffic/busy areas. If you are renting on the 4th of July or some other peak day, expect peak conditions at launch and on the river. We had a quiet, summer Friday on the water instead. Deposit was returned within 60 minutes of getting back to the dock (and inspecting the boat and prop of course!). I would definitely recommend PDX Water Sports if you are an experienced boater looking for a great time on the Columbia or Williamette. I sense a lot of the negative reviewers are people who don't know much about boating, planing speeds, weight distribution, or safe operation of a vessel. Looking forward to doing this again the next time we visit Portland!

Im not sure how successful folks are with catching fish in this large pond, but sitting by the dock…read moreis very peaceful. The lake is centered around the shopping mall so there are a few restaurant that overlook the lake. There are also ducks that live there.

Came here today with fishing friend who did some actual fishing. Nothing was caught (fish 1 -…read morehumans 0), but it was really OK, and I thoroughly enjoyed sitting in my camping chair and watching the fish jump in the air and the world passing by. A few other people were down on the dock casting for fish, others sat on the various rock formations sort of zoning out, and it was a real pleasure to see the children and parents sharing something they really loved. If the youngsters aren't interested in the fishing, they can come down and feed the ducks - such fun. The water is so clear you can see down to rocks and plants on the bottom and also nearest the dock flashes of the goldfish as they glide along (these goldfish eventually grow into some very large carp). There are evidently some sturgeon as well along with the rainbow trout, and also lots of ducks and other water birds (a few still with babies). Oh yes, lots of dragonflies - flashes of black and fiery orange red - add to the charm. People who fish welcome you right into their society and talk readily about their fishing experiences and how the big one got away and even why. This is a terrific family experience and for those who want to come out alone. The best time is to come early, before 7, and especially after the lake has been re-stocked, if you want to catch some fish. But like I said, it's a wonderful experience whether fish are caught or not. Give it a try. And remember if you don't catch any fish, you can hike back up to the shopping center above and get some breakfast. Not a bad day at all, in fact a damn fine one if you ask me.