Prices have gone up (understandable). Unfortunately, they don't honor the military discount that they claim. Otherwise, lots of fun and highly recommend when in the area. read more

Do NOT Rent Pontoons HERE!! For the price that they charge, it is simply inexcusable to run older equipment that has issues. The pontoon we rented for a full day was trashed. They didn't even care to wipe the seats and everything down before hand, so everything was covered in dirt. The seats were ripped at the seams, the anchor they provided was bent, and best of all, the steering DID NOT WORK! To add on to this catastrophe, the check engine light and fuel gauge didn't work. Luckily me and my family are experienced boaters and have rented multiple times elsewhere, so we got back in one piece. read more

We had such a blast on the lake thanks to French Gulch Marina. From start to finish, the experience was exactly what we hoped for. The staff, especially Deborah, Hailey, and Deagan, were so friendly and welcoming. They made sure we felt completely comfortable before heading out on the water. We brought our dog along and he absolutely loved being on the boat! The 8-person pontoon we rented was easy to handle and ran perfectly. While it did have normal signs of wear and age, it was still very comfortable and reliable, which is really what matters. The marina has plenty of parking, and their general store is fully stocked with snacks, drinks, ice, sunblock, and more, which came in handy. We also really appreciated that there were no hidden fees. Everything was exactly as listed on their website, and they even pump the gas in front of you when you return so you can see exactly what you used. If you're looking for a hassle-free way to explore the lake, this is it. Bring a Bluetooth speaker to make the day even more fun. We recommend calling ahead to reserve, since they book up fast. We can't say enough about our experience and will absolutely be back again and again. Thanks for helping us create such wonderful memories. read more

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The staff was very friendly my bf and i appreciated how nice and smooth it was to rent jet skis for and hour. Keep up the great work Deborah we appreciate you and will be back. read more

The staff were very friendly and took great care of us! Excellent experience can't wait to go back this summer! read more

French Gulch Marina - Friendly staff helping us with our Jet Ski rental - Marinas Near Me

Random trip to the lake , we were able to get a jet ski no problem and their customer service was great and friendly staff .

Just finished a camping trip with my daughters 1st grade buddies and families. We took 2 Pontoon boats out, and they were clean and ready for us. Staff helped out all the kids to find vests, and they got us on our way. We found this cool little beach to the left so the kids had a blast swimming in this remote pool, and we didn't have to worry about boats or fast jet skis. Came back and the staff helped us out and didn't rush us to get off since we had a lot of stuff for these kids. Will definitely be looking to use this small business again if we are in the area again, and I absolutely recommend them. read more

The staff was very helpful and friendly, great experience all around! Definitely recommend for any Lake needs

Very patient, friendly and wonderful team at French Gulch! Answered all of our questions and concerns taking a pontoon boat out with very young children and we wound up having a fantastic time! Will definitely be back! read more

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Had the best day ever! Rented a pontoon boat for the 4th of July weekend Very reasonable pricing, done over the phone, two fays in advance. Asked for a $200 dollar cash deposit Seemed like a family business and the while crew was very friendly and helpful Boat was in decent shape And ran like a champ We even docked it and got the dogs in the water in a beach cove Return was quick & easy filling the gas and paying the $13 tab with cash deposit back Would definitely return here to rent again on our next trip Highly recommend this marina for your boating needs See y'all soon read more

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We found out MORE since original post. The Signeage below about DANGEROUS Cyanobacteria WAS NOT POSTED at the Marina . The next day we found it was down Lake .This Woman in Charge was there running the place with her grown children. She KNEW we did not know about the Cyanobacteria Green Algae Danger. She attempted to steer us away from areas with signs when we asked!? This behavior is PURE EVIL. She is a Mother that let me and my family , my Child, get in this water! French Gulch Marina tested tier 1 for this Cyanobacteria. She has ZERO signs up. Colin KNEW TOO! This is EVIL. One of the symptoms of this algae is PARALYSIS, can have mild to life threatening effects . Look it up. BEWARE... Be wary when Algae gone too! Price different than the sign. Something off when we walked in, we should've heeded our guts. Rented 4 Jet skis. Long lecture about not getting sand in motor /prop so we stayed at least 100 feet away from any shore, so we were careful to avoid debris. We got a text a couple hours after renting saying they were charging our card $1250 until 1 of the skis checked further. Said one of the"wear rings" was a problem. They are $22 rings to protect the prop and for normal wear? We called Colin admitted the skis were not checked between customers. We told him we never got near the shore so that was impossible. He said "maybe fishing line got in there". We told him none of the skis ever sputtered. Also Colin had told us pre-ride safety that they had locators on them. I said check the locators, they will show we were not near the shore. We asked for the owner (he said it was Phil) to call us. Next day , he still has not called. This feels like a big scam. My husband and I 62 and 64 were around boats our whole life. This did not happen the way they said. My son in law has worked as a form of mechanic. He looked up the wear ring part and says this is a scam. I WOULD ADVISE NOT TO RUIN YOUR VACATION or Your HEALTH WITH THEM. evil read more

A couple of weekends ago, my friend rented kayaks and a jet ski at the French Gulch Marina. It was near 100F degrees that day, minimal shade around this area and my friends and I were desperately trying to find some shade covering around the store. There isn't any -so be prepared to bake in the sun while you wait for your rental. Employees here got a bit of an attitude when we asked to wait in the shade, near a storage area -as they told us absolutely NO. Other than that, the kayaks are older models -as they don't have a back rest support on them. My two friends who rode on the jet ski, had no complaints about their ride. Really old, basic life vests provided with rental equipment -I'm not sure if they're sanitized before/after usage either. Hopefully the 100F degree weather will kill off any 'Rona (COVID) lingering. Staff inside the rental store doesn't wear COVID prevention mask, so come prepared wearing yours to protect yourself and others. As far as cost, my friend paid for the rental by the hour. Free parking in the dirt. read more

French Gulch Marina - Marina gulch - Marinas Near Me

We are first time boaters and not entirely fit and agile. These guys were so helpful-they actually brought the boat to a different location where it was easier for us AND our nervous cattle dog to board. It was great to see that helpful service is still alive and well. They really were wonderful from making the reservation to bringing the boat back. read more

Worst experience ever!!!! The equipment is very cheap and breaks very easily! Tried to charge me a lot extra that was not on the rental agreement! Staff is extremely rude and disrespectful ; I tried to be nice and respectful and they treated me like shit! Owner/manager lady was trying to suck extra money out of every customer she could and put tax on random fees! All around horrible experience would give 0 stars if I could! PLEASE DO NOT SPEND YOUR MOMEY HERE!!!!! read more

We got a pontoon boat for the last hour of the day. Some quick paperwork with deposit and we were quickly out on the water. Had a great time touring the lake with the family. read more

Besides the nice receptionist and kid that showed us how things ran on the boat, the rest of the place is not much to speak of. The place was rundown, only had a nasty porta potty for you to use in 100 degree heat. The boats were in disgusting condition, literally old food crud in between seats and holes instead of cup holders that led to an entire arm rest filled with old bottles and cans. The fact they charge you $80 bucks a hour and gas is ubsurd. If we hadn't made non refundable reservation, I mean what's not refundable these days, well you can tell why. We probably would have canceled when we pulled up. oh and they forgot to mention on the phone that they lake was so low you could only go in one area that was surrounded by construction on the damn. We made the best of it and did only a hour rather than a half day and took advantage of near-by hot springs. read more

French Gulch Marina - Lake Isabella - Marinas Near Me

DO NOT TRUST FRENCH GULCH MARINA to conduct business with integrity, honor their word, nor their sale of gasoline to you. On 05/15/24 we rented a pontoon boat from them. The staff were nice and helpful but are not to be trusted when it comes time to pay the bill. We rented the boat for four hours with our time beginning at 11:30 am. It was to cost us $260 for the four hour rental. In the middle of our rental we stopped back by the dock to pick something up. I asked the manager if we could keep the boat longer and pay the eight hour rate of $300. The manager said yes. We ended up keeping the boat for one extra hour, five hours total. When we returned to the dock to end our rental I was informed that it would cost another $200 for the extra hour instead of another $40 as the manager said it would cost. They told me that the owner wanted to charge us an extra $200 because there were three employees there that day. It appeared that we were their only customers that day and our use of one boat did not require a staff of three employees. Plus, this is not what the manager told me it would cost. We liked the boat but, like the staff, it had its problems. The pilot's seat was not attached to the floor properly and would fall backwards if you leaned on it very much. The music system was dead. And the fuel gauge did not work. It registered EMPTY at all times. Very suspicious. As we returned the boat for the day the staff refilled the fuel tank with 5 gallons of gasoline and charged us $50 for it. We barely drove out into the lake, staying near the French Gulch Marina dock, drifted while we fished and repositioned ourselves a few times. With the small outboard engine on that boat and the amount of motoring we did, there's no way we could have used that much gasoline. The tank was not full when we first left the dock and we were overcharged. The extra cost for our extra hour on the water should have been $40 to pay the full eight hour rental rate and $50 for the gas (unlikely we used that much though). This should have come to $90 but for some reason they charged us another $110. I recommend looking for a more reputable place to rent a boat on Lake Isabella. Plus, there are no bathroom facilities at the dock. If you need a toilet you have to walk up a powdery dirt road to an unshaded porta potty. The only parking there is in a dirt lot with a path to the dock that is hard to walk on. read more

Have VERY low expectations when renting from the French Gulch Boat Rental. We rented a pontoon boat and it was very poorly kept. Filthy carport, cobwebs and crumbs abound. Clearly cleanliness was not on the radar at all. Covid-19 aside, age of boat aside (though rips, tears, broken propellers and ladders should be priority for upkeep), boats should be cleaned between renters at a minimum. But, NONE of this was done. Shelby, the receptionist, was great, but the boat was HORRIBLE. We paid for 4hrs, but came back in less than an hour. No refund offered. Hard pass on our next trip. read more

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we were warned by previous customers the 200 cash deposit will not be given back. There will alway be more damage than the boat left with even if you do t dock it or beach it anywhere. So when it happened we were not surprised. Lake is fun. Can't swim off the boat renters beware and just equate the 200 cash deposit as part of the rental cost. read more

Convenient one-stop for permits, boat rentals, snacks and water toys/necessities. Busy but everything went smoothly. We rented kayaks and the young staff made sure we could get in and out with ease. Thank you for a beautiful morning on the lake! read more

terrible people who work there, awful service, closed at random times with excuses because they don't want to work. don't go here please just save your time and money read more

Start it off as a good vacation until they did not want to return our $250 deposit stating that we damaged the JetSki while using it they left my boyfriend in the middle of the lake for almost an hour while I waited with my children for them to go and find him because his JetSki stopped working and he was unable to get on it while we were in the middle of the lake. Some random person that seen my boyfriend needed help had to tow in the rental JetSki while he ride on the back they did not go to get my boyfriend from the middle of the lake. Once we got there they refused to give us her money back saying it was our fault. Very unprofessional the owner kept making it worse, saying they damaged our JetSki they damaged our JetSki. Never experienced anything like that. read more

HORRIBLE CUSTOMER SERVICE!!!! If there was negative ratings I would rate it in the negatives! Our Family vacation turned out to be a living nightmare! My family walks up to the rental office to rent a Platoon and My 9 year old nephew was attacked by the employees PittBull! My nephews parents were vivid because the employee had zero empathy towards my nephew, she did not grab her dog to prevent him from continuously jumping on my nephew. The dog had no leash on, and they had zero control of the dog.The employee was a young female, maybe 18-20yrs old. She did not offer my nephew anything, nor apologize! Instead she was being rude and sarcastic saying "what do you want me to do? Give him a bandaid" we made a big deal about it and called the Police because the dog continued to jump on my nephew, my nephew was scared and already hurt from the dog. Instead, they refused service to us after the matter and the employee refused to tell us the name of the owner! Do not come here because if anything happens to you they will not care, if you get attacked by their dog they will not care and tell you to just deal with it! There are no beware signs anywhere! You literally have to call the authorities on them! This place is so unprofessional, I don't know how the owner can be so trusting to have a kid running it! She's not a people's person, has no customer service skills and zero empathy or humbleness towards people! read more

French Gulch Marina - Marinas Near Me

I'd rather sit in the mud on the shore that spend one more second with the rude lady who works here. She told us There's no wind, then shut her office door in our faces "...because it's too windy". We spend less than an hour on their dilapidated scow and we're blown all over the empty lake. Once we made it back, of course we were charged the full half day price, even though the sheriffs had told the rental company not to allow any rental boats on the lake due to wind. What a joke. Beware of the mean lady with the sunglasses. read more

We've been coming every summer since 2018 to rent a pontoon boat at French Gulf Marina. We've always had a great time, and have never had a single problem. The staff are professional and courteous, and the boats are safe and well maintained. We've never lost our deposit or been overcharged for gas. In fact, we were late to pick up our boat and they gave us extra time! The boats aren't brand new or luxurious, but they are perfect for a day of playing on the lake. Compared to the cost of renting a boat on most lakes ($1,500 for 3 hours at Lake Tahoe, for example), it's an amazing deal!! read more

The boat was dirty, and we were not allowed to go to Paradise Cove because they did not explain the boundaries till after we paid. They're also very smelly and there's logs everywhere and we caught no fish. read more

My wife and I rented a fishing boat through French Gulf Marina a few months back, and overall, our experience was a good one (despite only catching one fish). We had booked our rental about a week in advance, and was not told any specific limitations as to where we could go until the day of, when we were told we couldn't take the boat to South Fork, until after we already paid. I will probably be back someday, hopefully to have a better fishing experience, but the people could be friendlier and nicer. read more

I recently rented a pontoon boat from the Marina and my experience was not close to negative reviews here. Everyone was professional, friendly, and helpful. Was the pontoon boat 100% brand new looking? No, but the prop was new and the staff did a walk around with me noting issues. The properly fitted my two young children (8 and 6) with life vests and showed me the workings of the boat and safety feature. Check out was fast and thorough. At no time, while on the boat, did we feel unsafe. Checking back in was easy and quick. There was no debate on receiving the security deposit back. I recommend renting there and enjoying yourself on the lake.... read more

Deborah was the best. She was so helpful on the phone and even more helpful in person when we arrived! Her customer service was beyond amazing and she really made our whole day better. Great rentals, lots of options, can't wait to come back. read more

We rented here last year and this year. The pontoon boats need a little love (good enough to take out for some fishing, they're just not super pretty), but the jet skis are fast and fun. The staff are great. After reading some of the negative reviews I get the sense that some people are reviewing their "lake" experience rather than the French Gulch Marina. read more

Had an experience we will never forget! Floating on lake Isabella in a pontoon boat is the perfect way to spend the day. We loved Deb and her team. We hope to return soon. read more

My friends and I stumbled upon this place after wanting to fish in Isabella Lake. We had rented a small boat and we accidentally crashed it into a sand bar... the ladies (Debra) at front was extremely helpful in taking care of us as was Nate who came out to where our boat was with tools and fixed everything for us. They had all the reason to take our security deposit, but they were kind of enough to let us go in the promise of coming back next time to have more fun. Seriously can't thank the crew here enough. If you are planning a trip to Lake Isabella, be sure to check this boat rental shop out to get you fishing on! read more

This place was a total disappointment. I called a week ahead to reserve a jet ski for the weekend and was only successful with reserving only 1 jet ski since they didn't have any other "working jet skis" available. They requested a deposit upon reserving which was expected. We were already bummed that we would have to take turns sharing 1 jet ski between 7 people but it was better then nothing. The big day arrives and big surprise I get a call that the jet ski we reserved wasn't working so they had to refund our deposit and their would be none available that day. I was basically told me that there was nothing they can do. You'd think with a lake this big and them being the only location on the lake who rents jet skis that they would have more than 2 jet skis to rent out. Major fail. read more

I called a few days in advance, left a voicemail and never heard back. Then I drove here with my family in the hopes to rent a boat and cruise around the lake. There were no signs and a steep sandy road with jutting rocks to the marina. We thought we'd bust a tire so we didn't attempt it. It was unclear whether we were supposed to drive down there or park at the upper level and walk down. Not a single sign indicating where to go, where to park, etc. When I called to ask, I again got a voicemail and never received a call back. This place has a Coen Brothers murdery vibe to it, so we left with disappointed kids. read more

Awesome staff, they had me cracking up and are SUPER friendly and accommodating. The boats aren't new, but the price is right and they get the job done. We come back every summer and can't see us stopping. Deb is awesome so is Brett and everyone who works there actually we love this place! read more

French Gulch Marina - Fishing off the pontoon boat! - Marinas Near Me

The boats at this marina is damaged and do not cover safety codes. The pontoon was waterlogged and our boat nearly flooded. We lost hundreds of dollars worth of tackle supplies and were concerned coming back to the marina. Besides our boat nearly sinking completely, none of the gages were working and there was not a letter to get back on the tall boat (which violates huge safety codes). The overall boat looked old and like it was going to breakdown (the floors were all moldy). This was a bad experience and will not be returning to The French Gulch Marina. read more

French Gulch Marina - all of the gages were not working as they stayed stationary our whole boat trip. - Marinas Near Me

They were professional and responsive. It was nice to set up water activities with them and know that my plans would no honored. We did a jet ski one day and a boat the next day. Our family had a blast! The boats and jet ski's are old and not "Instagram" worthy, but they run and the experience is worth every penny. You can reach places you would not be able to reach on foot/car. read more

French Gulch Marina - Boat and view from where we anchored the boat. - Marinas Near Me

You don't get what you pay for.... they only take CASH deposits, boats are old, but it all worked out.

We rented the Pontoon Boat for one hour. Excellent customer service! Super friendly and knowledgeable staff. Would highly recommend for a refreshing of the soul! read more

We had an EXCELLENT experience at French Gulch Marina this week! We rented a pontoon boat, and each staff member went above and beyond in customer service! It's clear the staff gets along well (and we all know, a small business that clearly values its employees makes the best guest experience as well!). The negative reviews puzzle me. Yes, the staff monitors the boats' condition. Our rental was an older pontoon with a 4mo old motor. They KNOW their boats and prepare renters to drive them safely and enjoyably. We have boating experience, so we know how important it is to listen to those familiar with the area. The French Gulch Marina staff gave us clear directions for operating the boat and outlined the best places for us to drive with the wind conditions. And they made sure we had a phone on board and their number, assuring us they were available if we needed anything while we were out on the water. We had a blast on the Kern River, and we HIGHLY recommend the French Gulch Marina! read more

French Gulch Marina - Beautiful View of the river from our boat rental. - Marinas Near Me