JW Boat Rentals

22.9 km

The BEST place for boating needs in East Texas! This is a grandfather inspired family business with…read moreold fashion values of integrity and service. They are knowledgeable and skilled in every aspect of boat purchase and repair. I found them to be excellent communicators regarding the status of my boat while being repaired. They treat you with caring and respect. I was especially glad to find them after bad experiences at other boat companies.

Have worked on 2 of our boats. Very competent. Had others work on it and never solved problem. Boat…read moreCenter took care of it & it runs like a top now. Know their boats. Also sold one. Very easy transaction.

Shipp's Marine Service

45.1 km

We bought our Hurricane Deck Boat from JD Shipp. He's great! Love the boat. Price was nice.read more

From the owner: We Sell Instant Fun, All You Add Is Water…read more Voted Best In East Texas 8 Years in a Row by the Longview News Journal's Readers' Choice Awards. Family Owned and Operated Business Serving the East Texas Area Since 1955

Nautical Mile Marine

3.0

(4 reviews)

17.4 km

Nautical Mile Marine is hands down the best boat service center in Smith County! Joe and the team…read moreconsistently go above and beyond to deliver top-tier service and support. I've brought all of my boats here over the years and have had nothing short of a 5-star experience every single time. Reliable, honest, and customer-focused--you couldn't ask for a better crew to trust with your boat!

Excellent and honest place. We were from out of town and gave us suggestions on fixing our boat…read more Even gave us pointers on fishing area.

Lake Palestine Gateway RV Park

23.7 km

Owners are super nice easy to work with if you need long term or short term this is the place for…read moreyou!!

This is a great place to rent a kayak and go into the water only a few steps (literally) away…read more Kayak rental is open to anyone, it is not limited to customers with an RV site rental. They have a good assortment of kayaks available. We do not own our own kayaks or have a truck, so this gives us more freedom to enjoy nature from the water. The owner is very friendly and helpful. This will be a business we return to again and again!

See all

Lake Palestine Resort

3.2

(33 reviews)

27.3 km

I stayed here (in the North location) during fourth of July 2026 and it was a great choice. I…read moreknocked one star only because there was a couple things that need to be touched up in our cabin. 1) One of the drawers in the bedroom were completely broken, 2) the pipe that supplied the water to the shower was corroded at the bathtub connection, and 3) the bathroom mirrors... IYKYK. Other than that, my friends and I are coming back. It has SO many activities for family's (in North location). The customer service also treated me and my friends like family. So much kindness and patience with city people. We cooked all of our own food, so I have not opinion on the food that maybe supplied onsite, but the cabins, go try them out.

When our vacation plans changed last minute, we ended up getting to the lake earlier than…read moreanticipated. Micah was able to get us set up with a last minute boat rental. Micah and the rest of the staff were very welcoming and made us feel at home while we waited for the boat. We had an Airbnb booked not too far from the resort but we ended up spending a majority of our time at the resort. Both Karaoke Friday night and live music on Saturday were a blast. Very relaxing and laid back atmosphere. We will definitely be back and this time we will book our stay at there as well.

Lake Palestine view @ the Marina.

See all

Lake Palestine Marina Outside dining area.

East Texas Boat World

4.5

56.7 km

Have used them twice now on small outboard motor. Both times quality work at a fair price…read more The service People are great to work with. I'll continue to use East Texas Boat World. Gary S

Tracker Marine, Bass Tracker…read more I had purchased a used Tracker Pro 17. It needed some work. I called for an estimate and the work and something I added came in lower than the original estimate. The guys are helpful. I came in at closing time and they insisted on cashing me out, on a Friday evening, beyond closing time. They already had the lights out. It's a small store but there are advantages to a small. Size doesn't matter? They'll get my repeat business.

Float Fix

8.3 km

Jerry came by today to my boat slip to help me with a serpentine belt issue. He did a thorough…read moreinspection of the engine on the used boat I just bought (2007 Cobalt 232 Volvo Penta 5.7 GXI i/o) and was able to quickly and easily replace the belt and install a new belt tensioner and also was able to replace the impeller which hadn't been changed in over 3 years. He was knowledgeable and very friendly and gave this new boat owner some piece of mind and several tips and tricks which were greatly appreciated. I was very happy with the service and price given the convenience that they come to you. Big Mike was very personable and accommodating when I called the week prior to see if they could help me out and got me quickly scheduled for service. I'm happy to be back out on the water worry free! I will be using them for all my future maintenance and service needs and would highly recommend them!

From the owner: FloatFix provides dockside boat maintenance across East Texas, specializing in fast, reliable…read moreservice for recreational and racing vessels. Whether it’s routine upkeep or urgent repairs, our bonded and insured technicians come directly to your dock to keep your boat lake-ready. For larger projects—engine work, structural fixes, or full restorations—FloatFix also operates a dedicated shop equipped to handle complex jobs with precision and care. From shoreline to shop bay, we deliver professional service wherever your boat needs it.

Cherokee Trace Drive Thru Safari

4.8

(67 reviews)

38.5 km

Lots of animals to see . Admission includes a bag of food pellets for each person . The animals…read morewill come right to your car . Some will stick heads right into car if windows are down . Watch out for the camels , they can be kinda mean . One tried to eat my tailgate and scratched the paint . The grandkids had a blast .

A beautiful maintained preservation with more than 600 animals about an hour away from Tyler,…read moreTexas. And 3 hours from Austin, Texas. My children aged 8 and 15 had the best time! Feeding, observing, getting a really close look and feel of these beautiful, mainly Safari animals. Some were impressively large like the bison, longhorn, buffalo, zebra's, camels with extremely long tongues and large teeth! It was quite pricey, because you get charged per person and not per car. It rang up $79 total for our party of four. I would definitely recommend to bring wipes for your hands, to clean up, and a car wash afterwards because your car will be covered in saliva. This was quite the experience and very well loved!

Deer

See all

Water Park at the Villages

3.6

(31 reviews)

21.7 km

We stayed at the Holiday Inn Club Vacation Resort for 4 night, went to water park every day right…read morewhen it opens at 10 AM (During Spring Break). Water and building was a bit cold at first. The park was great for our family. Would come back again. If guests at the resort, grab towel at activity Outpost. They won't let ya bring in food and drinks but you can go in and out, so take a cooler and do lunch in the car.

This place was a good time for the group of 10-15 kids we had. The pool area is small, so I imagine…read moreat peak times (school breaks, summer) it is a bit cramped. The prices are comparable to larger parks and they have swimsuits for sale if you forget. You cannot bring food or drinks in but they have food available for breakfast and lunch. There's mini golf, cornhole, ping pong, and basketball available, along with other board games.

See all

Tyler Athletic and Swim Club

3.2

(6 reviews)

12.5 km

I dropped my membership after they suddenly dropped the fitness director. But that is not the…read moreworst part. I have been stuck in an endless circle from hell trying to unsubscribe from the hundreds of useless emails and text messages they send out. I have gone through the pain staking process of clicking through the dozens of useless information notifications only to keep receiving them. I have emailed the manager and every other email I could find with zero responses from anyone. I would not go back to this place if it were free.

Friendly staff and clean facilities. I cannot speak to the quality of the tennis pros or courts…read morebecause I'm not a huge tennis person, but the pool and gym are very nice. They have a good selection of workout equipment and classes/lessons. Nice cafe to grab good eats from sola bread. Nothing extravagant, but the homemade bread and quiche is to die for!!! They have tournaments and events here from time to time that can make things crowded and parking less than ideal, but on the ordinary day, it's no problem. The included child care with membership is a huge plus, however the hours could be expanded to match open hours. For everything that is included, the family price is very reasonable!! Overall, the family and myself really enjoy being members here!!! Again, staff are great!! The only reason it didn't get 5 stars is there is always room for improvement, and I can't leave a 4.5 or 4.8 rating!

Eat your greens today because tomorrow they may turn brown or gray said.

Class of 2022

See all

Ice cream

Eagle’s Nest Mini Golf

(6 reviews)

80.4 km

The name has changed!! Hopefully it will be updated on Yelp soon. It's now Eagles Nest Mini Golf…read more What a fun place! New owners spent several months rebranding and remodeling this place into a pop culture-themed mini golf course. There's Elvis, Aerosmith, King Kong, Buddy Holly & The "Crickets", baseball, Mt Rushmore, Wizard of Oz, Paul Newman's Fast Eddie Felton from "The Hustler", drive-in movies, bowling, and more. Some holes have a little fun twist. Gotta read the signs at each one! We played on a Sunday--got there just as they opened, so we beat the crowd. Their prices are very reasonable, and they have drinks & snacks available to purchase. We will definitely be back! Forgot to mention that they have theme days/weekends! This weekend was The British Invasion. The music was all from that time period in the 60s. That made it even more fun!

This place is so cool! Our group of four, ranging in ages from 16 to 56. Each hole creatively…read morethemed. The music throughout the course was so much fun to hear & sing along if you knew the words. Such a unique experience & will be back!

King Kong fun

See all

Why does Yelp recommend reviews?

Hundreds of millions of reviews are posted on Yelp, and our automated recommendation software works in the background to showcase the reviews that it …

1 review that is not currently recommended

The reviews below are not factored into the business's overall star rating.

Amber M.

5 years ago

JW boat rentals it was a pleasure renting form you. You are a very kind mine that is running a great boat rental business. My family of 12 has a great time at Lake Tyler renting your boat. It was a great time and very smooth easy operating platoon. I would 1,000 times recommend him for a great day out in the lake. He is very trust worthy and your family will be in great hands read more

JW Boat Rentals - boating - Updated August 2026

People who viewed JW Boat Rentals also viewed

Tyler State Park

4.4

(83 reviews)

Gorgeous park! Came here for the first time this year for our first day hike. Then I made a pact to…read morecome back and camp here, which I just accomplished over the weekend. Can't speak much on the staff bc we barely interacted with them, they seemed mostly unbothered and nonchalant. We rent a screened shelter for 2 nights, Fri - Sunday. We actually got the last open shelter for the weekend, so we got lucky! We stayed in section 9. Very pretty area. Most of our fellow campers were courteous, although on our first night we heard music blaring from another part of section 9. For us to be able to hear it from where we were, they must have been LOUD so I can only imagine how their actual neighbors felt. And even though quiet hours are at 10, this music went on until probably around 11:30ish range. I also heard screaming and very loud laughing. Sounded like teenagers maybe. Remember people.... We all came out here to enjoy nature. Be courteous if you're sharing the space with other campers. Leave no trace ALSO includes noise pollution. It's ok to play some music and have a good time - I know I did! But I kept my music very low, and made sure to keep my voice down or at least not at such a volume that I could be heard across the camp ground. Anyway aside from that we had a wonderful time. The shelter was clean, the surrounding area was free of litter. We hiked, swam, made campsites, cooked, played games, rested in the grass, and had a grand time. I'd have to put this park up there on my list of top 5 parks. It's has everything! It definitely gave me *summer camp* vibes. The only thing I probably wouldn't recommend is the boat rentals. They are quite pricey. If you can swing it, bring your own!

On Sunday morning while in Tyler, my girlfriend and I made a drive up to Tyler State Park to…read moreadventure through the piney woods and explore another great state park together. What's really great about Tyler State Park is that it is not too far off of I-20 and the heart of downtown Tyler. It's actually kind of mesmerizing how close this preserved state park is from the city and how many people don't take that quick drive on a spring day. There's plenty of hiking to do on the almost one thousand acres of land. My girlfriend and I hiked the B Loop hiking trail, which is a little over 3 miles and was a very easy adventure for us. I wanted us to do more, but our legs were tired, so we called it there. Instead, we went to the Northside Day-Use Area to get our feet in the water and enjoy the view of the lake. Overall, it's a really fantastic park and I hope to return to do all A through D on the hiking trail. RIYL: Adventuring through the trees

The Boat Center

Scuba Center

Neal and his staff are awesome. I spent a lot of time over a two day period asking non stop…read morequestions. I purchased equipment that I wasn't familiar with and Neal let me try it out which helped me to be ready for my first dive trip in a couple of years. They are definitely my new go to shop.

Zabcik Ranch

Loved it here. Great horses, guides and landscape. They have everything you could want for horse…read moreriding to lesson for adults and kids. Lizzy was our guide and we had so much fun with her.

iJump Tyler Trampoline Park

3.1

(18 reviews)

I took a special kiddo (20 years) and there was plenty to do. We paid for an hour and I assumed I…read moreneeded to pay as well. The nice gentleman gave me socks and I didn't need to pay -so nice of him because my kiddo was tired in 20 min!! Plenty of trampolines, 2 basket ball hoops, and dodge ball. It was the most fun! You can jump in a foam pit or big air pillow as well. We didn't pay for it, but there is laser tag, rock wall, and laser tag. Place was clean and well kept!

Do not have a birthday party at this establishment! The pizza was cold, they didn't know where the…read morecake was, there were no forks for the guests and the "so called host" was non-existent. The guests' play time was cut short while waiting on the cold pizza. No apology was given and no refund was offered. A big price to pay for service that we had to do ourselves. Save your money!

Tyler Paddle

3.0

Awesome spot. Holly, the owner, took great care of us and my group. She was very helpful and…read moreenjoyable to be around. I made reservations and she had everything setup and ready. The prices were very reasonable and the location on the lake was nice. They have food trucks and showers right next door, making this a great all around experience.

The Boulders is a wonderful place. We have enjoyed the camping area, the food trucks, the fish…read morebarge, and just about everything the Boulders have to offer... Except for Tyler Paddle. Tyler Paddle was very rude. Even after we had done business with them for 4 years. Once we got our own paddle boards and stop taking their classes / outings they got the grounds people to ask us to leave. We did not make a fuss. We moved over to the boat ramp area as requested. As it played out, the friends we were there with are family friends of the owners of the Boulders and after a phone call, let's just say, we had a picnic area and site to have lunch at. Tyler Paddle was too expensive and little to no actual instruction. I would not recommend doing business with Tyler Paddle.

Pauls Guide Service

If you want a great guide and some good fishing give Paul a chance. He was very easy going and we…read morehad a great time. He does not pressure you to catch your limit and get home.

Rose City Flying Clays

(5 reviews)

My son and shot sporting clays there last Saturday and had a great time. Outstanding customer…read moreservice, friendly, and a very nice sporting clays course. I really liked the fact we could just drive my truck from station to station as my wife was with us. Highly recommend and we'll definitely be back. Secluded woods, beautiful countryside, what more could one want.

By far the best part about this place is the owner. One of the friendliest persons I've met. Walked…read morein as a non member to try out their handgun range and walked out with a membership. The handgun range is not the fanciest but it does the trick. Hopefully one day they'll add a range with targets.

KidsView Playground

4.0