Paul is extremely knowledgeable & very helpful, as well as patient with a beginner. I recommend…read morehim highly!

My son and I were supposed to be with a guide from another county and realized I had misbooked the…read morelocation. I am familiar with the Phoenicia area but I had never stopped in this place. The proprietor, Paul, was so gracious and informative. At the time, the Esopus was down , as were trout. He recommended rivers where we were actually staying, even showed us how to access them. He recommended flies and techniques. I've been out with a few guides here and there but this gentleman was off the charts superb and NICE! So nice, that we are returning in the Fall to go out with him on the Esopus. He is the kind of guide I look forward to being out with. Remember, I had not been out yet but can't wait.

Good follow up letter I feel is very worthy of mentioning these things. Happy Kayaking!…read more "Atlantic Kayak Tours has been running kayak tours and instructional programs for 25 years. Our prices are lower than most other outfitters, while our equipment is the best available and our staff are highly trained. We offer programs starting at $20. Full day programs are about $100 and the equipment used on these programs range from $1,500 to $4,000 per client. We offer the boat ramp for free and are happy to have the paddling community use it. There is not a yearly park launch permit needed for car top boats (only for trailered boats). Safety policies are needed as kayaking now has the highest number of accidents of all boat types (according to the Coast Guard). Just this week a power boat hit a rowing shell just south of Norrie. We are proud to be the winners of the Sea Kayaker Magazine award for "Best Tour Operator in the Northeast", voted by the Readers. We continue to work hard to be the best outfitter in our area. " -Bill, Atlantic Kayak Tours

Our group of eight shelled out nearly $500 for the Norrie Short Tour at noon. I did the booking for…read morethe majority of us, and expected a confirmation email with all the pre-tour "need-to-knows." Whether their email never showed up in my inbox or it did and I accidentally deleted it, I'll never know. But lacking a proper confirmation, I emailed AKT explaining that I have not seen/read any confirmation info from them and would like one re-sent, to which Janice replied with a simple, "No worries, you're good!" and "We'll see you soon!" with no other details of what to expect. When we showed up at the scheduled time of 12:00PM, Janice greeted us with a reprimand "You should've been here at 11:30AM!" ...Why didn't she mention this in her email the previous day when I expressed concern over not knowing the specifics? "I ASSUMED someone in your group got the email" she said over and over. So we were inadvertently late. OK, all experienced kayakers, our group just wanted to get out on the water. Knowing there were eight of us, AKT should've had eight kayaks out and ready to go. Nope! We had to wait for Janice to count the kayaks...slowly... "one...two...three...four..." (gets distracted, starts over) "one...two...three...four...five...six...seven." Then count us: "one...two...three..." This goes on for a while, despite our plea "we just need one more boat!" Next comes a quick paddling lesson on the lawn and eventually, we launch. What's the plan? No one knows. Were any of us given options or shown a map? Nope! We don't know where we're going or if the two older gentleman who've been waiting in the water are also guides or if they're paying customers like us. To what should we be paddling towards? Can Janice offer some guidance or communication, please? A little history lesson would be nice, too... we ask about the mansion on the hill, she mumbles something about a German family owning it and then yells that there's a barge upriver and that we should avoid it. Well a-doyyy! We head towards Esopus Island. All are paddling well, with the exception of one of our friends who was given a kayak different from the rest of ours, ill-fitting to his 6'3" frame. Janice suggests he pull ashore the island to swap out with a smaller feller. We see what they're doing and all pull into the cove, too. "Don't get out here! Don't get out here!" she hollers. OK but are we gonna explore this island? "Paddle up the west side!" she insists without gesturing which way is west. Our group gets more and more spread out. Janice gets more and more panicked. We wondered if she was a substitute for a real instructor, or if this was her first day, or if she was on drugs. At one point she pushed off from shore but forgot her paddle. All this confusion lead to a mini-revolt among my friends. Without any kind of communication about the plan, the tall dude took off to another cove. Janice ordered a couple of us girls to stay put in a different cove. More confusion and micromanagement without communication. We would've been much, much happier had AKT simply rented us the gear and left the planning to us, but that option wasn't available. Instead, they charged us $60 a head to babysit us on a "tour" and for Janice to make excuses for poor planning and communication. I've met other guides at this company and they all seemed chill and eager to share their knowledge of kayaking and the history of the area. Janice however really missed the mark and left us all pretty disappointed with what was supposed to be the focus of the whole weekend and reason we camped at the adjoining state park in the first place. https://paddling.com/learn/10-tips-for-kayaking-with-a-group/

We had a great three days taking ASA 101 with Kris while on vacation in the Hudson Valley. His love…read morefor the sport of sailing and for teaching is evident. He's great company and has endless stories about sailing and life, in general. The marina is conveniently located in the Hudson Valley and is welcoming to beginners. We feel very fortunate to have learned how to sail which such a highly experienced instructor who is also a lot of fun.

Thanks to Captain Kris, I went from never hoisting a sail to understanding the basics of sailing in…read morejust 2 days. His ASA101 course is packed full of wisdom that goes far beyond the textbook. The experiential learning on the Hudson is both challenging and inspirational. And, we did manage a few laughs along the way. His class was a life changing experience for me. Captain K, I owe you a nice Cuban! ;) Thank you for this great class. I highly recommend it!

amazing time when i got my first bow helped me so much and i could ask a lot of questions, thank…read moreyou

Just an excellent place to get in a kayak for a leisurely paddling on Roundout Creek…read more The people were very friendly and helpful. It was easy to get started, with plenty of room to row a little upstream to the small dam or down to the islands in the small river.

The driveway comes up quick off the road. There's a sign for the business. There's a house at the…read moreend of the lot but the business operates out of trailers on your left side as you pull in. We didn't reserve any stand up paddle boards but we were greeted by a friendly college student who got us out on the water quickly. We boated under the bridge and saw a man made dam before heading over to the sand bar where our kids splashed around and played in the mud. We had kids as young as 6. If you're just paddling, I think 1 hour is enough but if you want to stop and play on the sandbar then 2 hours. Great time with a great business.

Mark is awesome! My wife and I were in the area and wanted to try fly fishing for the first…read moretime. Found Mark on a quick search, and had a 15 minute call with him. Booked him immediately! Very knowledgeable on the history of the area which was awesome to hear about! Then we get on the river and with in minutes we were getting bites and having fun! We had about 50 combined hits and landed 3 beautiful native trout! Mark was kind, patient and very funny! On the way back up the river to the car, we encountered 2 other gentlemen fishing- but not having luck, Mark took the time to show them what to use and talk strategy. To me this is someone that loves to fly fish and wants to share his love of the sport with everyone. We felt his passion in the four hours we spent with him, and fell in love with the sport ourselves. We will no doubt fish with Mark again in the future!

Very informative, super helpful tips. Great with a group we all spread out. Thank you !read more

Both my daughter and I had a great experience here learning boxing from Joe. He was an excellent…read moreteacher and patiently taught both of us (beginners!) how to box, with a lot of extra guidance around equipment and general workout advice. I recommend him very highly!!

I have also experienced Joanne Falanga's craziness. My son was there for a couple of years. She…read moredid not teach much since she had given the school to her son. Her son is wonderful and had it not been for her presence we would not have left. Each time she was there, my son did not even want to get out of the car. I was never comfortable leaving him for class when she was there and would always stay and watch. She was never that horrible to my son since I was there watching her but would constantly confront me asking what was wrong with him! The way she talks to the children is abusive and at times boarders on assault. I cannot believe this place is still open....

No matter your level Rolland Stanford golf school will help your golf game. Rich our instructor is…read morea student of the game intellectually and physically. He knows all aspects of the game. Loved him. Susan Stafford also teaches the students all levels all ages. She is wonderfully personable and also knows all aspects of the game. Be prepared to be videotaped. Sometimes tough to see but you know what they say about a picture worth a thousand words. Hint: when being videotaped be sure your grip is spot on. Their classes are well organized and will teach you what you need to know. I'm already thinking about going back.

Susan Stafford of the Roland Stafford Golf School is one of the best instructors I have ever worked…read morewith. After 5 years of playing golf and struggling with my game, Susan helped me "unlock my swing", which enabled me to improve my drives, fairway game, chip shots and putting! The school includes range practice, video analysis and on-course play, which I really found beneficial. In addition to being a great pro, Sue is a wonderful person - very friendly and easy to work with. Her rates are very reasonable. The registration process is a bit cumbersome, but they will get back to you once you email them. I think this is one of the best schools I've ever been to. I wish I'd met Sue sooner. I highly recommend attending her golf school - you won't regret it!