We brought our summer camp here for a field trip with 50 campers, and unfortunately our experience…read morewas extremely disappointing.
1. Check-In Process
The woman working the front desk (I believe her name was Cali) was kind and did her best to help us. This review is not about her.
The check-in system, however, was incredibly inefficient. Every camper had to come to the desk individually, Cali had to look up their waiver, and they then had to have their name written down by hand. Checking in our group of 50 campers took approximately 35-40 minutes.
As a camp, we take trips to many local attractions that require waivers, and we've never had a check-in process take more than about 10 minutes. This system felt unnecessarily slow and completely unprepared for groups.
2. Communication
Before our visit, we clearly communicated that we needed to leave by 2:30 p.m. to return to camp for dismissal and that we were looking for roughly a 1.5-hour boat ride.
After finally checking in, we were put on a shuttle bus for nearly 20 minutes. During the ride, I asked the driver how long the boat trip would be back to our starting point. She told us it was a three-hour trip.
At that point, it was obvious there was no way we'd make it back in time. We had to turn around, ride the bus back, wait while boats were rearranged, and then be transported to another launch point.
In total, we arrived around 1:10 p.m. but didn't get onto the water until approximately 3:30 p.m.--over two hours spent waiting with 50 campers in 90-degree heat. We ultimately had to notify parents that camp dismissal would be delayed by about an hour.
3. Customer Service
This section is directed specifically at the owner, Andy.
The employees we interacted with--the front desk staff, the people helping with the boats, and the bus driver--were all friendly and helpful. They were not the problem.
After explaining what had happened, we respectfully requested a 50% refund on our $500+ reservation since a large portion of our day had been spent waiting because of issues that were outside of our control.
Rather than showing any understanding or attempting to work with us, Andy was hostile and dismissive. Judging by other reviews mentioning similar interactions, this unfortunately does not appear to be an isolated incident.
Overall
The boating itself was fun, and the campers enjoyed the time they actually spent on the water.
Unfortunately, everything surrounding that experience overshadowed it. Between the inefficient check-in process, the poor communication about scheduling, and the owner's response when we raised legitimate concerns, this ended up being the worst field trip we've had in over five years of running our camp.
I would not recommend this location for large groups, and we will not be returning.
