What an amazing place! We were looking for something to do and we found Shel-Haven on Yelp - I am glad we did. Easy to find and easy to get too. I have been to a couple canoe/kayak rentals down state and Shel-Haven is so much better! First, they will drive you to the spot on the river and then you kayak to where you car is parked. So convenient! Depending on how long you want your trip to be will depend how far up the river you get dropped off. Second, they do not hold your credit card and there is no annoying deposit. You just hand them your money for the time you want to be on the river and then you are done - transaction over! You do not have to check-in back and get your deposit back or have to pay more if you went over the time limit. Third, the staff is great. The gal who checked us in was amazing, so friendly and helpful! She also accepted the Yelp discount without hassle or questions. 2.5 hour trip in a two person kayak was only $18.00! Such a great deal. The kayaks were very nice, clean, and did the trick. Fourth, the river and trip itself is so peaceful and beautiful. A great trip to take if you are not an avid canoer or kayaker. River is decently wide and calm. Not a lot of crazy turns or quick current. We did not see a lot of wildlife.There are homes that line the river but some areas are pure woods with no homes, so it is a nice mix. The water is not that deep either. I would say the deepest we saw was 3 feet while on average it seemed to be about 2 feet deep. Fifth, easy ending place when you are done with your trip. You can also swim when you are done with your trip and the water here is about 3 feet deep. There was a worker at the return site to help you. Parking lot was also right there and you could go on your way. read more

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We have been canoeing with Shel-Haven for over twenty years and have always had a great experience. We usually take the four hour trip from 612 and float the river for the day. Prices are reasonable and as the years have passed, more and more options for floating the river have become available. They also have a nice deck where you can watch the people arrive back from their trip. read more

Shel-Haven Rentals - Rafting/Kayaking Near Me - Grayling, Michigan

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Friendly service. But...no control over people bringing booze, pot, and glass containers on the river. No respect for the river.

Love this river and this place. Making reservations is definitely a big suggestion! Takes about 3-4 hours depending how often you stop along the way. Getting on is super easy, getting off can be difficult wish they had stairs or something a little easier. If u have bad knees be careful can be very hard! But workers are always there to help, very friendly every employee you run into. Bus drivers can be fun and make the trips to the river fun, (the good ones make convo and hype ya up). Very clean river highly suggested! They sell ice and last minute things to make the trip easier, lots of waterproof gadgets. They even have rope for $1 deposit to tie your group together. read more

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Came to Grayling with a few friends for the weekend and wanted to find a canoe rental place that was affordable and had great views. After researching businesses around the area, I'm so glad we went with Shell-Haven! Their place was packed and I thought we'd be waiting forever but it was only 30 minutes (it was Fourth of July weekend after all). Their kayaks, canoes, and tubes are clean and newer. The best part- the views from the river were amazing with many areas to stop and swim. John and Riley were our guides the next day (of course we went again!) and were very patient with our dog that kept wanting to jump out and catch fish. I highly recommend coming here. They have a souvenir shop with beer cozy (sp?) necklaces for $4-- great investment, trust me. Thanks Shell-Haven for the awesome memories and pictures! read more

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they don't do anything for people with their own kayaks even if you're willing to pay full price. Not for people , more about money

We have gone tubing here for the past two years. Great staff, easy on and off, perfect for those with children too

I see I am not the only one that is not happy with how they do business, my daughter wanted to do something nice for her parents and Aunt and Uncle, so she pre paid and her aunt was not feeling up to it do to an on going illness. they did not give her a refund or allow us to us a coupon we had to print off and show them. She is very young and could have used the refund (as we didn't end up using the single kayack) and discount, they said it was already paid for, plus this was during the week when it was very slow. they said keep coupon and use next time. NEXT TIME??? We will be using someone else and never to return to this place. Very disappointed - I did notice also they have the Medical Pot place also across the road. I have heard from locals that is what they are more focused on. (Plus it was only 2 hours or a little more, instead of the usual 4-4 1/2 hours we like to go on) read more

Shel-Haven was a perfect outside activity. We were able to drive right up on a Thursday afternoon and were loaded into the van in about 10 minutes. We did a 4 hour canoe trip, which was perfect for an afternoon. We were able to stop for lunch and still probably clocked in around 3.5 hours canoeing at a leisurely pace. Equipment was fine and prices were slightly cheaper than places nearby. The river was quiet and offered a lot of nice turns and scenery. At one point some locals pointed out a "secret" swimming hole and we were able to pull off and take a quick swim. I'll definitely be back! read more

This place is great! We called at 3pm they said we could do the two hour trip if we got there before 4pm. They drove just us up even though there were only two of us so we got to canoe by our selves not in a group of strangers. The guys working were very friendly and helpful! We would definitely come back and would highly recommend! read more

I've been here several times now, and in my limited experience Shel-Haven is the best canoe rental experience out there. They've always been super busy when I've gone to take a trip down the Manistee, but man does the staff hustle to make your wait time as short as possible. These guys haul ass and do it without seeming indifferent to your day, which is to say they are polite as well. All-in-all, it's an incredible value for the experience. Plus, there's a well-maintained DNR campsite right up the road. You won't find a cheaper, more unique weekend. read more

Shel-Haven Canoe has been around for over 10 years now. I remember going as a little kid and now I bring all my friends to the Upper Manistee Campground to enjoy canoeing, camping and the river. The staff at Shel-Haven is extremely helpful and will guide you through the best routes for drop-off or pick-up with the canoes. Their equipment is not top of the line but it's definitely decent and for a few hour canoe it definitely does the job. They are located right off of highway/bridge crossing and are extremely accessible. read more

Beware. I called at 11a for a kayak at 1p. We arrived at 1p (along with another family), and it was locked. Later they called and said we could pick up a kayak if we wanted. There were dark clouds in the sky, so they shut the doors. Just call a lot I guess!!! read more

We had gone down the river twice over the Fourth of July holiday week, and was very happy. Todd and his staff were extremely accommodating, very reliable with pick-up, and drop-offs, just overall great people!!! HIGHLY recommend to any family, or group for an enjoyable, beautiful trip down the river!! Can't wait till next time :) read more

Shel-Haven Rentals - Rafting/Kayaking Near Me - Grayling, Michigan

This is by far my favorite place to do a river float! The staff is always extremely friendly and takes great care of us! I have a large group of (loud) friends and we are treated like family by Todd and his crew of hardworking men! Plus several of the employees are very good looking which is always a plus! They have a huge stock of canoes, kayaks, and tubes- great for a large or small group! read more

As a business owner, I don't normally write reviews unless I'm very impressed with a company/owner going above and beyond. I went out with the family twice over the holiday weekend (4th of July). Todd, the owner, was very accommodating. He went above and beyond to make sure we had a great time. The transport staff were very helpful, friendly and quick. Even though we were late for our reservation they got us right out after a short five minute wait. The transport vans and equipment they rent out were very clean and well maintained. Even on a busy weekend such as this they really did a good job and it made for a very memorable vacation with the family. read more

We came up for a Bachelorette party weekend. We had 21 girls tubing down the river. (Some first timers!) Not only did the staff go above and beyond to make everything perfect while we were there but helping me organize weeks before we came up. Tabatha, Luke and Darren were beyond amazing. We will be back. Thank you for dealing with all of us!! read more

Shel-Haven Rentals - Rafting/Kayaking Near Me - Grayling, Michigan

Super nice people! We did the rafts and they were a blast! The river is so peaceful. We all had a great time and the prices were more than reasonable. read more

Unexpected stop to enjoy a summer afternoon. Loved it so much we drove back the next day! Beautiful, quiet north woods scenery, crystal clear, easy to maneuver river & not over priced. The ride out to the portage was almost as fun as the river trip...hang on tight! We hope to make it back again next summer! read more

I've used Shell Haven before (we have livery's closer to home on the Ausable, but like the Manistee, as well) and it was an 'ok' experience. Not so much today... after I asked specifically if they would transport personal tubes or kayak, she said YES for $10 less than what was shown on their price menu. when my 80 year old grandmother arrived with her boat that my mother specifically bought for her so she could have room and stay dry they said they wouldn't do it. She finally agreed to allow it 'just this once' (for $10) but still made us feel very uncomfortable about it. We had other kayakers that were meeting us & transporting their own kayak and we asked if they could park on the property and the owner said no because its private property (understandable), but when I asked if there was someplace else that our friends could launch their kayaks they simply said no and refused to help any further. It was pretty much like if we weren't giving them money they weren't going to help us. And, my paddle was broke. I was not very happy with them today. Was not an enjoyable experience. Really took me some time on the river to calm down from the lack of service. Also, at the end of the river it's very hard to get out of the river, especially for an 80 year old woman. You would think, as much as they charge, they could have a couple of steps there. We do a lot of tubing and canoeing in the summer, and I don't think I'll be returning to Shell Haven anytime soon. read more

Our family (10 adults and 7 kids) does an annual kayak trip each year. This year our kayak trip itself was great ... we had a beautiful day and fun was had by all. However we found the customer service lacking at Shel-Haven. In the past at other liveries, the trip was well explained and the staff was helpful making sure we had all that we needed and were comfortable on our way out, helping launch and load our kayaks. Shel-Haven took our money gladly but that was where the customer service ended. The driver that took us over to the starting point was a maniac, we had small children in the van with no seat belts yet he was driving too fast scaring the kids and adults for that matter. When dropped off at the starting point, the staff dropped our kayaks at the top of the stairs and left. They didn't have the bungee cords available for our gear, although they were promised at the office. They didn't carry the kayaks down to the water nor make sure we had the proper amount of paddles or even launched ok. They just dropped us off and left. We were told to watch for the "log" cabin where we could stop and have some lunch and use the "facilities". The conditions at the log cabin was awful. The grass was way over grown, the firepit was full of disgusting trash, there was no container to properly put trash in, the "facilities" was the most disgusting out-house we've ever seen. We didn't expect the holiday inn but none of us would even think about using it. We ate lunch there and even offered to share some of our picnic with the staff member there, which was ok until he started "asking" for water and cookies, etc. Really!?!?!? I think the one thing that stands out the most was the staff at the log cabin launched several tubes while we were there. The first lady that he dumped over into the water I thought was an accident. Then he dumped over another lady, I thought boy that looked intentional. But when he launched one of our kayaks and it over-turned dumping our daughter into the water, we knew it was intentional. That is just plain crap. He has no business doing that to people for his own enjoyment, someone could get hurt in the process. Seriously!?!?!? Don't get me wrong - Shel-Haven has a great thing going on - we just think that the staff could be better trained and more customer orientated and the "log" cabin area more presentable and clean with perhaps a couple of picnic tables available. None of this would be too terribly expensive to achieve and it would definitely bring back return customers to Shel-Haven. We hope you take this review as constructive criticism to improve your business as we would love to come back sometime to kayak again with Shel-Haven. read more