I'm a local, but I still enjoy taking friends and family on the Willamette Jet Boat Excursion…read morebecause it's one of the best ways to experience the river, the Portland waterfront, the city's beautiful bridges, and Willamette Falls. One of our captains described the ride as a mix of Pirates of the Caribbean, the Teacups, and Splash Mountain--which is surprisingly accurate! The price is fair, the experience is unforgettable, and it's something I'd highly recommend for both locals and anyone visiting Portland.

Doug was our captain. Absolute best time he was so funny and made the trip such a blast. This was…read moreour first JetBoat excursion and my 11 & 15 year old wanted it to become a yearly thing. They could not stop smiling the whole day. I highly recommend this experience to anyone

Great place to store paddle or rowing craft! I've had a kayak and surfski racked there for several…read moreyears. Time saved from loading, unloading and carrying boats makes it well worth the storage fee and makes regular paddling exercise a lot easier. And there's Marlon, the Harbormaster. He is a very cheerful and pleasant presence at the docks. He knows the area well and makes good recommendations. He's always happy to lend a hand, and sets a great tone for the friendly vibe at the docks.

Always a pleasure to feel at home in a familiar place…read more Wonderful view, nice people, good service and a good menu. Never a bad experience. Keep it up!

Life these days is at warp speed and this cruise is the perfect way to slow things down!!!…read more This beautiful, old ship is something to truly check out! Rose is her name and Captain Shane was not only our Commander and Chief, he was extremely informative (educating us on safety protocol) and we couldn't have asked for a more personable & entertaining Captain! In fact, I'd pay to see him in a comedy club! The ship itself holds 49 passengers and its big enough to move around and not feel like a sardine, which in my experience, is what most commercial vessels feel like. It has 2 bathrooms, a small kitchen with salon and I believe it's 3 levels. We motored away from the dock right at 6:30 and within minutes, Capt Shane started putting up the sails - 3 of them. I felt like I was back East, Westport Harbor, Mass. in 1976! My buddies and I were out on little skiffs when the Tall Ships started heading home.They were absolutely majestic and a sight that I will remember forever! I want to say to all Locals, that The Rose is a special gift to everyone that enjoys gorgeous sunsets, our beautiful river and that lazy kind of feeling you get sailing! One last thing: BYOB & snacks make you feel right at home and it's a good way to raise your glass to, The Rose. Thanks, Captain Shane, and crew, for a memorable experience!

We took the maiden sunset voyage of the Schooner Rose 85ft tall ship from the Harbor 1 Marina with…read moreour friends and Captain Shane. It was a beautiful evening on the Columbia River with ample room to move around the ship and 3 decks. We sat on the couch on the forward part of the ship and it was like being in our living room but with an amazing view. Captain Shane even allowed me to captain the ship and put on his captain's hat for a bit and his first mate showed me how to use the rudder control and compass and some basic right of way rules. I had a blast. Truly a one of a kind experience. They offered snacks as well and at the end of the tour, we sat on the ship docked with our friends and watched the sun fully set, talked with Captain Shane, and I even got a tour of the engine room. Hands down the best boat cruise in Portland. You can even bring your own drinks and food and we had a little picnic onboard. Note that in the future, they will AirBnB out the ship which would be an awesome stay.

3 1/2 Stars - This is a difficult review to write…read more May 22, 2026 we went on our third Portland Spirit Cruise. We upgraded to the "Admiral Package," as this was a special Rose Festival Cruise, concluding with a fireworks display. The cruise itself was wonderful. The live piano music is a lovely enhancement, and the atmosphere was buoyant ;-). Every staff member was a delight and the captain is charming. But - The Food: Our appetizers were interesting, Mr. Wonderful ordered the Shrimp Cocktail and said it was alright. I had the Cheese Platter, some of the cheeses were hard, (as in dried out) and the crostini was *overly hard, bordering on stale. The salads were good, the dressing delicious. For our mains, I ordered the pasta dish. I took perhaps four bites and stopped eating. The pasta was far beyond al dente, the vegetables were almost unrecognizable - it lacked flavor or texture. Mr. Wonderful ordered the Beef Short ribs, and was happy with his meal. I'm going to chalk this up to me ordering incorrectly. Table clearing was another issue, our bread tray and appetizer plates remained on the table far too long. When our main courses were delivered, there was no room. We ordered our desserts and coffee. We received our coffee about 10 minutes afterwards. Then we watched as our server, served a large table next to us their desserts and a couple of other tables nearby. He may have been overwhelmed as this deck was extremely busy. Anyway, after waiting 20 plus minutes more, we requested our dessert, again. Cold coffee and dessert = not great. Our meal service from start to finish was disorganized. Viewing the fireworks from the top deck was a treat! We enjoy cruising with Portland Spirit and will do so again, but we would *not purchase the upgrade. Hint: Request (and pay for) a window seat on the *second deck, as the views are much more desirable.

We booked the big foot cruise. 2 adults and 2 teens. We were the last on the boat. The headphones…read morewere scattered about and 2 of us didn't get them. The boat was really crowded. People sit sideways on the small bench so there is little room in order to see out. Without headphones you can't hear the narration so it just becomes a boat ride. I wouldn't do this again.

Captain spice was an amazing guide! He did a great job explaining the fascinating history on the…read moreriver and making it fun! Would highly recommen!

My wife and I recently went on the sunset cruise with captain Seth. Nice clean boat. Seth knew…read morequite a bit about the history of portland bridges and waterfront. Since we live in portland Seth asked if we'd like the history tour or would rather just cruise up the river. We opted for the history tour and really enjoyed learning about our city. Would recommend for out of towners or locals. Great way to see and learn about the city. We also enjoyed drinking a bottle of wine and watching the sunset over portland!

I tried to book the brew barge once a year for three years, every. single. time. I got a call the…read moreday of saying they had to cancel. I was told I would get a complimentary ride or brew barge and never heard anything back. would NOT book.

DO NOT buy from this company. 5 friends and I bought tickets for September 14 but got a call day of…read morethat they were having mechanical issues and they would give us a refund and a complimentary ride. Well its December and still no refund. Over $300!!! Many messages promising to refund but no follow through.

It was awesome! Close by! Easy to get a hold of and great prices!! They will be our go to for…read morerafting/tubing rentals! They were the ONLY place in town that would just rent me the life jackets!! AWESOME!!

Tubes are $25 for a day rental! They are nice, heavy duty red tubes and have handles. Pickup is in…read morehis garage/driveway and pickup was so easy! You can take the tubes wherever you want which is nice. They're super easy to blow up and have a mesh bottom to hold your belongings close by/shield your bum from rocks. He gave us a hand pump to use to blow them up when we arrive at our location. Drop off was just as easy, we texted him when we were 5 minutes away and he came outside when we needed to drop off! Would definitely rent from him again if we are ever in the area!

This review is for the paddle board rentals!…read more My 2 friends and I tried to book the paddle boards online the day prior. For some reason we were only able to book one, even when trying on different devices/ browsers. We tried calling but weren't able to get through so we decided to just go in person the next day. For our reservation, we were texted the instructions on where to park & how to get down to the right dock. The instructions were easy to follow. Despite the online reservation not working, we were still able to get 3 paddle boards! After signing a waiver and paying, the staff will give you a life jacket, measure the paddles according to your height, and give a quick tutorial on how to get onto the board. It was my first time paddle boarding and it was pretty easy to learn! We did a 2 hour rental (which is plenty of time) and had a lot of fun going through the recommended path and using the current to drift back. For the 2 hours it was about $30 which was more than worth it. There is a locker (without locks) where you can leave your clothes/ other items. If you want to bring a water bottle or other personal items that are ok to get wet, there is a bungee cord at the top of the board to secure those items in place. There are also restrooms with flush toilets at the dock. This experience was honestly one of my favorite parts of the weekend and I would highly recommend. I just hope they are able to get their online reservation system fixed for a smoother booking process!

Reserved a pontoon boat in the midst of COVID restrictions. A great way to get outdoors and safely…read moresocially distance. As our day approached, the weather changed. We called to check if we could switch days and they were quick to let us know we could. Perfect. Check-in was smooth. We were provided a quick training and we were off. We rented for the day and took advantage of exploring the Columbia river. Pontoon Boat was in great shape and had a larger engine so we were able to make decent time to get out to the gorge. It was a gorgeous day and we couldn't have been happier. Highly recommend, but plan ahead (we attempted to rent on another occasion and they were booked).

Our family had a fantastic time on the scenic Columbia River with PDX Water Sports. We rented…read moreBrandon's Monark 205 Sun Lounger deck boat (see photos) and it runs great with a 130 hp outboard. With three passengers, we got a max speed of 30 kts and cruised very comfortably on plane at 22 kts. This is not a new boat and is missing its windshield, but it has a bimini shade and plenty of seating. The seat conditions and such are expected of an older boat, but we are here for the Oregon water experience, not two-tone leatherette. There is no online booking, so text PDX Watersports and the response is fast. Coordinating times and getting a price quote was super easy too. If you are used to renting from overpriced corprate operators, think of this as the opposite-- the hometown small business owner. Chinook Landing boat ramp has plenty of parking and is out of the Portland traffic/busy areas. If you are renting on the 4th of July or some other peak day, expect peak conditions at launch and on the river. We had a quiet, summer Friday on the water instead. Deposit was returned within 60 minutes of getting back to the dock (and inspecting the boat and prop of course!). I would definitely recommend PDX Water Sports if you are an experienced boater looking for a great time on the Columbia or Williamette. I sense a lot of the negative reviewers are people who don't know much about boating, planing speeds, weight distribution, or safe operation of a vessel. Looking forward to doing this again the next time we visit Portland!

DO NOT BOOK WITH THEM!! Completely unprofessional. No dock…read moreetiquette whatsoever!! The pontoons are run down trash. The guys running the place have no business running their "boat rental" business out of a public dock. They take up space, extremely rude to others and prefer quantity over quality. Would absolutely not recommend.

Im not sure how successful folks are with catching fish in this large pond, but sitting by the dock…read moreis very peaceful. The lake is centered around the shopping mall so there are a few restaurant that overlook the lake. There are also ducks that live there.

Came here today with fishing friend who did some actual fishing. Nothing was caught (fish 1 -…read morehumans 0), but it was really OK, and I thoroughly enjoyed sitting in my camping chair and watching the fish jump in the air and the world passing by. A few other people were down on the dock casting for fish, others sat on the various rock formations sort of zoning out, and it was a real pleasure to see the children and parents sharing something they really loved. If the youngsters aren't interested in the fishing, they can come down and feed the ducks - such fun. The water is so clear you can see down to rocks and plants on the bottom and also nearest the dock flashes of the goldfish as they glide along (these goldfish eventually grow into some very large carp). There are evidently some sturgeon as well along with the rainbow trout, and also lots of ducks and other water birds (a few still with babies). Oh yes, lots of dragonflies - flashes of black and fiery orange red - add to the charm. People who fish welcome you right into their society and talk readily about their fishing experiences and how the big one got away and even why. This is a terrific family experience and for those who want to come out alone. The best time is to come early, before 7, and especially after the lake has been re-stocked, if you want to catch some fish. But like I said, it's a wonderful experience whether fish are caught or not. Give it a try. And remember if you don't catch any fish, you can hike back up to the shopping center above and get some breakfast. Not a bad day at all, in fact a damn fine one if you ask me.