Pre Sail GP hang waiting for the breeze to pick up with friends, what a nice day…read more It's a Chicago gem.

What can be said about the Play Pen? If you're on a boat during the summer in Chicago life could…read morenot be better. The weather is probably great, the people are better and chances are you are on a very nice boat of a friend of a friend...(more so applies to females). The Play Pen is where almost every boating trip on Lake Michigan drops anchor. Makes for fantastic people-watching, other boats going by, jetskis, people jumping off and swimming. PLEASE be considerate with the speed and others in the water. AMAZING views of the city skyline and Navy Pier. Nestled right in Oak Street Beach. The water is chillyyyy but great for 1. hangovers 2. seasick 3, if its really hot out

Welcome to Chicago! There's no city like it and the Chicago River is one of many places that…read moreshowcases its exquisiteness and allure. Vast architecture can be found along the path here; Encompassing complete beauty and incredible historic views. Chicago is tenacious, a city that can never be sidelined. Growing up here was the absolute best, and it will always be home.

A charity swim this morning to benefit ALS on the Chicago River. Safety teams in kayaks paddled…read morealongside the swimmers, who were chosen for their open-water swimming experience, while lifeguards lined the Riverwalk to help swimmers who could not complete the course. Only 3 of the 263 swimmers didn't finish. It took some an hour to go a mile through the downtown loop with orange floats gliding across the river. It was funny to see them walking through downtown Chicago in robes with medals around their neck, what an accomplishment! The last time that Chicago sanctioned a group swim in the river was 1927, a tradition thwarted by the loads of industrial and human waste that were routinely dumped in the water. It has taken decades of cooperation between environmental groups and elected officials , including at least four mayors, to clean up the river. I understand there are now dozens of species of fish, eagles overhead & otters playing along the banks now.

I was terrified of boats, so I was very scared to try the Sea Dog Speed Boat. Instantly, I was…read moregreeted with a friendly smile from Avery! She was so sweet and gave us a ton of facts! When she was talking, she was smiling and dancing to the music! 10/10, I will have to go again!!!

Great team and an amazing boat ride cannot complain one bit. The architecture tour is definitely…read moreworth the money.

This the best kayaking experience and a great way to view the city. Everyone is so helpful. Can't…read morewait to back

We went on 8/3/26. Very smooth check in process. Prices for kayak rentals were $30/ hr if you pay…read moreat the counter but there are Groupons for discounts so check online before heading out! We went around 6pm so there were A LOT of architecture tour boats going through the river with us. There's waves created by those boats make the kayak session very rocky and that made me a bit motion sick actually. That was on top of us paddling west during sunset, so the sun was shining very bright into our eyes. I was wearing sunglasses but I think a hat would've helped as well. It isn't strenuous but I just didn't prepare well enough. Still a great experience and would come back more prepared.

The Lake Fireworks tour was excellent. Gabby was our guide and she was excellent and very…read moreknowledgeable. The tour combined fireworks, history, and architectur. The whole family loved it.

I've been to Chicago many times, but never did the architectural boat tour thinking 'oh it's too…read moretouristy.' This time I gave in thinking the weather is nice and I want to do something relaxing. Wendella was highly ranked and a friend recommended them. I was bummed when I saw the 90 minute sunset tour was sold out. I saved $50. lol I was happy to find that they had a 45 minute tour at 8pm. This was actually perfect and for $28! I got to see a little bit of light when we boarded and the actual sun setting and views of the city in the dark. Very beautiful. The host tries to tell us history and be funny, but I think most were busy taking photos or just relaxing as a breeze hit. The ride is smooth so not to worry if you typically get motion sick. I felt fine. You may book tickets online and I'd show up by 7-7:15pm to get on the 8pm boat. The line gets long and if you want premium seating in the back or along the sides, then you want to be early. This 45 minute tour takes off a little bit further in than the 90 min one that has entry just off the bridge by Michigan Ave. Not sure if the boat had a restroom. Overall I'd budget about 2ish hours for this activity from the time waiting in line, cruise, and getting off the boat. Highly recommend!

Great first time kayaking! The views were breathtaking and the staff member was very informative…read moreand kind to us. I will be doing this regularly. It's a great way to explore downtown Chicago and connect with yourself.

First, it says when booking that it will be two hours. The start time is 8:15. So I told my…read morebabysitter an end time based off of that. The day of the tour we get a text saying it will be three hours. That meant we had to scramble to see if our babysitter could stay at least an hour longer. Second, they put a green light on each kayak on each so it can be seen at night on the river (we did the fireworks tour). I am not exaggerating when I say half of the kayaks on the tour lights were out on the way to the fireworks. That made me feel unsafe and anxious. It also made it more difficult to figure out who our tour guides were because at least two tour guides' lights went out as well. Third, they directed us to "park" (not sure how else to put it) for the fireworks in a spot that the other kayak tour groups seemed to very clearly know was to be avoided because a giant boat was going to dock there. This resulted in our group being yelled at by another kayaking group that we should leave for our own safety because a boat was going to dock there. Then the boat was descending upon us and we had to play kayak-frogger across the river in a mad dash at the last minute while the giant boat honked and played sirens because we were in its way. Again, felt very unsafe. For a person looking for a a casual, fun kayaking experience, this whole thing was too stressful. Would not recommend. Other kayaking places we saw on the water seemed more organized and safety-conscious.

It almost seemed like a dream. From the very start, cruising through a large patch of lotus plants,…read moreit felt otherworldly. Very peaceful, going at our own pace. Enjoyed the cliff walls of Buffalo Rock and the shallow waters of some side passages. We paddled for 5 hours, covering 8 miles total. After we were done we headed to charming, historic downtown Utica for drinks and dinner at Skoog's Pub & Grill in North Utica, IL. I was impressed with the logistics and operation of the kayaking experience, from the guide* to the equipment and online booking process. *Full disclosure, the guide was my twin sister, but I am being objective...seriously.

I have mixed feelings about this kayak tour company. I signed up because although I'm a very…read morecapable and seasoned kayaker, I didn't know this river and I like learning about the ecosystems and local wildlife. For this reason I like having tour guides. Going up the river was fine. Coming back went a bit sour. I went as slow as I was capable of paddling or not paddling, but apparently it was too fast for the preference of our tour guide. I was barely touching the water with my paddle. I have no idea how I could have gone any slower. It wasn't humanly possible. After shouting at me several times, he took to chasing me down and ramming my kayak so it'd spin in circles. Would I rent a kayak here and kayak the river alone? Yes. Would I personally use a tour guide here? No I wouldn't. Would I recommend? If you're a family with little kids or a drunk sorority house, absolutely. If you know what you're doing, just go it alone. You'll probably enjoy it more. Edit: If the tour guide had concerns for group safety, he could have said so. Although ramming my kayak with his seems to be a bit of a conflict as far as my safety goes. It was an unprofessional approach when he could have simply explained why he needed me to slow down

To celebrate a friends 30th birthday, we chartered a pontoon with Captain Patrick and it was not a…read moregood experience - and it's hard to mess up getting a group of girlfriends together to hang out on a boat in the playpen. Not only was our Captain condescending when we asked for clarification as to our schedule, he took charge of elements of the trip without the input of the host, which made for a series of uncomfortable conversations. After charging the group for 5 hours on the boat, he had us leave the playpen two hours early so we could chug all the way to Burnham Harbor to get gas - which we didn't need in the first place - just because he didn't "include" gas in the price - all for a mere $50 worth (on top of $900 for the boat - with the mandatory 20% tip paid in advance). After spending over an hour trekking to get gas - and we almost certainly spent half of the gas money on getting to the station in the first place, we just decided to hop off the boat to avoid the headache. Another display of blatant lack of professionalism came from his demeanor. I highly doubt he would have felt the need to physically touch the hips and waists of the passengers if it was a group of young men. We left disappointed and sufficiently creeped out - all seven of us. If you're going to charter a boat, stay far away.

We just had the best time!!!! My party and I arrived early. We rented a pontoon from Chicago…read moreWaterCraft and the owner and the 1st mate were there cleaning up the boat and welcomed me aboard right away. I filled out all the necessary paperwork, since the boat was my responsibility, once I left the dock. Captain Patrick was such a transparent business owner. He let me and my party board early. Helped with letting me know how everything worked and what to be on the look out. Smart move since we got wonderfully sun drenched and had a lot of fun when water was splashing up from the lake. We had fun experiencing the locks, and the play pen, then cruising around Navy Pier. Just such a great time. I would highly recommend it to anyone who wants to have fun on Lake Michigan. I want to go back already.