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River's Edge Kayak and Canoe
Categories: Active Life Rafting/Kayaking Hotels & Travel Tours Rafting/Kayaking, Tours [Edit]
13840 Healdsburg AveHealdsburg, CA 95448
(707) 433-7247
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
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22 reviews for River's Edge Kayak and Canoe
22 reviews in English
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Review from Golda R.
9/23/2011 1 photo
The half day kayaking trip was so fun. This was our first time kayaking, and I'm glad my husband and I got to do this in a very calm but scenic river. We did the trip in 2 and half hours, including our picnic lunch.
Customer service was great. The people were nice in helping us keep our food dry. They provided zip lock bags for cell phones and wallets, as well as coolers for our food.
It was really fun as a couple to experience this, but going in larger groups with friends would also work out. -
Review from Jessica W.
San Lorenzo, CA
8/25/2011
I went canoeing for the first time ever with River's Edge Kayak and Canoe about a couple of weeks ago. It was definitely an experience.
When you first arrive there are individuals who tell you where to park, and tell you where to sign in afterwards. They even let you leave your car keys there in case you lose them in the river. Also there was zip loc bags there for you in case you want to make sure that you keep certain items dry.
After signing in and handling all the paperwork you go on a bus through a pretty bumpy route, and then you end up at the start of the route. Once there you get your life jacket and your canoe/kayak and they give you some direction and explanations.
The entire run is about 5 miles, and the workers tell you that there is supposed to be a halfway point. The entire time my friends and I were looking for the half-way point, and we NEVER saw it. Honestly, I don't know if the half way point exists. We kept on rowing trying to find the halfway point and just ended up at the very end of the trip.
A lot of the water there is very shallow, so you end up getting stuck and having to push yourself out with your oars or by getting out of the boat and pushing your boat.
There is much of a current, but you have to be careful cause when you do encounter the current it can be rather strong especially if you are trying to move a steel canoe.
It is definitely helpful to use water shoes rather than sandals, because you'll most likely have to step out of the boat and into the water at some point.
The scenery wasn't too bad, and there are lots of trees and wood parts sticking out of the water. -
Review from Shveta S.
Santa Clara, CA
7/17/2011 1 Check-in Here
Customer service-great. Although they may take hours to reply to your voice messages.
They provide brief description on safety while on the river. NO instruction on how to steer a canoe or kayak. So check out some videos on you tube for the same.
Price-great.Cheaper than some others that I know of.
Canoes,Kayaks,paddles-good condition.
You can carry your camera and phone and some snacks and drink in the dry bag that they provide. One big size free dry bag per group.
Over all experience with River Edge was awesome!
River -is awesome.Calm.Peaceful. Certain part of river is shallow and full of stones while the rest is deep full of algae and water weeds.
I spotted some turtles/tortoise and small fishes in the river too.
The half day trip takes less than 3 hours approx.
Safety- As per my experience canoes are less stable than kayaks and more prone to flip. Both of them are equally good though. -
Review from Brian M.
San Francisco, CA
9/29/2011
Came here using a Groupon deal, and I'm glad we did. It was a thoroughly enjoyable experience, customer service was great, and that you just can't be floating down the Russian River on a nice day. Highly recommended.
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Review from Erica H.
Santa Rosa, CA
6/28/2010 ROTD 7/28/2010
I will be completely honest....I was never into the river until I decided to rent a canoe and connect with mother nature.
My goodness the Russian River is beautiful! We had a fabulous time. I saw a bald eagle, 4 turtles and baby ducks. The river is majestic and tranquil. Everyone at River's Edge were friendly and very hospitable. We arrived on time, the shuttle left on time and everything was very efficient.
Kids love it!....great family fun! -
Review from joe c.
Dublin, CA
7/25/2011
Great trip - everything went off without a hitch. Arrived at 10:30am for check-in -went quickly, I was given a dry bag to store pretty much everything we brought - they do offer coolers if you forget yours. The bus trip took about 10-15 minutes, after you get to the river - like jackets are issued, some instruction on what to do and not do - kayaking and canoe paddling instruction was offered ( go to You-Tube and download a few instructional videos - very helpful before you go). River was great - peaceful, take your time enjoy the ride - stop off for lunch and swim - great, clean family entertainment. The staff was top notch from start to finish - we definitely will be back.
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Review from Britt M.
San Francisco, CA
7/12/2011
Yay River's Edge! We rented kayaks for a half-day a few weeks ago and had an AWESOME time. The equipment is great, the people are nice, and the river is absolutely gorgeous. Bring a picnic and/or drinks with you and then pull over at one of the many beaches to chill and swim with your friends. Definitely a fun day trip from SF...we'll be back!
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Review from Steven C.
8/2/2010
Me and a friend took a 2 person kayak on Russian River for a day trip called "alex". There is no way you can enjoy the trip and also make the 2nd leg of the trip, unless you start at the morning time or are super serious about paddling.
Anyhow, still felt like it was worth it, staff was friendly and attentive. There is one woman there that tells you how dangerous it is...its not, well atleast not during the summer, possibly spring. -
Review from Liz K.
Cary, NC
10/27/2008
I'm sitting in front of the flat screen watching the game with my cheetos, beer, and sriracha sauce.
My bf enters the livingroom and blocks my view of the TV.
He starts whining,"You never want to do anything. All you ever want to do is watch TV and eat cheetos with that red stuff. Don't you love me? Don't you want to spend time with me?"
I reply, "Fine. Let's go kayaking."
River's Edge Kayak and Canoe Trips is only about roughly 1 hour north of San Francisco in Healdsburg.
The staff is friendly and helpful. The equipment is in good condition.
The river itself is Class I + current, so you can relax all the way through.
We decided to do the single person kayaks to tease each other into a race.
The river is shallow in some areas, so make sure you bring aqua shoes or something like Teva sandals to get out and pull your kayak through the shallow parts.
Note: The river might not be shallow in early spring and when we have a very wet winter. We were on the river late in the season.
Pack a lunch to eat on the side of the river. Total chill!
I was happy and so was the boyfriend.
OVERALL: River's Edge offers half day, full day, and even a two day trip. They provide basic equipment and make arrangements for drop off and pick up. A very relaxing river to float down with friends or the significant other.
Pricing:
Full Day Half Day Hourly
Canoe $85/canoe $60/canoe $15/canoe
Kayak $55/Kayak $35/Kayak $15/Kayak
Double Kayak $85/Kayak $60/Kayak $15/kayak
P.S. A great part of the story portion (99.5%) has been embellished. I would never eat cheetos with sriracha sauce! *ahem*Listed in: Fog You, SF!
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Review from Rebecca B.
San Francisco, CA
4/26/2010
The 2 stars is on experience alone. While canoeing was very fun, even with a reservation, you end up waiting almost 2 hours for shuttle service to get in the water. All the while being told "it'll just be 5 more minutes" or "we're very short staffed at the moment". (again the guys at registrastion are super nice and I'm sure its not their fault, but rather the company policy of trying to jam in as many people as possible in a single bus ride to the point where the trips start - a 15 min ride).
So while I definitely recommend going canoeing / kayaking in Healdsburg, I would probably go with another company next time that's more honest about wait time or has more staff. -
Review from T L.
Walnut Creek, CA
8/16/2008
Great fun.
We went on Burke's section of the river last year and wanted to try a different section this year.
The two trips were very similar. You paddle downstream for about 10 miles to a pickup point where an old school bus returns you back to the start point. A leisurely pace with stops for lunch should get you downstream in about 6 hours.
The Burke's trip was more crowded and the river was slower and wider with less sharp turns to navigate. I was surprised at how fast and narrow some parts of the River's Edge trip were. If you panic you will flip the canoe. Make sure everything is tied down and don't bring any expensive electronics equipment.
River's Edge was the more expensive of the two outfits but seemed to be more laidback and will allow small dogs and alcohol.
I would do either trip again. -
Review from Jessica L.
San Francisco, CA
4/13/2008
What a fun day we had! River's Edge made it easy for us to seamlessly enjoy our day on the river without worrying about anything. The staff are super friendly and laid-back.
We did the half-day trip. They drove us 5 miles up the Russian river and dropped us on a beach. After a very quick tutorial (read: have you guys canoed before? us: yes Ok, good, have fun).
We meandered down the river, which was flowing quite nicely--to the point where we hardly had to paddle. But, there were some fast little parts over mini-whitewater that were great fun. I agree with Bill E.'s review--it would have been helpful if they warned us about the shallow parts and the best ways to get through it. Basically, we just scraped along the rocks until we could push ourselves past it--and laughed the whole time.
I would absolutely take another tour with them--hopefully a longer one. -
Review from Matt-e C.
San Jose, CA
6/17/2010
Four Stars for this establishment! I would have given it 5, but apparently you can't bring beer on the kayak with you and they didn't teach us how to steer the boat (however, drinking beer might have made that even more difficult now that I think about it).
In any case this is a great way to spend the day. The river was pretty calm and the scenery is gorgeous. The staff was really friendly and I'm sure if we had asked they would have taught us how to steer.
I will definitely check them out again! -
Review from Angelica R.
Windsor, CA
Updated - 8/5/2010
LMAO!! This is the funniest drama I've ever had to hear! Calling me leaving me voice messages to insult me and say they were crying after they heard my review! Who does that??? Was I supposed to call you back to be pursued to change my review?? Or endure more insults?? You have plenty of nice reviews, why cry if someone had a bad experience?? You had the chance to change the situation? If I was soo intoxicated why would I have been coherent to know what was going on??? And why were the other 24 people on the trip in agreement with the situation at the front desk??? If you are to contact me its only to repay me the $$ owed, why continue with your insults?? We were over charged, your boy did drink our beer--- Get over it! HAHHAHAHHA!
1 Previous Review: Show all »
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7/22/2010
I'm really not a hater... Went with a group of 24 of my friends, we all had an awesome time on the… Read more »
Comment from Lollie M. of River's Edge Kayak and Canoe 8/3/2010
Maybe seems unorganized and overcharged if one comes back to… More » -
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Review from Doublejack X.
San Francisco, CA
8/3/2007
They were very friendly, helpful and down to earth. The river wasn't quite as high as we would have liked, but low rainfall isn't their fault -- and they did warn us.
I dropped one star off only because I felt they could have maybe warned us a little more about what that lower river flow would mean in terms of navigating our canoes. So I'll warn you now -- keep *lots* of extra room between yourself and other canoes *at all times*. Especially as you approach fast spots and turns.
Still, I'm certain I'll visit and rent from these folks again. Overall, it was fantastic experience. -
Review from Poonam J.
Oakland, CA
7/30/2008
The staff at River's Edge were super friendly and helpful - My group rented a canoe from them and also took our own inflatable kayak out, and the staff was really nice about helping with the kayak before and after the trip. Their friendliness makes me really want to do business with them again in the future!
However, the water level was way too low to be going out on the river when we went (though of course the current drought is not River's Edge's fault) and we were not warned about it at all. That stretch of the river seems like it would be fun at a higher water level, but as it was, we were continually having to get out of our boats and carry them to parts of the river that were deeper - it was often too shallow to stay in the boats and push them to deeper parts, we HAD to get out and carry them. In many parts of the river, we could stand in the middle of the river in water that was ankle deep, if that. It was very worrisome at the time to have the inflatable be continually dragging along the bottom of the river (though it wasn't harmed at all in the end - yay for Advanced Elements' rugged inflatable kayaks).
And yes, I'll definitely second Bill E.'s review below: when the water level is low, make sure to wait for the boat in front of you to clear any fast spots before you go in - you never know where they might get stuck in a shallow spot and a second boat running into a stuck boat is a great way to capsize one of them, even in class 1 rapids (speaking from experience, of course).
Basically, I'd consider going back, but only much earlier in the season. -
Review from Karl D.
Healdsburg, CA
3/15/2010
This place is peanut butter to the rivers jelly. They go hand and hand. The staff is nice and the river is so beautiful. I thank this place for prompting me to get two Kayaks. I go all the time now. It is a peaceful way to spend a day. Thanks
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Review from Erik U.
Benicia, CA
6/28/2009
Took a canoe ride down the ol' Russian River and had a GREAT time! The staff was AMAZING. They helped us with everything! Prices we decent and it couldn't of gone smoother! If you are ready to see the Russian River, do the full day event from these guys, ITS GREAT!
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Review from A M D.
Aiken, SC
6/5/2009
We did just a half day canoe trip while we were in the area. The staff were very helpful in telling us about the River and what to expect. It was a great relaxing ride down the Russian River, something I would absolutely recommend.
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Review from Jessica T.
Oakland, CA
8/24/2009
Awesome for large groups! Everyone that works for River's Edge is super nice and really helpful. I had such an amazing day and the price is great! Very highly recommended!
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Review from claudia y.
South San Francisco, CA
8/2/2010
we rented one canoe and 2 double kayaks for saturday. we had fun but got pretty sunburnt and tired. you have to paddle pretty consistently to go anywhere. they allowed dogs but the heavier ones have to get the canoe. they had plently of places to stop. we stopped for lunch, to let the dogs off to play etc. i wish the rope swing which we saw when we were coming in, was on the course!
Listed in: wine country!
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Review from Jules B.
Redwood City, CA
6/11/2010
Took a group of 46 from work for an Offsite Team building trip yesterday. It was a BLAST!!!! Beautiful day, about 75 degrees and sunny. The water was enjoyable and refreshing. The group all doubled up in either a canoe or kayak and we did a half-day trip. The staff was GREAT and all were just very nice and kind. They take you on an old school bus to the put-in spot where the canoes and kayaks are waiting, give a short little talk and send you off on your own down the river. PERFECT! The take-out spot is about 40 feet away from the office which is very handy. They provided box lunches for us, which were very good (sandwich, fruit cup, chips and cookie for $11 or $12). We pulled off at a beachy area along the river about half-way down and had lunch and played in the water and on the beach. They also provided coolers and ice and strapped them down to the boats. It was a great time on the river. THANK YOU River's Edge! Oh, the only thing some of us wished we would have brought with us is paddling gloves. It just come with paddling a kayak - if you don't do it often or at all, the skin can get blistery or peel off from the friction between your thumbs and forefingers.
