Tahoe City Kayak & Paddleboard

My husband and I took SUP lessons with Andrew from Tahoe City Kayak in Tahoe City. SUP was on our bucket list, and I am so glad we opted for lessons! Andrew was fun and knowledgeable. He taught us different paddle strokes that we would have never figured out on our own if we had opted to just rent the paddle boards. Next time you are in Tahoe City, be sure to take advantage of the services from this great local business!

So this is my second time coming, once in summer 2015 and once now 2016 (Jun 17). I have to say my experience renting kayaks here has been very pleasant no trouble at all *last year first time on a kayak*
We signed the papers at the office and headed down to the dock where we met Brad *guy who set us up and gave instructions on what to do **he was super helpful
The winds where kinda crazy but it was nice being out there *it was strongly advised that no paddle boards should be going out *kayak is always fun so it’s not a bad compromise :)
I would recommend if you’re also running late *we were late around 15 – 30 minutes just call ahead the first time they didn’t answer but after 10 minutes they answered and they said not to worry and come when we’re ready. Super good!

Tahoe City Kayak & Paddleboard provides the best on-​the-​lake lessons and tours, as well as friendly customer service. (After reading some of the negative reviews, I feel compelled to add that I experienced no problems.)
We launched from Sand Harbor Beach, which is on the northeast (Nevada) side of Lake Tahoe. Adam was our kayak tour guide and, on a different day, Andrew was our standup paddleboard instructor. Both Adam and Andrew are excellent instructors and guides — very knowledgeable, helpful, and fun, and they put us to ease with learning new skills.
I especially recommend these activities for Tahoe newbies. Paddle sports are a quiet and intimate way to experience the lake.

I called to make a reservation on June 3^rd. I made my reservation for a 3 hour paddle board session for 100 dollars (2 paddle boards 50.00 dollars each) for June 12. The day of my experience the water was extremely choppy. Wind gust and 60 degree weather. This was going to make it extremely difficult to enjoy a 3 hour paddle board session. Without any notification of there cancellation policy from them. I was unable to cancel my reservation or even change the time difference from a 3 hour rental to at least a 1 hour rental. When I made the reservation I gave them my information (email, phone number, credit card info). They never sent me anything when it came to the cancellation policy. I feel that this needs to be shown as bad business practices on there end and to not take advantage of the out of state customers that are not familiar with the weather patterns on the lake.

I should have read your reviews and your policy about refunds. That’s a fault on my end. But if you are so busy you should hire a larger staff to actually fulfill a vital part of business which is customer service. Employing someone for a cheap wage shouldn’t be difficult when you charging exorbitant prices for reservations that aren’t fulfilled. I truly do wish you success in your business and there is no sarcasm in that statement. My encounter with you this weekend was pretty shameful on your end. You didn’t return numerous phone calls or even the email option on your website. I understand your policy but you might want to change it to at least a fifty percent refund. Honestly if that would have happened I wouldn’t have been excited by it but your business has to continue and you have to make a profit. You told me on the phone you don’t have the ability to return phone calls. That’s an interesting issue to have since you seem to have free hands at your location to type in credit card numbers to charge people. Best of luck to you.

The people at Tahoe City Kayak & Paddleboard are very friendly, patient, and helpful. They kindly answered all of my (many) questions and then went way out of their way to help me with my purchase. I was as annoying as a customer can be, and they were extremely kind. I would give them 6 stars if I could.

Amazing company and great boards, Brandon on the dock was amazing. All around great experience. Keep up the good work and thank you for adding to our amazing vacation.

Seriously the highlight of our trip… kayaking for an hour followed by paddleboarding. Thanks for all of the expert advice and laid back approach! We will be back!

We scheduled an hour lesson for stand up paddle boarding. Well worth it. We now know the best techniques. Brandon was our instructor. Very professional and did a great job explaining everything.

Made a reservation for a guided morning paddle and brunch. The staff were great and the guide, Theron, was really terrific. We’re in our mid-​sixties, so not young active kids. This was our first kayak paddle. We will do it again. Had a blast.

We have used Tahoe City Kayak for each of our past 4 summer vacations here, mostly because we like paddling & kayaking out of Sand Harbor past the Thunderbird Lodge, to the rocks where we beach for lunch. Great service, plenty of equipment lo rent and friendly people. Today we rented 2 SUPs and a tandem — weather was perfect. Prices are competitive. We’ll be back!

I took their Sand Harbor tour, which started at 9am and goes down the east shore. The tour guides were very friendly and knowledgeable! This was my first kayaking experience, and it was very positive. Would definitely recommend!

We saved the best for last on our long weekend in Tahoe and took the Sand Harbor kayak tour with Alison on our last day in town. What a treat! For not knowing the area or points of interest to explore, the tour was completely worth the extra 40 bucks or whatever to take the tour vs just rent the kayaks. Alison was very knowledgable, fun and shared some great stories about Lake Tahoe’s residents and history. Sand Harbor is a must see and getting out there early for the tour was perfect to check it out and take some photos before the beaches got too busy. It was just the two of us, so we made pretty good time and stopped for lunch at Chimney Beach (another great spot!) On the way out, we stayed pretty close to the shore line and on the way back went further out into the lake, which allowed for very different views each leg. My favorite adventure of our weekend and one I would definitely recommend.

We took an early morning private SUP lesson. Tim was very knowledgeable and overall, a great instructor. He really made us feel comfortable out on the water. My husband, teen daughter and I learned a ton in just 60 minutes. Staff was friendly and accommodating. We all had an amazing time and discovered a new love for the sport.

My BF and I just bought a paddleboard set up from Tahoe City Kayak and had a great experience! Staff were super helpful and friendly (including sweet Napkin the store dog!), we’ll definitely return if we need more gear.

I would give it ZERO stars if I could!
They practically ruined my family’s first summer Tahoe vacation.
I reserved 6 kayaks online for sand harbor, for my family. We got there and initially everything was great, not too bad of a wait, maybe 30 minutes or so and we ended up only using 5 kayaks; even though I paid for 6 (no refunds with short notice). My BF & I own kayaks and wanted to give my family the opportunity to see how awesome it is. We went out for an amazing afternoon on the water and then returned before the kayaks were due back. Upon landing the kayaks on the rental beach, we were immediately accosted by an extremely arrogant employee who basically accused us of stealing the kayaks for the afternoon. After I was treated like a thief in front of my family and the beach goers for over 30 minutes, they discovered it was an error in paper work/​communication that had apparently not transferred from Tahoe City over to Sand Harbor.
After our vacation ended on a sour note, I made several attempts to contact an owner or manager at this company, through the phone and e-​mail. I NEVER received a response to this and I NEVER received an apology. I even apologized in person to the employee who accosted me, for cussing at him in front of other customers, but only after he made several rude comments and blatantly called me a potential thief in front of those same customers. I could only take so much before I totally exploded on this asshole. He had a chance to apologize to me also at this time, but of course, his cocky-​ego couldn’t digest that consideration, even after he learned he was very very wrong and I was completely innocent. WHAT. AN. ASS.
I have never experienced anything like this, anywhere. not even the DMV.
This happened in 2011 and I am still very irritated by that experience.
I am returning this summer to Sand Harbor for the first time since that day. Its a beautiful area, just unfortunately plays host to some resident assholes that somehow manage to stay employed despite the terrible service and attitudes they carry… He had absolutely no Customer Service skills, and no one else there seemed to give a shit, as if it was normal… its also gets ridiculously crowded there in the summer… BEWARE.

Tahoe City Kayak was great. My family rented 4 stand up paddle boards. Very affordable, quality equipment, and Tim and Steve did a great job getting us in the water quickly.
I highly recommend TCK! I can’t wait to use them again.

Terrible! This was my 1^st time kayaking and arrived at their main office and mentioned that i had a reservation. I was directed to go across the street and so i did. The gentle at the beach checked his roster and told me to wait 30 more min. I received a call from our tour guide herself and was told i was at the wrong beach! She said to go back to their main office where heather could accommodate something for us. Heather said she been trying to get a hold of us for an hr,!!!
Seriously? 30 min is an hr? Since when!?? BEYOND IRRATATED at this point!
Instead of accommodating something for us she just went over their policy!
So i pretty much over paid for a tour i never got to enjoy and a lunch i didnt get to eat!
No refund what so ever

The cheapest SUP rentals on the lake and friendly employees, but Tahoe City is not the place you want to be stand-​up paddleboarding, my friends. What I learned is that the bottom of the lake in Tahoe City is very rocky and it’s shallow for as far out as they let you take the SUPs. As a result, if you fall off you end up with really nasty knee and/​or toe injuries. My advice? Pay the extra and go in Carnelian Bay.
Incidentally, I am in no way «blasting» Tahoe City Kayak, which is what the employee who responded to to my review suggests. Rather I’m just saying that the rocks are too big and the water to shallow to ever feel like it’s a relaxing experience. I was SUPing the previous day at Carnelian Bay and it was deep water, a sandy bottom, and honestly … Better people in the water (i.e. many more Crossfitters, professional SUPers, etc.)

I had an amazing experience here. First of all, the equipment is well maintained, the staff are pleasant and helpful, and the setting is gorgeous. We had no trouble finding parking in the Commons Beach lot (no time limit, totally free). My group rented a combination of paddleboards and kayaks, and enjoyed a 3 hour rental time. But, what really cinched it for me was the end of this trip.
I was kayaking and about an hour in, my wedding ring (which was also my grandmother’s) started to give me a blister from holding the paddle. So, I put it in the zippered pocket of the PFD. Well, in all the hurry to turn in all of our equipment, I forgot to take it back out, which I realized about 10min later. The staff helped me search all of the PFDs, and it was nowhere to be found. They seemed really concerned, and offered to take my number. They searched all of the PFDs as they came in, and found my ring! All in all, a wonderful experience.