Surferbus.com

Nice place to kayak or paddleboard near AMI. Nice protected area. Note that reservations are needed in advance as they cannot accept payment on site

Had a good time. Rental went smooth. rental guy was helpful, quick paddle board lesson and we were on our way.

Had such an enjoyable quiet time kayaking the Robinson Preserve where they rent the kayaks. It will take about 3 – 4 hours to kayak the whole route to a Tampa bay and back. Take snacks, lots of water, sunblock and make sure you wear a good sun hat as the sun can beat down strong. Ample covering too, to protect your arms and legs from the strong sun as it is a sit on canoe. Meandering quiet waters through mangroves and lots of quiet spots to alight from your boat to watch the wildlife, and of course, the rewarding view of the vast Tampa Bay at the end where the sandbar extends far out and you can wade through clear, shallow waters. Make sure you know directions to the place. They are not very good at returning calls if you get lost.

Really easy to make reservations online. All you have to do is show up on time, and everything is waiting for you and ready to go! We had lots of fun kayaking, and I’d recommend this to anyone that would like a relaxing day out on the water.

We all had so much fun with our kayak rentals! First time my fiancé and I went out when my mom came to visit and she said that was the most fun she ever had in her life! Second time my fiancé and I went out when a bunch of his family came down to visit. It was a blast both times and such a unique experience especially for out of state visitors.
Shawn was incredibly helpful and very nice. He gave us a map, pointed out directions and cool things to see, and even took pictures of us in our kayaks.
Love the surfer bus and will be back again with our next group of out of town visitors!

Our kayaking trip was my favorite part about our recent trip to Florida. Four of us rented two tandem sit-​on-​top Ocean Kayak Malibu XLs and after a brief chat with the owner Shawn, we were sent on our way with a laminated map showing our route through Robinson Preserve. While Shawn said we could probably go out and back in two hours, we had four hours available and we used them! We didn’t want to get out of the kayaks. The best parts were the very beginning where we went through a narrow tunnel of mangroves, and then later on about halfway through our route, where we were instructed that we could take a side detour through another longer mangrove tunnel which we did (almost did it again on the way back too, just for fun). It was a complete blast!
We came out at the end of the route into Tampa Bay and took photos of the shoreline and a bridge out in the distance, and then decided to beach ourselves on a sandbar in the shallow, calm and pretty warm water where we kicked our feet up and ate snacks. There is plenty of room in the kayaks for a backpack like we had or even a cooler (which we wished we brought — for beer!) and you hardly get wet at all (just my feet, a bit, from my paddles splashing) so there isn’t much worry with your belongings either. Then we turned around and followed the same route back to the launch spot on Manatee Ave.
I wore a hat and sunscreen and we all still managed to get sunburned on legs, ankles and hands, so layer up on the SPF. There is a neat wooden tower you can pull up ashore at and walk the steps up to the top for photo ops. We saw many varieties of birds, crabs and schools of tiny fish. Apparently the manatees will come into the preserve soon, we just missed them due to the timing.
We were provided with life vests strapped to the kayaks but didn’t need them — the kayaks are flat, wide and very stable. The seats are adjustable and quite comfy, just like a rounded Crazy Creek type of chair — a huge improvement over the hard molded seats of my old Hobie Cat kayak. The kayaking itself is not strenuous at all even when we had some strong breezes, and of course, when we turned around, the breeze pushed us along and made for a very relaxing trip back. I’ll be back to try the SUPs on my next visit! Shawn also gave us a great rec for a seafood dive on the docks that went to afterward.
There was a Groupon available for Surferbus (must pre-​book online or using your phone at the launch site, no cash accepted) that we found out about too late, so it’s worth googling before booking (with Groupon, it was just $ 55 for two tandems for four people, and we paid around $ 120). Shawn took a bunch of photos for us with his sweet bus too, and even had us move around to the other side of his bus to get better light. No frills and fun fun fun!

Best place on the island to rent a kayak and or paddle board!!! The owner Shawn was great, very helpful and very friendly, and best prices on island too!!!

Fabulous! The owner gave u a quick paddleboarding lesson and let us go on our way. He was kind and gave us some extra time an we had a lot of fun. We paddled back through some mangrove trees where we had to be on our knees and then came to a clearing where we could stand up. It was pretty neat and I have wanted to paddleboard for a few years now so I’m glad I finally had the chance! Would love to do it again. It was also a superb workout — for my whole body!!! Recommend this business highly!

This was awesome!!! Best kayaking on AMI. Very peaceful and beautiful… it was really great. It was a workout but it doesn’t totally destroy you. Take plenty of water, a light snack, and a water-​proof camera and you’re good to go! You basically follow a nice little path deep into Robinson Preserve and then you paddle back out. It’s very tranquil… there are 3 – 4 landing points where you can get out and walk around. I’d do this again in a heartbeat.

We did a rental on the weekend and Shawn advised us not to do the paddle boards but stay with kayak because of the wind. It was a great call and made our day. We went back on Wednesday and tried the paddle boards. It was great. Robinson Preserve is the greatest spot to go. Surfer bus was very helpful, professional, and totally chill. I am definitely going back.

Wow how rude was the owner of this company.
I reserved three kayaks for my sons 13^th birthday. When we arrived at the Robinson Preserve, we were told by the park ranger that the preserve was closed for the day and all venders were notified weeks in advance. We called Surferbus to tell them this information, and he proceeded to yell at my wife telling her «The rangers don’t know what they are talking about, and we were at the wrong entrance!» Us being from NC didn’t know that there was multiple entrances to the Preserve. (Which by the way there is not!) but this jerk off told us to drive down to route 64 and look for the big bus that is in the Guinness book of world records. He then continued to yell at us «Didn’t you even look at my webpage!» Well we left the main/​only entrance to the preserve and drove down to where he was, on the side of a very busy road, which wasn’t a second entrance to the preserve, but a back way into the preserve. Anyhow we get there and he continues to berate our group, on how were ruining his repartition. And «looks like you all went to the main entrance to the preserve and Pitched a Fit to the rangers»
To make a long story short. I wouldn’t rent for this guy EVER AGAIN!!! And I don’t recommend you do either.

Want to paddle the Robinson Preserve? While there are not rentals inside the preserve there is still a way to do it. On the Bradenton causeway (manatee Ave) there is this huge bus full of kayaks and paddle boards. They’ll happily rent you something at a reasonable price. There is just one catch. You have to pay for it online. So either log into their web site before heading out there and reserve what you need and when you need it. Or do like we did and whip out your smart phone and handle all while you are standing there. The guy doesn’t want to handle cash at this location so he has this system set up to take payments. I’m not sure why he doesn’t just get a cube or one of the other methods of accepting cards but it worked ok for us, just need to know that before you head out there.
The equipment we got was in good repair and we had a blast paddling up to the tower in the preserve. Be sure to hit the tunnel out to the bay as well.