Yarrow Bay Marina

Easy last minute boat rental, reasonably priced, quick check in and out. Will use again.

I rented boats from these guys twice. I had called in June to make a reservation for the Fourth of July and for Seafair, as there are not many options in the area to rent boats. The one who took down my reservation was fine, I had two boats booked for the Fourth and two for Seafair. Unfortunately, we were not going to have enough people for the Fourth, so I called back to cancel one of the boats. The guy I spoke to was pretty rude and dismissive, but said that he handled it. I called back to confirm the time of the reservation a few days in advance and the guy on the phone (I think his name was Cameron) informs me that I had canceled my reservation and did not have one. I explained that I canceled one boat but still needed the other. He says, «Okay, I’ve got you down for the Fourth, one boat.» We show up and as I feared, there is no reservation. I explain to the manager what happened. He says it will be okay and we get a boat. The next day, they call me and tell me that I have a reservation that day. Looks like they had messed it up and reserved for the 5^th, which is why it looked like I had no reservation on the 4^th.
Fast forward to Seafair. My friend’s car breaks down with 4 of our riders and they won’t be able to make it on the boat before we have to go under the log boom. I call to let the manager know this. When we arrive he informs me there will be a $ 270 non-​refundable charge since we didn’t cancel in advance. I get that they have a policy like this, but there is no wiggle room, considering their car broke down? I also show him that he has charged 3 $ 54 charges on to my credit card. He says, «You have to call Monday. We aren’t dealing with that today.» He basically called me a LIAR in front of other customers 3 times before I pulled my Chase app up on my phone and showed him. He then informed me that this was all MY fault, because I called a couple of times to change my reservation. I had called once to change the time, once to book out more boats for Seafair, and once to confirm. However, I’m polite, so I apologize to HIM for the inconvenience. At the end of the day when we return the boat, he tells me, and I quote, «We’re just going to charge you for the boat you had today, since the other policy is kind of new. I refunded $ 54 back to you for the other deposit.» 2 days later, $ 270 comes out, regardless that he said he wasn’t going to charge that, and still no reverse charge of $ 54. If you have an issue free rental, where you just go out for a day and your boat is fine, it’s probably fine. HOWEVER, lord help you if you need ANY customer service, because you will not get it from here. BUYER BEWARE.

Rented a boat here one afternoon for a cruise in Lake Washington and around Lake Union. The boat itself was nothing fancy, but was in good working order. After a quick check-​in and walk through of the boat we were on water. Service was great — friendly, knowledgable staff. Pricing was great too. We will rent here again!

See the Filtered review at the bottom.

BACKGROUND:
I have a friend who is a frequent customer here and experienced boat driver. I asked him where he would recommend for boat rental. He gave me Yarrow Bay Marina’s website. I looked it up. Everything seems pretty legit so I decided to book with it.
RESERVATION
I called a week in advance to make my reservation. On the website, it says «If you’re 25 years of age or older, you, too, can find out why boat rentals are so popular with Yarrow Bay Marina customers.» Right before my call, I thought maybe I would be unable to make this reservation since I am not 25 years old just yet. However, I decided to call anyway because the age restriction was not mentioned under «How do I reserve a boat» section.
I called and the first thing I said on the phone was something like «hey I want to make a reservation for next week. But can I still make a reservation over the phone since I am not 25?» The guy who answered my call was like «Oh yea, this is not a problem.» I followed up «Well my friend who is over 25 years old will be our boat driver. Should I have my boat driver friend call you instead to make this reservation?» The guy told me it would be okay and he took down my name, phone number, and credit card information. The guy was really nice. He asked me which kind of boat I would prefer. I was so confused and I was like could you explain the two different models you have? He said no problem and basically V8 has a stronger engine. So I went with V8 engine. My card was charged $ 54 deposit a couple of days after my call. I thought everything would be okay.
PARKING
I called a day before my reservation for parking instructions. I selected option 1 and was ready to listen in for pre-​recorded parking instructions, instead, a staff picked up. I asked if there are any parking lots nearby, he just said yeah there is one paid lot right next to their business and he thinks it is $ 5 for two hours or something like that. I was like oh okay and can I also just confirm my reservation for the following day. He said no problem. He looked over my reservation and asked if my reservation was under «Maria George.» I said no, my last name initial is «G» but my last name is not «George.» He said oh that’s okay but we do have everything ready for next day.
BOAT RIDE
The place is not too difficult to find. You go in and tell them you have a reservation. They ask everyone to arrive at least 15 minutes before reservation. Confusions started before our boat ride. Since the reservation was under my name and deposit was charged on my credit card, they were going to take my driver’s license information down. I was cautious and asked again «well, I am not 25. Do you want to take down my boat driver’s license then?» This staff was like oh yeah we will have to change your reservation name and he took down my friend’s license information.
The boat ride was absolutely fantastic. The boat was safe to navigate. My friends and I had a blast.
PAYMENT
This is where everything got really confusing. After the boat ride, I went up to this older guy (I think he is the owner?) and told him that we were ready to pay for our boat rental sessions. He seemed confused that my credit card was charged since I am not 25. He told me his staff was not supposed to charge my credit card. I was like okay well that’s fine and can I just pay with my credit card? He said no and he could only accept credit card from our boat driver and everyone else has to pay cash. I was not prepared because I told my friends I would make full payment on my credit card. I also told everyone else to bring cash so they can pay me back that way. So at this time, I didn’t have any cash with me, my boat driver friend was caught off guard as well because he only brought so much money with him. My friends and I were also confused. The owner did not seem happy and re-​iterated how his staff should not have charged my credit card in the first place. I was like okay but also told him I asked his staff up front when I made the phone call. He told me then this staff should be fired because that is against the policy.
I asked him then what about my deposit charged on my credit card. He said you can’t get it back. I was so upset and asked for clarifications. He was like yeah we will subtract your deposit from your total amount. I was like oh okay then that is fine because initially he made it sound like I would never get my deposit back. So in the end, my friends all paid cash. My boat driver paid with his credit card. I later re-​funded however much I owe my boat driver friend.
IMPROVEMENTS
1. Have pre-​recorded instructions for nearby parking lots when customers call in and select 1 as an option
2. Clearly note on the website that you must be 25 years and older to rent a boat. I hope his staff does not get fired because of this.

Enjoyed walking along the docks after a wonderful meal. You can rent boats for a fun time on the water, but its a tad bit cold to do that. I’m certain in the summer it will be a blast.
Very clean and quiet. We enjoyed our time taking in the sunset and walking.

One of the few (?) places to rent a boast on Lake Washington. We were able to benefit from someone’s cancelation and get a boat for the same day.
Great experience. Not too expensive and lots of fun!

Nice Boats; Reasonable Rates and a really Friendly and HELPFUL Staff.