Blue Waters Kayaking

These guys are awesome. Here’s why: 1) friendly, fun, patient staff, 2) good gear, 3) great tips for kayaking around tomales bay and camping there too. Only set back was we were there when a ton of others were also taking out kayaks, so the process was a bit slow. This seemed to be more a problem of a lack of shoreline than anything else.
But let me reiterate that I loved their staff. They set my friends (group of 14) and I up for such an awesome weekend.

«Meh. I’ve experienced better.» Unilocal’s definition of their 2 star rating. «Meh» seems to be the attitude of this company’s staff as a whole. They have little to no process for serving their customers despite actually having quite a lot of amenities. They offer multiple types of sunscreen, wet suits, wind breakers, and dry bags and it feels like they can’t be bothered to charge you for any of it (which don’t get me wrong, is pretty cool). You’ll have to grab someone to get you these things of course, not to mention no one tells you these things are available, and the staff to customer ratio is really low. All and all, it would still be a 4 star review if you just rented kayaks.
The overnight camping is where it gets stupid. They will book up to 25 people, but not let your group exceed 8 in fear of your group being too intimidating. In our case, because they didn’t fill out 25 people, they invited a handful of their friends. Doesn’t sound too bad, except that they only have a permit for 1 campfire that 25 people are supposed to share. The staff’s friends essentially parked all evening and night in the best areas upwind of the smoke.
As far as the amenities they provided, they also expect 25 people to share 2 burners. (Thank god we had our own grill though.) They did bring what looked like 20 gallons of water, that they also never cared to tell us about until the very end. There’s also just 2 vault toilets that you share with the 100 other people with their own camping permits. The staff was kind enough to offer a hit on their joint though and I’m sure you’d be welcomed to hotbox in their tent if you’re into that.
The night tour was magical, but this company had nothing to do with that. We spoke to a couple marine biology majors from ASU after the tour and they gave us a list of corrections to the tour guide’s speech about the bioluminescent protozoa. Gah, screw this… one star.

It started with a random conversation about bioluminescence and how I wanted to travel to see them but little did I know — they’re right here in the Bay Area! And next thing I know I’m kayaking — and SWIMMING in the bioluminescent waters of Tomales Bay! I feel extremely grateful that I got to experience this, knowing after the fact that they were fully booked for the summer! And what an experience! Great staff (thanks Molly!) greets and gets you started and geared up! I packed a water resistant jacket but they provide you with one and I was comfortable wearing a light weight sweater under. I think we got pretty lucky the night we went (mid August) after hearing they cancelled the past three nights because of winds. It was perfect, the water was calm and we had an easy ride into the sunset… and just as it starts to get dark, keep an eye on your oar — you’ll start to see them! And soon it will be completely dark and they’ll completely light up! I had only planned on kayaking but when we paddled near shore someone in our group mentioned swimming in the bioluminescent waters — and the next thing you know a bunch of us were stripping down and jumping in — which was SO amazing and worth it! The water was 65 — 70ish degrees and felt perfect! We were out for a couple hours before we made our way back, in complete awe — and glowing! This is definitely magical experience and sight to see!

I am an experienced wilderness kayaking guide who wanted to rent kayaks for a quick overnight camping trip. When I showed up to grab the kayaks they were shutting down 2 hours early and refused to rent anything out to me. Their website said they close at 5, but the person working there said they stop renting boats at 3pm. I wasn’t warned about that on the phone or in our email correspondence earlier that week. The person there wasn’t friendly and suggested we go camp at a cow pasture or a trailer park. [How romantic!]
Not to worry though, we figured out a different way across the water, way cheaper, and we had the best night of our short California vacation, bioluminescence and all, despite the surprising dead end created for us by Blue Waters Kayaking.

«Absolutely incredible experience!»
Myself, my friends and my daughters have had absolutely the best experiences and memories for a lifetime with Blue Waters. Several years ago, our BW kayaking guide not only helped us see oceanic/​bay wildlife and plant life in the water that we otherwise would have missed, he spotted grey whales spouting far ahead in the Bay and agreed to take us closer to them. The whales cooperated by swimming over to us, and under us, for an incredible once in a lifetime experience. BW arranged for us to put in further down the Bay and picked us up there, as we were far from our original turnaround point. Then, just last week, my daughters and I had another incredible BW experience — boat camping with BW and kayaking in bioluminescence! We kayaked to our campsite and enjoyed dinner and breakfast on the beach! BW provided motorboat support, so we didn’t even have to take anything on our kayak to camp with — it was easy and quite fun. Then there was the bioluminescence experience… I have been canoeing, kayaking and rafting for years — with friends who are biologists, naturalists, etc. and never, ever have had the experience of the water literally lighting up around us. We were kayaking in the dark, with small lights on the bows for safety, but even a paddle in the water yielded bright green circles of luminescence — we saw fish, batrays, etc., all lighting up the water around us. At one point, it was like «who turned on the headlamp underwater?» as some sea creature or a school of fish passed by us. My teenage and twenty something daughters were thrilled. It was captivating and ranks up with kayaking with whales as one of our best kayak experiences ever.

My husband and nephew decided to kayak for about two hours in late June in the surrounding area, and they absolutely loved it.
Everything went well from start to finish, and the staff was very friendly. We will definitely give it another try. Thanks!

What an absolutely magical experience to go on their bioluminescent kayaking tour at night! In the summer, the bay is filled with dinoflagellate plankton which glow when the water is moved — this is what the night kayaking is all about! I simply cannot describe in words how peaceful and exciting it is to kayak in the pitch black (with super knowledgeable and safe guides in front and behind you) and to see the water burst with glowing light when you sweep your paddle in it. Definitely worth doing, and I would totally go again (after I next check out their daytime tours).
Also, the kayaks are great quality and well-​maintained. They have all the equipment needed so you will not get wet… amazing experience!

Instead of helping people to enjoy the outdoors, management acts like customers are an annoying obstacle that gets in the way of them doing their job. Doing an overnight trip, we were sent to an overcrowded beach (80+ people) after requesting a quiet beach. The staff, who were nice and trying to be helpful, were yelled at in front of us by the grumpy management.
Overnight boat-​in sites are great for big groups who don’t mind having zero privacy. If you are looking for a quiet weekend in nature, save your money and go car camping.

The guy with the blonde dreadlocks is horrible. He thinks it’s fun to shout at kids. We actually have calm, polite kids in public! Will drop our next wad of cash at the rival rental company next time. Then he tried to get us to do his job for him after we were done, hanging, washing vests! Yeah, he looks so overworked taking people’s cash by the beach. Everyone and everything else was great. Families, you have been warned. Wished we had the heads up about this place.

We did the half day Tomales Bay /​Pt. Reyes trip with a group of ten. The guides were boring and seemed really tired. They took over an hour to get us in the water. Facts about biodiversity were not convincing, the guides didn’t cite sources, and they both seemed really unconfident about what they were trying to tell us.
We also did not have clear parking instructions. We accidentally parked across the street on private property of an oyster restaurant… upon returning to our cars, the valet people were freaking out at us, asking us why the kayak company let us park there.
It was a lovely trip, but the blue water kayaking company was underwhelming, not fun, and not energetic. Would recommend visiting Tomales Bay, but would NOT recommend going with this company.

1) the dude working the desk wouldn’t take cash because he said he «couldn’t make change» 2) he couldn’t run my card either, so a friend had to pay for me 3) he told us our group was one person short from our reservation so one of us had to «volunteer» to cover the cost of the missing person 4) he told us that we all had to use double instead of single kayaks, which does not appear to be standard practice & which I think he just made up on the spot because he didn’t want to do the extra work of bringing out more kayaks 5) dude lounged around while the woman tour guide (who was awesome, btw) did most of the work of outfitting people. He didn’t even seem to know what her name was, since he kept calling her «my assistant.» 6) when we got into our kayaks it became clear that actually we had exactly the number for our reservation, so dude agreed to refund the person who had volunteered 7) after all that, dude pressured the group’s organizer into giving him a massive tip, above & beyond the $ 80 we already paid per person.
The nature, however, was very nice. Go nature! That’s what the two stars are for.

As if Kayaking in Tomales Bay wasn’t good enough, Blue Water made it an even better experience. We did an over night trip and had a more than a couple people, which made logistics important. As I planned the trip, the owner called me multiple times to give his advice on location, wind conditions, etc. Based on John’s suggestions we launched north of the Marshall location, and they had the kayaks ready to go. We called a couple last minute audibles, thanks to their advice, and our trip couldn’t have gone any smoother. To top it off, they dropped us some firewood on our beach so when arrived we had a killer fire. They might be the only game in town, but they deserve your business. Well done Blue Water.

I love this place. I have gone there three times to rent closed deck kayaks and it is my favorite new activity. Everyone who works there is nice, knowledgeable, and helpful in every way.
Until I buy my own kayak, I will keep coming back here.
The prices may seem a little high, but you are getting so much for your money. Well made kayaks and all the accessories, quality instruction from professionals, a view of all the abundant wildlife in Tomales bay including a plethora of birds (pelicans, herons, grebes, geese, buffleheads, osprey, etc) and seals, magical caves and grottos inhabited by otters, access to campgrounds only accessible by boat.
I love you blue waters. Thank you for existing.

A group of us rented overnight kayaks this summer and camped on Tomales Bay. We didn’t realize it but for $ 20pp they had everything you need set up at our site (drinking water, firewood, mini kitchen w grill and cooking utensils/​pots/​pan) and our very own camp guide, Scotty! I have to say Scotty made the experience an awesome one. Scotty was super friendly and shared a wealth information about the Bay and wildlife. He took us on a (pre-​booked) night tour to see bioluminescence which was spectacular. It was a bright moon but lucky for us Scotty waited for the clouds to roll in so we could better see the bioluminescence sparkle in the Bay. Every kayak paddle stroke created a ripple of tinkle fairy blue dust in the water. Absolutely magical! Again our guide was super knowledgable and openly shared all about the marine life.
I highly recommend booking a tour in the summer time with Blue Waters Kayak for 1. Overnight kayak tour 2. Group site 3. Bioluminescence night tour. I promise you will want to go back for more.
Also definitely stop in for fresh oysters at the Marshall store next door.

This is a 5-​star review to the Nth power! My lady and I decided we wanted to do something out of the ordinary than what most people do when they visit the Bay. We originally were only going to do the bio-​luminescence night tour, but she spoke so highly of the day trip that we decided to do both! So day 1 on our San Francisco vacation we scheduled the night tour. You get there a couple hours before sunset so you can sign in, gear up, and have some brief training on how to steer and paddle in the two-​person kayak. Molly was one of our tour guides, as well as a guy which his name I forgot (sorry bro lol). The tour in total was about 3 hours and the guides take you to multiple points throughout Marshall’s Landing, but the one key place they take you to is what brings the whole night tour togther. Across the bay, there is a spot where in the water there is a type of plankton that glows at night when you splash the water. How cool does that sound?!? Tiff and I are total nerds and love stuff like this. I will say though, it was a tad anti-​climatic because when I first read about the bio-​luminescence tour I thought that the plankton was at the bottom and it made the water glow. Not the case, but still super cool and interesting. Throughout the tour the guides talk about the area, the plankton, and even get to know you. So very personable and you can tell that they love the outdoors. Molly and the rest of the guides area so cool and truly made the tour a pleasure.
Day 3 of our vacation we did the day tour which is about the same route you take for the night tour. During the day it looks totally different and you get to see more aquatic wildlife like bat-​rays and small sharks. Make sure you bring a snack, water, and protection from the sun. We made our way across the bay and docked our kayaks on the beach for a break. The water is perfect around August, so we went for a swim and caught these small crabs that are everywhere on the beach. So much fun! If you’re into being out in the great outdoors and don’t mind some exercise in the sun, it’s a super fun thing to do when you’re in the Bay. These tours were the highlight of our vacation!

Great bioluminescence tour! We caught a pretty good night and the bioluminescence was really bright in some areas. So cool to see the glowing fish dart around beneath the boats. We had a lot of time out on the water.
Guides were wonderful — knowledgeable and entertaining.
Equipment was in good shape.
Overall, we had a wonderful time. I would definitely go out on the water with them again.

It’s been a while since I did a review, but I’m writing one now for a good reason. The 5 stars go to our tour guide and the tour itself, while for the tour company, I’m giving it 3.5 stars (explanations below).
My group had a private bioluminescence tour with Scott W. from Blue Waters Kayaking. He is probably the most down-​to-​earth, knowledgeable, and approachable tour guide I’ve come across during my touring experiences at different visiting sites. Originally from out-​of-​state and very new to California, Scott definitely knows a lot about the geography and environment around here and you wouldn’t think that he’s not from around here at all! He explained everything thoroughly from the geographic faults to the nitty-​gritty details about bioluminescence from the dinoflagellates in the water and also encouraged us to ask questions. Most importantly, safety was his #1 concern and he made sure that we were safe and close together at all times throughout the tour. On top of being very professional with his work (assisting with putting on our gear, securing us into our kayaks, making sure we were near his kayak, etc.), he definitely could blend in as a friend in our group — in other words, there was never an awkward moment during the tour! I highly recommend him as a tour guide!
As for the bioluminescence tour itself, let me first say that if you expect to witness super epic things similar to events in the «Life of Pi» movie (such as whales soaring to the sky from the water as the entire area around you is brightly illuminated by neon greens and blues), it’s not going to happen. What you definitely will see are streaks and flickers of blues, greens, and/​or whites with every disturbance you make in the water (by padding, splashing with your hand, etc.) and it gets brighter the further you go out into the bay and away from the lights — in our case, Scott took us to a cove where the bioluminescence was a «10 out of 10,» according to him. It definitely was a magical moment to witness and also the water was surprisingly warm — I was so tempted to jump in and go for a swim!
The only complaint I have is with the tour company itself and some booking staff members, in which I would give 3.5 stars. When I originally planned this event and prior to booking, their website states in the FAQ that «if you have more than 6 people then a private tour is the same price as our public tours» so I thought I could get a private tour with 8 people for the same price as paying for a public tour. They never mentioned that it had to be in GROUPS OF 6, meaning if you have a number of people that are NOT in multiples of 6, like we originally did, you CANNOT get a private tour UNLESS you pay for the entire second group of 6 people. In other words, they apparently have a ratio of 6 kayakers to 1 tour guide so whether or not you have 7 people, 8 people, 9 people, or whatever, you are still going to be paying the same price as if you had 12 people (since they require a 2^nd tour guide to balance the ratio). So unless you have a group of 6, 12, 18, etc., you will not get the most for your money if you wish to do a private tour. Some of the booking staff didn’t seem to know what they were saying when I spoke on the phone with them and I had to call several times to clarify this «rule» of theirs since I heard conflicting information — one woman sounded sleepy/​intoxicated/​uninterested on the phone as she spoke very slow and monotone and didn’t seem to know what she was saying when I asked her about the private tour information. The info on the website was very misleading and I wish that they would update it to reflect their rules more accurately. Nonetheless, it was sorted out in the end and we went ahead and booked for a public tour.
Fortunately for us, two of our friends were unable to attend as a last-​minute cancellation, so we arrived as a group of 6 and a staff member was kind enough set us up with a private tour on the spot without originally planning to do so! And that’s how we met Scott… (=
Overall, awesome experience! I definitely will be coming back again and hope to make this an annual trip. (=

I just did the bioluminescence tour last night with Scott W. as our tour guide. Very knowledgable guide despite only being in California for 3 months. He answered all our questions about bioluminescence, the animals in the area, and the geography of Tomales Bay. And what are the odds! He went indepth and explained to us the geography of the San Andreas fault, and the next morning the Bay Area experienced a 6.1 earthquake at around 3:30 AM!
Overall the tour was professional (felt safe the entire time). Scott was easy to talk to and made the experience very enjoyable. He guided our group of 6 (3 kayaks), and was always quickly available when we needed him due to losing a foot pedal or having water skirt problems.
The bioluminescence was more like blue and white sparks or pixie dust when you touch the water. Nothing too crazy like the waves of blue light you may see from Costa Rica. Weather was nice and the water was warm. We were told that the current season for bioluminescence is at it’s peak right now and may last until December. Equipment were decent and seem well maintained. Staff was friendly as well. Overall, a fun and exciting experience!

We wanted a special experience to celebrate two of our friends’ birthdays. We decided to go kayaking and after much research, I reserved a party of 6 at Blue Waters Kayaking for the sunset kayaking tour. It was $ 78 each person which included instructions, tour guide, equipment, and three hours of kayaking 630 – 9:30 pm. Trust me, you’ll have so much fun that the three hours goes by fast and you’ll want to be out for much longer.
Blue Water Kayaking is conveniently located off the highway and it’s not hard to miss because you will see a plethora of kayaks lined up. Our particular excursion started at 6:30 pm, dusk and we returned at 9:30, which would have been completely dark had there not been the moonlight. I was apprehensive about this at first but our tour guides made us feel safe and the waters at Tomales bay weren’t choppy at all. Waters were calm which made for a more relaxing and pleasurable experience.
Our tour guides were the main reasons why the experience was very special. Along the way, they pointed out landmarks, animals, historical, geographical and geological interests around us. We learned so much about Tomales Bay during our kayaking that it felt like a combination of an informative and pleasurable experience all in one. Also the guides were very patient with our novice skills and they took the time to ensure that we familiarized ourselves with the kayak. At one point my partner and I drifted from the group and one of our guides kayaked back to us and went over the kayaking skills with us again. She wasn’t frustrated at all with us and was extremely patient. I’d say this extra effort in customer service really went a long way. The individual attention and knowledge that they provided are the reasons why I would recommend this company.
Also, we were a last minute reservation; I called two days before Saturday and they said they were already sold out for the sunset paddle. I explained to Seth, the manager, that we were celebrating two birthdays, just expressing my thoughts and not expecting that he could do anything. Then Seth said that he’d try to find another tour guide and that he’d call me back in an hour. I was skeptical at first that they could find a guide so late. An hour later, I get a message that he was still looking and that he hadn’t forgotten about me. At that point I was impressed with the level of customer service – not many places would go the extra mile to 1) find a last minute tour guide for such a small party and 2) make a follow up phone call to ensure that he was still looking. In the end he found someone, and I’m glad he did; as I said before our guides were the main reason we had a memorable time.
If you’re looking for a unique experience and a company that will go the distance for you, give Blue Waters Kayaking a try. You’ll be able to cross something off your bucket list and be rest assured that you’ll be in safe, knowledgeable and expert hands.

When my team at work decided to have a kayaking offsite, I wasn’t excited. It seemed like a far drive for a boring outing. But everything about the experience with Blue Waters Kayaking was awesome!
The guides first gave extensive training on dry land — how to hold the oars, how to paddle, how to get in the kayak, and how to steer. By the time we got into the water an hour later, we were expert kayakers.
Once we were out on open water, the guides showed off their knowledge about the history of the bay, the wildlife that we saw, and the overall ecosystem. By the end of the day, we were experts on oysters, pelicans, turkey vultures, seal, jelly fish, and elk.
Kayaking was super fun, being out in the open water was exciting, and learning about the wildlife was educational. Now only if something could be done about the twisty roads to and from! ;)