Wekiva Outfitters
Wekiva Outfitters
4.5
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We have been around Orlando guiding kayak tours for 25 years and this is our brand new outfitters located on the National Wild and Scenic Wekiva River. We offer canoe, kayak, and paddle board rentals, shuttles, and guided tours on the Wekiva, Little Wekiva, Blackwater creek, and Lake Norris.
We are situated inside Wilson's Landing Park with restrooms, bbq grills, & 60 acres of play space to play
Sanford, Florida
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Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.
Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as wait time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.
4.5
33 reviews
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29
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3
TY-Awesome
15 contributions
Jun 2020
Our group was comprised of four families that wanted to spend time together and observe social distance. Wekiva Outfitters offered each family the correct combination of tandem and single kayaks to keep everyone separated by family group. Moreover, the Wekiva Outfitter representative was on-time, prepared, and courteous to assist us without compromising our 6 foot of social distance. The kayaks, paddles, and life jackets were dry and clean. The let-in spot at Wilson's Landing was uncrowded and the river was peaceful. We only saw one boat the entire time we were out. Conversely, we saw lots of wildlife. It was a great time! Thanks Wekiva Outfitters.
Written June 7, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
1beat
Miami Beach, FL21 contributions
May 2021 • Friends
My first time using Wekiva Outfitters but second time kayaking on the Wekiva River.
I was greeted immediately by the friendly and knowledgeable staff. Equipment brought to the river edge for me. The gear I rented was top of the line and in great condition.
The staff provided great details about my paddle options. We decided a self-guided paddle up stream and lazy float back to the start point.
I had originally booked for their shuttle service but ended up not using it. Without any mention from me, I was provided a refund promptly (Got a text message).
Highly recommended Outfitters!!! I am definitely coming back.
I was greeted immediately by the friendly and knowledgeable staff. Equipment brought to the river edge for me. The gear I rented was top of the line and in great condition.
The staff provided great details about my paddle options. We decided a self-guided paddle up stream and lazy float back to the start point.
I had originally booked for their shuttle service but ended up not using it. Without any mention from me, I was provided a refund promptly (Got a text message).
Highly recommended Outfitters!!! I am definitely coming back.
Written May 8, 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
meganlcmartin
Maitland, FL38 contributions
Jun 2021
We had a great time kayaking! I have been to other springs before, but many of them have been very crowded and it was difficult to see wildlife. I stumbled upon Wekiva Outfitters in looking for a hidden gem--and sure enough I found one! The staff were easy to book with and extremely friendly. They helped us set up, put our kayaks in the water, and gave us many options for an afternoon of fun. When on the water, we barely saw other people and were able to truly experience Wild Florida. Upon our return, the guide even gave us tips about other places we can go and kayak. The staff were phenomenal and I would definitely book with them again!
Written October 3, 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Micaela C
Anchor Point, AK104 contributions
Oct 2021 • Couples
We went today with our dogs to enjoy a day at the park. First off, do not come to the park at all if you have dogs. While it states online that the state park allows dogs, there are signs everywhere that forbid pets so it seems the only place they are allowed is the parking lot. I waited in the car with them while my husband went to the canoe launch area to clarify that we could rent a kayak and paddle around. The person at the launch area said this was no problem with the dogs. So, I met him over there and he went in to rent the kayak. The person working the desk (apparently a manager) was extremely rude from the beginning, but as soon as my husband mentioned the dogs she immediately shut us down and said absolutely no dogs allowed on the boats. When my husband mentioned we had literally just asked the other employee, she responded with "well I'm the manager and I say no." I understand having rules, but extremely frustrating when we drive an hour and walk the path twice to ask for clarification. We drove an hour for nothing. PLEASE consider updating your website and getting all of your employees on the same page, also take a note on basic human kindness ✌️
Written October 16, 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
SUPgirl
2 contributions
Sep 2019
Called Wekiva Outfitters to set up a shuttle for my sister’s birthday paddleboard trip. They could not have been nicer! They recommended the Little Wekiva which sounded perfect for the length of time we wanted to be on the water. Bill helped us load and unload our paddleboards and equipment. Very friendly and accommodating. The Little Wekiva was beautiful with lots of wildlife. We saw baby alligators, turtles, fish, osprey, limpkins, and a bald eagle. It is so nice to know that there is a much-needed rental/shuttle business at the Wilson’s Landing. Thank you, Wekiva Outfitters, for making my sister’s birthday perfect!
Written September 16, 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Tiffany A
Opp, AL1,997 contributions
May 2021
This was just awful. Nothing about this experience was worth repeating. Before we left home, I received a call that the trip I had booked was too full. He was very friendly and professional about it. I was asked if we wanted to do a different trip and I asked if it was the same beautiful clear water with sandy bottom like the picture of the booked trip, and was told that it was - "just a different part of the same river". That trip was scheduled for 15 minutes earlier and there would be a $15 launch fee which we needed to bring in cash - on top of the $150 I'd already paid. Having never been to the area, and with zero familiarity with the "river," I agreed. Our lodging had become prepaid and non-refundable 2 weeks before, so what's $15 more, right?
I can't even remember all of the times I've been canoeing in my life, so many times, but will never forget this, which I hope will remain the worst canoeing experience of my life. Except for the close encounters with herons & alligator, it would have been more enjoyable to light $150 on fire and watch it burn.
We love canoeing/kayaking so much, we build entire mini-trips around it, as we did this time. We drove 8 hours from home to canoe here, and we have plenty of swamps to paddle through near home if we get the urge.
We arrived about 25 minutes before our scheduled time to find one kid there by himself. I asked if our online waiver had been received and he said he didn't know. He said the equipment we had reserved had been taken by another rental company and asked if we wanted to use paddleboards instead of a kayak and a canoe.
Some time passed and other groups arrived. They were told the same thing and asked to use equipment other than what they had reserved. The kid who was there was caught in the middle of all of this, and though he was handling it well, he didn't have the authority to settle anything. His boss eventually arrived, also a pleasant fellow, and after much negotiation with the kid, and the other groups, arrangements were agreed and our small group of 3 people ended up with the kayak and canoe as rented.
The website says you will be given a map but we did not get one. What would it have shown???! LOL! Our life jackets were not tested for fit or functionality.
Around 20-30 minutes after our scheduled launch time, we pulled out of the parking lot in the shuttle van to drive to the launch point. To launch, we were pushed off of the bank in someone's yard, into several inches of water. After seeing the launch point, I was glad we were not asked to produce the $15 launch fee because I would not have paid it and just asked for a refund of the whole trip. This was not a $15 launching point.
We spent most of the first hour getting stuck on the bottom and on downed trees and mud. Stinky mud that smelled like rotting. There is no way anyone could paddleboard that trip in those conditions. Maybe the water is not usually so low, but anyone who accepts money for a rental should have more awareness of the conditions. The first few miles were the worst, constantly getting stuck on trees that could not be seen in the black water - and which would have sent a paddleboarder falling into the water over and over, onto the logs and stinky mud. I own a paddleboard but did not bring it on this trip. I still can't believe it was suggested that we - or anyone - attempt that trip on paddleboards.
If you want to stop occasionally and get out of your kayak or canoe, you will not be able to do that on little Wakiva. There was not one single place to stop along the bank in mud or sand, just solid plants and foliage the whole way. We wanted to take turns on the kayak but there was no option to do that except to step into the plants and mud.
At many spots, the "river" was barely wider than the canoe, barely a few inches deep, and was more like paddling through a swamp than a river. I barely saw any sand, just almost all mud with a thin clear path through elephant ears and water lilies. There was no discernible current and a headwind, so we were actively paddling the whole time just to stay straight and moving. No opportunity to put the paddle down for even a minute without drifting into the plants and trees and getting stuck.
We did see some wildlife in this swamp, including several blue herons, a turtle, catfish and other fish, a baby alligator, and a BIG alligator that swam so close to our kayak that they almost bumped into each other. A lot of palm and cypress trees, hemlock (Cicua maculata), dollarweed (Hydrocotyle), water hyacinths (Eichhornia crassipes). taro/elephant ears (Colocasia esculenta), water lettuce (Pistia stratiotes), eelgrass (unsure of species), and others whose names I don't know.
After a few miles, we finally stopped getting stuck and started encountering super-loud, fast boats that were churning up the mud, making it impossible to even see the fish, chasing away any wildlife we might have seen, and making wakes. So although the paddling was slightly easier as one got closer to Wilson's Landing, there was no wildlife to encounter.
The seats we paid $5 extra for had zero back support and such slight padding that they were worthless. Sitting on a folded towel is much more padding, or maybe just a 5-dollar bill. There were a bunch of spiders in our canoe, though luckily, not a biting type.
If you don't mind not being able to get out of your vessel during your entire trip without stepping into stinky mud that you sink into at least up to your knees, you might enjoy this trip. We did not. This was not a leisure activity, it was hours of strenuous paddling with no breaks. This stretch of swamp is not suited to canoeing or paddleboarding at all, the kayak did better but it got stuck numerous times too. Don't even bother bringing your cooler, you'll never have a chance to reach into it unless you hang onto a low-hanging limb for a minute.
I can't even remember all of the times I've been canoeing in my life, so many times, but will never forget this, which I hope will remain the worst canoeing experience of my life. Except for the close encounters with herons & alligator, it would have been more enjoyable to light $150 on fire and watch it burn.
We love canoeing/kayaking so much, we build entire mini-trips around it, as we did this time. We drove 8 hours from home to canoe here, and we have plenty of swamps to paddle through near home if we get the urge.
We arrived about 25 minutes before our scheduled time to find one kid there by himself. I asked if our online waiver had been received and he said he didn't know. He said the equipment we had reserved had been taken by another rental company and asked if we wanted to use paddleboards instead of a kayak and a canoe.
Some time passed and other groups arrived. They were told the same thing and asked to use equipment other than what they had reserved. The kid who was there was caught in the middle of all of this, and though he was handling it well, he didn't have the authority to settle anything. His boss eventually arrived, also a pleasant fellow, and after much negotiation with the kid, and the other groups, arrangements were agreed and our small group of 3 people ended up with the kayak and canoe as rented.
The website says you will be given a map but we did not get one. What would it have shown???! LOL! Our life jackets were not tested for fit or functionality.
Around 20-30 minutes after our scheduled launch time, we pulled out of the parking lot in the shuttle van to drive to the launch point. To launch, we were pushed off of the bank in someone's yard, into several inches of water. After seeing the launch point, I was glad we were not asked to produce the $15 launch fee because I would not have paid it and just asked for a refund of the whole trip. This was not a $15 launching point.
We spent most of the first hour getting stuck on the bottom and on downed trees and mud. Stinky mud that smelled like rotting. There is no way anyone could paddleboard that trip in those conditions. Maybe the water is not usually so low, but anyone who accepts money for a rental should have more awareness of the conditions. The first few miles were the worst, constantly getting stuck on trees that could not be seen in the black water - and which would have sent a paddleboarder falling into the water over and over, onto the logs and stinky mud. I own a paddleboard but did not bring it on this trip. I still can't believe it was suggested that we - or anyone - attempt that trip on paddleboards.
If you want to stop occasionally and get out of your kayak or canoe, you will not be able to do that on little Wakiva. There was not one single place to stop along the bank in mud or sand, just solid plants and foliage the whole way. We wanted to take turns on the kayak but there was no option to do that except to step into the plants and mud.
At many spots, the "river" was barely wider than the canoe, barely a few inches deep, and was more like paddling through a swamp than a river. I barely saw any sand, just almost all mud with a thin clear path through elephant ears and water lilies. There was no discernible current and a headwind, so we were actively paddling the whole time just to stay straight and moving. No opportunity to put the paddle down for even a minute without drifting into the plants and trees and getting stuck.
We did see some wildlife in this swamp, including several blue herons, a turtle, catfish and other fish, a baby alligator, and a BIG alligator that swam so close to our kayak that they almost bumped into each other. A lot of palm and cypress trees, hemlock (Cicua maculata), dollarweed (Hydrocotyle), water hyacinths (Eichhornia crassipes). taro/elephant ears (Colocasia esculenta), water lettuce (Pistia stratiotes), eelgrass (unsure of species), and others whose names I don't know.
After a few miles, we finally stopped getting stuck and started encountering super-loud, fast boats that were churning up the mud, making it impossible to even see the fish, chasing away any wildlife we might have seen, and making wakes. So although the paddling was slightly easier as one got closer to Wilson's Landing, there was no wildlife to encounter.
The seats we paid $5 extra for had zero back support and such slight padding that they were worthless. Sitting on a folded towel is much more padding, or maybe just a 5-dollar bill. There were a bunch of spiders in our canoe, though luckily, not a biting type.
If you don't mind not being able to get out of your vessel during your entire trip without stepping into stinky mud that you sink into at least up to your knees, you might enjoy this trip. We did not. This was not a leisure activity, it was hours of strenuous paddling with no breaks. This stretch of swamp is not suited to canoeing or paddleboarding at all, the kayak did better but it got stuck numerous times too. Don't even bother bringing your cooler, you'll never have a chance to reach into it unless you hang onto a low-hanging limb for a minute.
Written July 21, 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
kellelane
Jacksonville, FL6 contributions
Dec 2019 • Friends
A fantastic business operated by people who love the river. Our tour was led by Bill and Greg, two people who love sharing their passion for everything wild. Highly reccommend.
Written January 24, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Mariia
Bellevue, WA7 contributions
Oct 2019
We went for the half-day experience canoeing down the Wekiva river. You don't often find tours that offer a choice between a kayak and a canoe, so as soon as we saw this tour, we decided to go.
It was a fantastic trip! The river doesn't get a lot of boat traffic, so for the most part of the trip we only had to share the river with the wildlife. We saw countless birds and several alligators, two very young ones and one "teenager", as our guide called it :-) Our guide was very knowledgeable and offered a running commentary of everything interesting we saw.
The only downside of our adventure was the Florida weather - it was nice and sunny all time except for 10 minutes of a crazy downpour in the middle of the trip, so we spent the last 2 hours soaking wet. Well, I guess we did ask for a proper Florida experience :-)
It was a fantastic trip! The river doesn't get a lot of boat traffic, so for the most part of the trip we only had to share the river with the wildlife. We saw countless birds and several alligators, two very young ones and one "teenager", as our guide called it :-) Our guide was very knowledgeable and offered a running commentary of everything interesting we saw.
The only downside of our adventure was the Florida weather - it was nice and sunny all time except for 10 minutes of a crazy downpour in the middle of the trip, so we spent the last 2 hours soaking wet. Well, I guess we did ask for a proper Florida experience :-)
Written October 6, 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Byron C
14 contributions
Sep 2019
Arrived at the outfitters designated meeting point without a problem. Directions were clear and Bill Durkin was there to greet us all. What a pleasant fellow!!! This was my first trip on this creek and had no idea what to expect. I needed to rent a kayak for this trip and that was not a problem, outfitters were ready to cover all requests. We were then shuttled to our point at the creek, a few miles away, Bill and now Jimi Da Beard Hughes, took care of getting all kayaks and equipment checked and on the water, safety instructions, helping fellow travelers to get on kayaks if needed and off we went. This is what Florida must have looked thousands of years ago, pristine, quiet, just beautiful. Jimi was our guide and naturalist, explaining from local wildflowers to seeing gators, manatees, birds, butterflies, etc. A beautiful morning paddling this enchanting waters. The last few miles were a little harder, it was the last stretch of our trip and on the open water of the St John River, the wind was on our faces and paddling became a great exercise. We arrived hungry, tired and very satisfied and had a great lunch at Swamphouse Grill. The shuttle took us back to the Wekiva Outfitters depot. Everyone was happy. It was a memorable trip and one to be repeated.
Written September 16, 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Aurora W
3 contributions
Jul 2021 • Couples
Where do I start! This trip was just the peace my husband and I needed! From the calm waters to the birds chirping and the alligator calls. It was the breath of fresh to remind us how truly lucky we were to be on the water that day. The employee was kind and friendly, got us everything we needed for a fun and safe trip. From the the wildlife ( otters, alligators, fish, frogs and so many birds) to the aquatic plants, everything was perfect. When we were returning our gear, we happened to meet the owner Greg. He was amazing, made sure to check on us, see if we had any difficulties. Even recommended some amazing places to stop for food! This trip couldn’t have gone any better!
Written September 23, 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Hi,
My husband and I will be visiting Florida in January and are interested in one of your tours on the Wekiva. Neither of us have kayak before. Are these tours ok for first timers? Which tour is better for someone with little experience? Thanks
Written November 3, 2019
Our Wekiva river tour is perfect for first time paddlers. We only ask that you show up 15 minutes early so you can get some one on one training prior to the tour.
Written December 27, 2019
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