Canoe Wild
Water SportsNature & Wildlife ToursSelf-Guided Tours & RentalsStand Up PaddleboardingKayaking & Canoeing
9:00 AM - 6:00 PM
Monday
9:00 AM - 6:00 PM
Tuesday
9:00 AM - 6:00 PM
Wednesday
9:00 AM - 6:00 PM
Thursday
9:00 AM - 6:00 PM
Friday
9:00 AM - 6:00 PM
Saturday
9:00 AM - 6:00 PM
Sunday
9:00 AM - 6:00 PM

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.

Popular mentions

5.0
5.0 of 5 bubbles417 reviews
Excellent
373
Very good
22
Average
12
Poor
3
Terrible
7

Mary O
16 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Aug 2021 • Family
A few weeks ago we were in the Stodmarsh nature reserve and we saw these people having a great time on the river. Knowing our daughter and her children were down for a few days in August I booked a trip from Fordwich to Grove Ferry. There seemed to be a bit of disorganisation regarding the bus from Grove Ferry to Fordwich but other than that it was great. The instructions were very clear and we set off feeling pretty confident with me, daughter and granddaughter and husband, another daughter and granddaughter in other canoe. We did have a few run ins with the bank and upset some of coot but soon got the hang of it. Granddaughters is mildly autistic and she got a bit hung up about the the swans but made up songs about them which helped.
The peace and quiet was such a joy and there was a certain cameradery among the less than Olympic standard canoeists.
There were two absolute downpours which would have scared Noah and we were wet to our undies but the children felt they had had a good adventure and I want to do it again.
Safety was taken seriously without feeling smothering and instructions were good. Polite friendly staff who I felt wanted us to have a good time.
Written August 7, 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.
Hello Mary, Thank you so much for your review and rating of your experience with us at Canoe Wild. We are thrilled you had a good time and enjoyed your paddle. We would love to see you and your family out on the water again soon. Many thanks and kind regards Kate
Written August 12, 2021
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.

Lester
Leigh-on Sea, UK9 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Jul 2020 • Friends
Originally went on the first day for a one hour paddle board on the river. That was amazing in itself. The guys were very friendly and helpful, equipment was top notch (RED boards which are top of the range) and the river and scenery is fantastic.
Enjoyed it so much, decided to go back the next day and hire a kayak to take down the river to Grove Ferry (a 5 mile trip). You get met the other end by one of the team and driven back to the start!
Will definitely go back to these guys again
Thank you
Written July 5, 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.
Hi there, Thank you so much for taking the time to leave such a kind review, it really means a lot! We are so happy to hear that you enjoyed your paddle board experience so much that you decided to come back the next day. It was lovely to see you :) We hope to see you back again soon. Hopefully when restrictions ease up, we'll be able to reopen our guided paddles, so perhaps we'll see you one day for an early morning or sunset paddle! Best wishes, Canoe Wild
Written July 10, 2020
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.

Familyontour4of4
Paddock Wood, UK149 contributions
4.0 of 5 bubbles
Sep 2020
The four of us enjoyed an hour’s potter/drift around Fordwich, with plenty of funny moments but also peace & quiet, nature watching. The booking & arrival system was efficient with plenty of team members around to assist & inform. All the kit was provided & then cleaned afterwards. We’ll be back for the Fordwich - Grove Ferry trip next time 😊
Written September 6, 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.
Thank you for your lovely review. I am glad to hear you enjoyed you hour's paddle and that you found it both fun and peaceful. As a company we have a wonderful and helpful team, so i am happy to hear that you felt we were efficient and helpful when you arrived. Hope to see you again soon! Kind regards, Lucy CW Team
Written September 7, 2020
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.

WinterRose
4 contributions
1.0 of 5 bubbles
Jun 2020 • Couples
I’ve never wrote a bad review in my life but I’m baffled at how patronising and unaccommodating the manager at Canoe Wild is. Was so looking forward to visiting canoe wild as had been highly recommended by friends and this is so up our street. We couldn’t make the booking for a reason I didn’t want to discuss as it’s quite personal so we wanted to reschedule the booking like it says You can on the website. Apparently they are “happy to reschedule any activity” so when I called the girl on the phone said I could only reschedule for a weekday not a weekend and I asked why because it does not state that anywhere in the t&c’s and we work in the week so we could only visit on weekends. I was then called back a little later by the manager who started reeling off why he can’t refund me. I really wasn’t asking for a refund we just wanted to reschedule like it says you can so communication between staff isn’t great. I’m sorry we wanted to reschedule today but being spoken down to on the phone is really not okay. You claimed you're too busy on weekends when everyone can clearly see there’s lots of slots available still for kayaks. Imagine if you had amended the booking for us how many people we would’ve told wow they were so helpful, brilliant customer service and we would definitely have returned multiple times as we wanted to try the longer slot kayaking and the double kayak too. Instead we were told you wouldn’t be able to change a plane ticket, theatre ticket, train ticket (the list went on) .... i run this business and I’m saying no. Not really that same thing if your website says that you can amend it and you're happy to do that when you’re obviously not and just patronise people that want to spend money at your business. If thats what your policy is then you should probably make that clear in your terms and conditions. It was an amendment not a cancellation if I was cancelling the whole thing I wouldn’t of expected a refund or anything. I have my own business and the first thing I know is I treat people how I would like to be treated when it comes to customer service. Little things like that go a long way and you’ve shot yourselves in the foot there.
Hopefully you’ll learn from this.
Written June 28, 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.
Hello, Thank you for taking the time to get in touch. We are very sorry that you were disappointed with your experience yesterday. Unfortunately, we have to operate a strict cancellation policy in order to maintain the successful running of our business. If you refer to our cancellation policy on the website, as I can see you have attached, you will note that it states we cannot cancel or rearrange bookings if we are given less than 24 hours notice. As you rang as an hour and a half before you were due to visit us, we were unfortunately not able to accommodate you. This short notice meant that we were unable to rehire your craft in the space you left, causing a loss of revenue even if you had rearranged to a different day. We are very sorry to hear that you had a personal reason for wanting to rearrange your booking. However, we were not provided with this information yesterday so we were not aware of the issue. We do pride ourselves on our customer service skills, so we are sorry you were not satisfied with the service that you received. Best wishes, Canoe Wild
Written June 29, 2020
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.

Cath D
London132 contributions
1.0 of 5 bubbles
Aug 2020
Had made a mistake on the booking and hadnt realised that you had to be over 18 to go on the river unaccompanied (unlike other local hire places). Sadly the manager? owner? was very rude, and tried to make me feel stupid - waving his lap top at me as he showed me the website. Very aggressive. He then started talking about "who would I sue if the girls died", which didnt instill me with much confidence! I didnt want to go out on a canoe, and anyway they did not have a canoe I could go out to accompany the girls in, so asked for a refund as I was not adequately dressed to canoe. Response "no refunds", leaving me the only option to take one girl out at a time. So I canoed for an hour, the girls had half an hour each. Overall got the impression that they place is too busy, staff had little time to spend - a very garbled briefing - and an honest mistake was treated with rudeness and aggression. As locals we will be taking our money elsewhere. Appalling.
Written August 28, 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.
Hello I am sorry that you were not happy with your experience with Canoe Wild. Unfortunately it is our policy that children are not aloud unaccompanied out on the water on their own without an adult as they are not deemed responsible for their own safety and would therefore be uninsured. I do believe your children were 13 and therefore it was not possible for them to go out on their own. When you challenged this and stated that other companies allowed this we raised that it was not something we could do however we offered the options of you taking them out one at a time or one of my coaches was available to accompany them on the water (this would be done at no extra). However you declined this and chose to take one at a time. Our policy on refunds at that customers can change or have full refunds up 24 hours before the booking however we don't offer them on the day unless we have to cancel due to extreme weather conditions. Our booking system clearly states that at the start of the booking flow and on the confirmation email that under 18's must be accompanied by an adult on the water. I am sorry you feel that the service was not good however our policy on children it to ensure their safety and we cannot comment on other company policies. Canoe Wild takes guidance from British Canoeing (the national governing body) and our insurers. We do feel that we offered you good alternatives at no extra cost. Regards Andrew
Written August 31, 2020
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.

Naomi Lown
10 contributions
3.0 of 5 bubbles
Jul 2020
We had a family trip booked on 2 paddle boards and 1 double kayak but after an error on the website with booking, canoe wild was called to correct the error and the person who answered the call said it could be sorted in person. However on the day of the trip the staff at Fordwich repeatedly said there was a fault with the website which had resulted in a double booking but they then went on to say "you won't get a refund is that alright". After calling to check the booking because of the website error and being told by staff there was a website fault to then be asked if it was okay not to get a refund felt unprofessional. After asking for a voucher instead as a reasonable compromise and a few back and fourth phone calls , staff member Caitlin was very mature, Kind and helpful in calling the office to sort this. We have still not received the voucher which is disappointing but the experience once we were on river and with the staff when leaving was much better.
Written July 22, 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.
Hi there, Thank you for your review! Our apologies that you had technical difficulties with our website - they are rare but they do happen very occasionally. We have rectified this issue now for you, as you should be aware :) Thank you for being such great sports and so understanding. We are very pleased to hear that the booking mishap did not affect your time on the river and we would love to see you again. Best wishes, Canoe Wild
Written July 25, 2020
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.

kp1705
London, UK97 contributions
3.0 of 5 bubbles
Jun 2021
Such a beautiful setting for canoe - a quintessential English river with weeping willow and swans, and very relaxing.

I really enjoyed the canoeing it was just a shame about some of the service. It took 20 minutes to be seen by anyone as it wasn't clear where to go to sign in and most of the staff ignored us, preferring to just sit and chill. When a girl supervising the canoes finished with her customers, she was really helpful even though other colleagues were interrupting her, wanting her to solve their problems rather than do it themselves. She then made sure we were looked after before solving other issues. I found this part of the experience really uncomfortable and infuriating as her male colleagues were essentially dumping their problems on her as they were too lazy to do the work themselves (e.g. phoning a customer, locating items). She was professional and handled it well but it stunk of sexism and was unpleasant to watch.

However, the canoeing experience was fantastic and I would go back again. Every member of staff we encountered after our initial issues were really courteous.

It was tricky to find Canoe Wild as we're not familiar with the area. It would be great to have some of the directions we received on the phone on the website if possible?
Written June 7, 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, Thank you for leaving a review, i am glad to hear that you enjoyed your canoeing activity with us. Firstly, I would like to apologise for the confusion and subsequent wait you had over where to sign in, we are looking into building a more substantial office soon so hopefully from then it will be more clear where to sign in for you trip. In regards to the staff interactions you saw on the day of your visit i would like to explain how our staff manage our day of hires. We have a designated Admin manager at our site, this would have been the girl you saw dealing with the issues and booking you in, it is their role (whether they are male or female) to book in customers, make phone calls and organise craft so that the rest of the staff (again, whether they are male of female) can focus on briefing customers and putting people out on the water. The 'admin manager' role is therefore given to someone who is equipped to deal with this role and they are paid in accordance with this. Therefore, the boys that you saw were passing their issues onto the admin manager as they are supposed to do as part of their job. We pride ourselves on being an inclusive, fair and friendly company that would never discriminate against someone based on their gender, age, sexuality or race. I hope that now i have explained how our company manages our roles that you can see that what you observed was not sexism but everyone doing the jobs that they are allocated for. If you would like to discuss this any further then please do email us at info@canoewild.co.uk I am glad to hear that you had a nice time canoeing with us and i hope to see you again soon. Kind regards, Lucy CW Team
Written June 11, 2021
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.

sam h
1 contribution
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Jun 2022
Myself and my partner turned up to do the double kayak, we only booked for one hour but after our session we definitely felt like we wish we did the 2.5 hour one.

On arrival we were met by two polite people, Elliot and Ollie. Both of them spoke very highly of the work that they did, they were kind thoughtful and very helpful.
They made myself and my partner feel at complete ease and released any warrior attention we had about going in the kayak previous.

They reassured us that they were on hand in case we needed them in emergencies, they helped me and my partner get down to the kayak and made us feel very safe.

They are absolutely lovely people and we will 100% be returning not only because it was a great hour, but because of Ollie and Elliot and their professionalism.

Once again thank you so much guys we will see you very soon
Written June 26, 2022
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.
Hello Both, Thank you so much for your wonderful comments and we are thrilled you enjoyed your paddle. We have a fantastic team and are so pleased that Ollie and Elliot gave a great account of themselves and Canoe Wild. We are very proud of the team. We are chuffed to hear you are keen to come back and would love to book you on to your next river adventure, like you say, perhaps that trip Fordwich to Grove Ferry. Thank you again for taking the time to comment and leave us some fantastic words. Hope to see you on the water soon. Many thanks and kind regards Kate Rutherford.
Written July 9, 2022
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.

KTaylor
8 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Aug 2020
We had a lovely time on our paddle from Fordwich to Grove Ferry. The safety instructions at Fordwich were well explained, the water was beautifully clear and we saw lots of wildlife. With a 10 year old and a 13 year old, it took us about 2hrs20 mins to reach Grove Ferry. Due to a lot of people arriving at Grove Ferry at once, there was a 30 minute wait for the minibus but luckily the pub is close by. For those wanting to visit the pub, they are only accepting card payments at present.
Written August 5, 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.
Thank you so much for your kind review, excellent to hear that you enjoyed your time on the water! The wait time for the minibus is a little longer at the moment due to social distancing limiting the number of people we can take in each van. Hope to see you on the water again soon! Kind regards, Lucy
Written August 22, 2020
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.

Connor H
2 contributions
1.0 of 5 bubbles
Jan 2020 • Solo
I arrived at 9:30 for guided kayak, no one was around and tried to call the number on the board with no answer. I waited for 30 minutes and still no one was there, am very disappointed with the place. From what I have experienced today, I would not recommend Canoe wild to anyone, lacking basic organisation and human skills.
Written January 12, 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.
Dear Connor, We did finally get to talk with each other this day and from our conversation together you understood Canoe Wild had done everything it could to reach you as the event had been cancelled due to poor weather. We will of course always inform people as soon as we need to with regard to cancellations but we do need the correct numbers and emails for the person attending so that we can get the information to them in the quickest way possible. We understand your disappointment at the time of your review and look forward to re booking your adventure on the water with us soon.
Written February 11, 2020
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.

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