Castine Kayak Adventures - Castine, Maine

ana C.

Excelente e increíble aventura! Karen y su equipo, unos genios totales, nos regalaron la experiencia de sentir que navegabamos en las estrellas!

lisa W.

We went on a Castine Kayak Adventures night bioluminescent kayaking tour. Although a storm threatened our trip, the guides carefully monitored the distance and path, delayed the trip as needed, before we got underway.

This is the perfect experience if you want to safely kayak at night, with a knowledgeable guide, enjoying the awesomeness of the natural world. We stirred up sea creatures to look like the sparklers of our childhoods, enjoyed the peaceful night, shooting stars, the constellations above, and the company of like-minded people.

Simply amazing.

Becca R.

We did the 9a-12p morning sail this weekend and it was a fantastic adventure! Our guide, Nick was incredibly knowledgeable about kayaking and the history of the area. He was the perfect guide! We had people of all experiences in our group, and I’m 100% sure that everyone had an enjoyable experience! We’ll definitely come back!

Sarah E.

We had an unbelievably amazing bioluminescence tour with Karen. The conditions were spectacular - no moon, so uncountable stars. The bioluminescence was magical and the information we were given on the plancton and star formations was super interesting. Don't get mislead by the fact that it doesn't look that great in pictures - it cannot be photographed well. But the tour is a must-do, especially if you have never seen bioluminescence. I was blown away!

Diane H.

Overall, all four of us agreed this was a great experience, and one we thoroughly enjoyed. We all had some paddling experience, but had never been on a commercial waterway.

First recommendation is to book early. We had been looking at this tour for several years and this year booked our reservation for August in June.

We had read the negative reviews, and had none of those experiences. I would say we were fortunate to have Karen as our certified guide. She was passionate about the paddling, the sky and providing a good experience.

We were lucky to paddle on a night when the seas were calm, very little boat traffic and blessed with the northern lights.

Karen provided tons of education on bioluminescence, however we expected we would see it floating on the water. In actuality, you had to stir up the water to see them. Not a big deal, just a missed expectation

That said, a couple recommendations:
Based upon the introductory email, we bought head lamps—they were not required.
We also brought $0.99 ponchos, only one of us wore them, but on a different night they might be necessary.
The waiver form (Google docs) required was cumbersome and poorly organized.
I don’t appreciate being asked for tips. It’s mentioned in the email, and then again at the end of the trip.
The work to to rinse our life jackets was a non event.

Kayli

10/10 experience. Couldn’t have went any better. Our group of 8 did the night tour with our guide John and Mallory. They were both amazing. They had great energy and made sure everyone was comfortable and having fun. John memorized everyone’s name and treated us like he had known us his whole life. He was also extremely intelligent and taught us so much about the bioluminescence and the stars. It was magical.

Definitely recommend doing the night tour, even if you don’t have kayaking experience!

Kimberly J.

An Absolutely amazing experience. We did the night time bioluminescent kayaking && saw the light! Karen, the owner, was incredibly informative, educational and kind. Her and our other guide made sure we were properly prepared and enjoyed our time safely 😇😇 A MUST DO EXPERIENCE !!

Ryan S.

Had the pleasure of being able to book a classroom session on the water to improve our abiility to roll while kayaking. Karen was patient, innovative in her technique, and made it easy to figure out what steps we needed to make in order to fine tune our technique. Amazing experience and very personal.