Top Arizona Kayaking Tours

Once we got off the main rd and had to avoid several big potholes we new we where in for an adventure,lol.Ben was great,met us at the car with his sense of humor melting the unsureness away. Showed us what we needed to know and some pretty cool fun facts about the surrounding area. Water was perfect,easy to get to and the kiayaks where strong,reliable and clean. The trip was the perfect amount of time and friendly guest on the water(in and out of are group). If ever in town and looking for something to do,this is it!!Me and the family highly recommend!!Thanks again Ben,your the man!!

Went on the guided tour with Emmett (spelling?) as our guide. Our guide was very knowledgeable and confident and gave us a sense of ease. The sights were gorgeous and the water was nice. Would highly recommend getting food after the kayaking trip because the food is great, and competitively and fairly priced. I think you should go with more people on a guided tour because honestly, the more the merrier but it wasn’t bad with the little group we had. Would definitely do it again!

My 13 y.o. son and I booked a guided kayak trip down the Verde River. Guides Lindsey and Cooper were awesome! Everything was very convenient - they had us park our car down river near where the trip would end, then they drove us upriver to the starting point of our trip and where the kayaks were. They gave us some instruction on how to handle the kayak and we spent a few minutes practicing in a wide part of the river where the water was slow moving. One guide led the way, giving instructions on the best way to navigate down river. The second guide followed behind to make sure no one fell behind. The nice thing is that our tour included only people from our party - they do not mix groups of people who don’t know each other. In our case this was only 2 people, so for my son and I, it felt like a very private tour. We timed our trip around my son’s spring break, which turned out to be perfect time of year to explore northern Arizona. At 10am on the day of our tour, it was maybe a little cool, but warming up fast to around 85 degrees at the end. There’s lots of tree cover so we didn’t spend much time in direct sunlight. Fortunately the water level of the river was good enough that grounding was not a serious problem. There were a few places where the bottom of my boat did contact a sandbar, but nothing requiring me to get out and pull the boat to deeper water, though YMMV. I did get myself into trouble early and ended up capsizing, but Lindsey and Cooper kept everything under control and got me back in my boat quickly. There were some faster moving sections of water in places. I’m not sure if it is correct to call them rapids or not, but it definitely made things more interesting - in a good way! If you’ve done white water rafting or kayaking before, then these ‘rapids’ would bore you, but for someone like me, who has only ever kayaked in calm lakes, it was a little shot of excitement sandwiched between some rather calm and serene stretches of river. My son and I had a great time and we highly recommend booking a tour with Lindsey and Cooper.

I highly recommend booking a tour with Jared. He’s very friendly and knowledgeable about many things — from rocks and plants to the history of the river and the dam. The tour was extremely enjoyable, and the place is absolutely beautiful. I would definitely come back.

Wonderful and worth every dollar! Blazing Paddles tour guide Eugene was so enjoyable, full of info and little stories. We did the /2 day Emerald Cave Tour. We were all experienced with kayaking so no lessons were needed, but he did give little tips and offered to help with everything. I did think the caverns would be larger, or able to kayak through them. But there were lots of beautiful views with a little hike for a snack and stretch break and photo ops. Highly recommend this adventure.

Great tour, be careful with the timing and arrival. We arrived an hour early due to time zone differences but we were not able to reach out or check our booking details because Willow Beach lies in an area with no mobile network coverage. We started a little late due to this and were able to just catch the Emerald Cave lighting up in time (it was also shining low due to November) but our guide Paul made it work. Additionally, Paul was an awesome guide who provided us a lot of additional insight about the place and area, history etc. Even in November, the 85 °F were inviting us to take a swim during and after the tour which made us soak up the after-vibes of the tour experience to a maximum and made an overall awesome day. The insights Paul provided, made us want to come back for more exploration on our own or even attending the longer tour to the Hoover Dam.

Due to an inaccessible road, we were not able to take the trip we’d planned. However the company offered us an upgraded tour at no extra cost. Guides Ray and Soren did a fantastic job leading our kayaking tour. The wild donkeys were the added bonus! Thanks for a great trip!

The drive down was easy. There’s a $25 fee because Willow Beach is a National Recreational area. Parking is easy and the meeting point is easy to find. Have breakfast and coffee before getting there because there’s not much. The tour provides some great snacks. Ryan was kind enough to give us some snacks before the trip. It’s 2 miles down the river to get to the Emerald Caves and 2 miles back. We had a break on one of the beaches but it was still a hard trek. Ryan was a great guide. Loved his dad jokes. The emerald caves were very cool. We didn’t get to stay in for very long because there were a lot of people waiting to go in. Overall a great experience. Nature is beautiful.