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| - A friend and I decided to have a little river kayaking adventure on a sunny Saturday morning in August. After being turned down at a place in Rocky River due to lack of a reservation on a Saturday morning (oops!), they very nicely referred us to some other places, including Great Lakes Water Sports in the Cleveland Flats. I called Great Lakes around 11:30am to make sure they were open and to see if they took reservations, and the guy on the phone said yes they were open and they are first come first served, but we should be okay if we arrived soon. He also told me to mention two guys' names to the parking attendant to get a discounted rate of $1 for parking in the Nautica Complex parking lot! Not sure if that's a day-by-day thing or not, though, so I would highly suggest calling and asking on the day you're planning to go.
Once we found the place (located on the river right next to the new Music Box Supper Club and good ol' Shooters), we were greeted by a nice guy, who explained the costs and waivers needed. I thought the pricing was very reasonable: $20/hour per single kayak, with any hour thereafter half price. We only kayaked for about an hour, but if you want a more leisurely pace, I would suggest planning for longer. We also learned that you can bring a koozie and some beverages, which we will now plan on for next time!
The worker helped us get into our neon green "sit on top" kayaks, and gave us a bit of instruction, as my friend was a first-time kayaker. We chose to paddle up the river into the great scenery of the Flats and downtown Cleveland. It was a beautiful day and something fun and different to do. It was also a pretty good workout, so I would suggest not going too far, because you have to paddle back as far as you go out! Once we returned, the Great Lakes crew was good about only charging us for the hour even though we were a little over.
The experience overall was really fun, and good value for the money. I wish I would have discovered this place sooner, as they will shortly be closing down for the season. I may be back next Saturday!
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