Cascade Canoe & Kayak Centers

If it weren’t for the great location, near Mercer Slough nature park, I would avoid this rental outfitter. They really don’t have a clue how to run an efficient business. Their boats were in various stages of disrepair (missing hatch covers, broken rudders, etc). and they were strewn about on the launch area. The boats were all very wet inside too — the first one they tried to give us was almost completely filled with water.
The young folks working there (without management supervision) all seemed nice enough, but clearly weren’t trained in customer service. When we returned, there were so many empty boats left at the landing site, we couldn’t fit in. Plus, prices seem higher than the rental places in Seattle on Lake Union. Overall, I was quite disappointed and probably won’t return.

Don’t purchase the Annual Family Pass. The $ 400.00 fee is NOT worth the money! The hours of availability are minimal for use with the pass, and there are additional fees if you want to take a boat off site. The staff is generally clueless and just don’t care!

I have to say overall we had a great time. It was becuase of the group I was with. The low rating is for the lack of service. They have a bunch of young kids running the place. You can tell they don’t care about the job. We rented 3 double kayaks. The first two groups got set up correctly. When it came to getting my kayak, I asked for the rudder to be put in (I was with a small child). The kid told me I didn’t need it and would be fine, I belived him. It wasn’t. It was very difficult for us. (this was our second time on a kayak). I was very disappointed with the service we received.
The scenery was beautiful, the service terrible.

I tried out canoeing at the Enatai Beach Park on a sunny, summer weekday. We had to search awhile for parking, but finally found a spot up the hill. The staff was helpful and let us choose which boat we wanted. They said were not able to store our bag with phones, wallets, keys, etc in their closed office so we ended up walking back up to lock it in the car as we did not want to get our belongings wet. It would be nice if they offered to store it, or if they offered dry bags. There wasn’t a lot of water traffic, but the water was pretty choppy. If we go again, we won’t go to this location.

Great place to rent kayaks and enjoy the slough. Adrian was very helpful and swift. I will never forget him. Erik and i shared our dreams and ambitions. We laughed. He had a cool hat that day. Chill atmosphere. One of the best days of my life. I have gone back countless times, but unfortunately Adrian and Erik are no longer working there so i will not be coming back.

Bought a Groupon and tried to book classes which is quite the challenge. Finally got a date and the instructor was a no-​show.
They did call to reschedule and then cancelled the morning of the class due to weather (at least they called). Promised to be in touch to figure out another class option and I have still to hear from them.
Maybe if I ever get to take their class I will write a different review but until then…

I purchased a Groupon for kayak lessons here as a Mother’s Day gift– Mom was thrilled with the experience, and I had a great time too!
Cascade Canoe and Kayak operates two rental facilities: one in Renton and this location at the tiny Enatai Park (almost) underneath I-​90 in Bellevue. I was able to schedule a date and time for the lesson online without any problems, and our instructor, Jen, had all the gear ready to go when we arrived.
After a few minutes spent fitting the sea kayaks, putting on life jackets, and going over how to hold a paddle and do a forward stroke on the shore we set off on Lake Washington. Once underway, Jen covered several basic paddling and maneuvering techniques (forward, backward, turning, sideways, edging, etc.). She also covered a tandem rescue technique (where one kayaker assists another that has fallen in the water)– something that she had to demonstrate for real when one of our party tipped out of their boat!
Our class lasted three hours, and we were fortunate enough to have calm, sunny weather while we paddled around on the lake and Mercer Slough. I’m pretty sure everyone in the class had a great time (I know the three of us in my group did), largely thanks to our instructor’s patience, professionalism, and upbeat attitude. Thanks, Jen!
I would definitely recommend first-​timer kayaking lessons here, and it looks as though the facility also rents out several types of small boats for play-​by-​the-​hour on the lake.

Much like the other comment on here, this place is in need of a serious professional upgrade. For labor day weekend, we booked two double kayaks two weeks in advance. We showed up on time, and we were first in line for our our 11:30am reservations. First in line doesn’t mean much, as the 6 other people who arrived after us were given their boats first. At noon, the two «tweens» who couldn’t care less about working at this place finally gave us our kayaks. The one who gave us ours didn’t seem to know about the foot pedals used for steering, and didn’t seem concerned when I pointed out that they weren’t set properly or functioning properly. Same with the other kayak they provided. It was bedlam, so after our 30 minute delay, we finally just set off. Turns out that our boat had broken cables to the rudder, so we had no control with the steering other than paddling strategically. I finally noticed the red ribbon around the end of the rudder and the free cable, making it obvious that this was a known faulty kayak that they sent us out in. After a challenging («serpentine», anyone?) 90 minute paddle, we returned the kayak and they acknowledged that it was a bum boat, but due to the unexpected crowds, they used it anyhow. The Mercer Slough would have been a lovely, leisurely 2 hour loop, and I’d love to do it again, but I’ll never rent from this place again. I will say, to their credit, that after I complained rather forcefully, they did not charge for the rental, but I would rather have had a working kayak and an enjoyable first visit to the Mercer Slough. Instead, it’s back to Northwest Outdoor Center on Lake Union, where they know what they’re doing.

My friend and I decided to go kayaking by Enatai Beach one fine Sunday day and this place is the only one around with business. I didn’t see anyone in line so that was a relief, because i have no patience for queue. When approaching the window, I saw about 3 young looking kids (by kids I mean teenagers) running this place. We asked for a double kayak. He asked if we’ve been here before in which we said no. He had us fill out a paper with our information and sign the waivers. The rate was $ 25 for the first hour and $ 10 for every hour after that. We left one ID and paid when we finished. We picked out the life jackets and paddles. The life jackets, in my opinion, were too small for adult no matter what size it was. The paddles seemed to be in good condition and varied in length. Okay, time to get a kayak. One kid took the one that someone just returned and started checking it. I assumed he was gonna let us use this one. He used the bilge pump to get the water out of the boat, which obviously HAD a lot of water in it!!! After a while he said it was ready to go. I was a bit skeptical but went with that boat anyway. My friend sat on the back to work the steeling, while I was in front. The weather was perfect and we got to see a family of 4 otters, several turtles, tons of blue dragonflies and lots of ducks. However, the boat was definitely leaking because my friend and I were soaked!!! His shoes were covered in water and both our pants were 100% wet. After an hour and a half, we decided that it might be a good idea to return before the boat sank. When we returned and paid, I told one of the kids about the boat leaking but his reply was simply «i’ll take a look later» and that’s it! um… for me that’s not good enough. I would expect either an apology or discount, because we didn’t pay to get our bottom half soaked! I was hanging around the beach since it was such a nice day and wanted to see if he actually would check the boat out, but he never did. I personally it was pretty unprofessional.
I’ve seen good reviews for the Renton location, but obviously this location was nothing compared. I don’t think i’d visit them again.