Chicago Paddle Company

I signed up for a beginner class that I was really excited about since it’s on my bucket list of things to try. I googled the location as I am not familiar with the area and arrived 15 minutes early as was suggested in the e-​mail confirmation. Unfortunately since there was no direct address given I was taken to the wrong location. When I called the company I had the worst customer service experience ever! They told me I was about 20 minutes away by car and that I could try to join the class when I arrived as rescheduling the class was flatly denied when I asked.
I cabbed over and still had trouble finding the place and everyone I asked had no clue where they were located. I finally located a person sitting in a chair on the dock and was told that I could paddle out and back in if I wanted as class would be done in 10 minutes, and they again refused to allow me to reschedule as there is a cancellation policy. He told me that the address was in the email and on the website (it is in neither location) and that «I probably input it into Google and went to the wrong location.» If they know that is an issue then perhaps they should specify that in the instructions. The least they could have done was not be rude.
DO NOT GOOGLE how to get there, and if you do expect the worst customer service ever!

I had a great experience paddle boarding with Chicago Paddle Company. It was a bit choppy in the afternoon, but we were able to catch some good waves.
We took a group and they offer great group rates. This includes a lesson to get inexperienced paddle boarders up to speed quickly and they take us out and hang out the entire time to ensure people are safe. The staff is awesome and very helpful. We had a mix of experienced and non experienced, and it ended up being really fun and stress free. I’ll be back!

Took an «Intro to SUP» class with Westy last weekend at Montrose Harbor. She was patient, friendly, and helpful. Got a great workout and will definitely be back to try some of the other fitness classes (or more realistically — the ladies’ night SUP/​margaritas on Mondays). Highly recommend!

My 2 friends and I did a RUN/​SUP class for $ 15 with our instructor, Westy. The class was about an hour long, but it felt much longer because of the intense work out. When we arrived, we were sized up with our paddles and received life jackets. Westy gave the new paddle boarders (my 2 friends and me) a quick low down on how to do the essentials — get out onto the water on your knees, which direction the paddle should face, and how to turn. We first paddled out on the Lake for about 10 – 15 minutes, then we ran barefoot on the beach for ~1 mile, and then repeated both exercises again. The beach run was a lot harder than I thought it would be, but it was an awesome workout. Westy really pushed us to paddle harder and go faster on the water– giving us all a great upper body workout. By the end of the class, all 3 of us felt comfortable paddle boarding! We’ve already signed up for our next class :) I highly recommend trying this class out — either a class or even renting boards from them!

I would say that this review is a mixed bag.
If you already know how to paddle board, this is a wonderful place to rent a board for a couple of hours. The beach couldn’t be better and the equipment is in great condition. Four to five stars for an experienced paddle boarder.
If you’re thinking of coming here for an introductory paddle boarding lesson, I would strongly say to go somewhere else to learn, and come back here to rent once you feel you know what you’re doing. One star for an intro to paddle boarding lesson (which is what I did).
Full disclosure– I purchased a coupon on Gilt City for a paddle boarding lesson at a discount from the normal price. I would honestly have rather paid full price somewhere else and actually learned the basics of paddle boarding.
Our instructor seemed like a sweet young man, but he didn’t seem to have any idea on how to teach people how to paddle board. He spoke to our group for about 4 minutes, then sent us into the water with very little knowledge. The instructor made a joke that he’d forgotten to ask if we could all swim before we got into the water. Probably something small but important.
The poor guy who was in the water behind me fell in a couple of times, and on the second time it was discovered that he’d never signed the waiver that everyone has to sign before getting into the water with the company’s equipment. Why no one made sure of this while we were on shore, I don’t know. So the instructor paddled back to shore with him to get the waiver signed, leaving everyone in the water alone with no instruction. My boyfriend had surfed before, but never paddle boarded. He took to the basics right away, but wanted to learn how to catch a wave. The instructor wasn’t around, so he could never learn. I didn’t find out until we got to the turn around point and were paddling back (and my boyfriend had to show me how to turn my board around) that I had been paddling wrong for 50% of the lesson since that is when the instructor finally rejoined the group. That would have been very helpful information earlier in the lesson.
As we approached the shore, I realized that the instructor had never told us how to reach shore correctly. One of the people from the company that was on shore had to yell out to me to get on my knees. That also probably should have been taught by my instructor.
After the lesson, my boyfriend and I talked and watched videos on paddle boarding basics online and tried to learn from each other’s mistakes and successes. We got quite a bit of knowledge from the internet videos. We’ll still probably go to another company and try to get an introductory lesson and get our questions answered. But we will indeed be back once we know what we’re doing to rent a board and spend more time at this wonderful beach.

Amy and her crew did a stand-​up job with their Monday Ladies Evening Stand Up Paddle. The price is a bit steep but well worth it as the views of the city, the equipment, and instructions cannot be beat. She took pics of particpants, edited them, and shared! Will definitely be back.