Catch A Canoe & Bicycles Too

Can’t say enough about this incredible place. Big River is Mendocino’s hidden gem… paddling up the River, you’re often joined by the river otters, a big fat seal waving as you float by, beautiful birds… and the gift of beautiful serenity. I’ve been coming to Mendocino since the mid 1970’s and now live here part time — and this is my favorite place to be. Thank you Catch-​A-​Canoe!

We rented an outrigger one day and bikes another. There was 20% discount for a second rental. The equipment was clean and worked well. The men who helped us were kind and very accommodating. We called the night before to find out what time to paddle, as the river is greatly affected by the ocean tides. We highly recommend Catch A Canoe.

What a great experience! My wife and 2 kids (16 & 13) took two of their Canoes for a Spin up the river. Absolutely magic. This is a beautiful part of the world and «Cathing a Canoe» is the way to see it. The service was excellent. We also rented bikes and got great advice on where to ride. Highly recommended. Bring a «real camera», I decided not to bring mine in case it got wet. I need not have worried. The canoes were smooth and dry.

I’ve been coming to the Mendocino coast to visit my parents for a decade now, and I’ve gotten bike parts and trail tips from the helpful folks at … Bicycles Too. For some reason, we just this week decided to paddle up the Big River estuary.
It is an amazing place. The guys were very helpful in getting our family — including young kids — on the right boats, and their advice about timing, tide and winds was spot on.
One bit of advice: The outfitters really, really mean it when they say it’s more work paddling back downstream than up. The winds off the ocean can be strong enough to make you wonder if you’ll ever make it back at all, let alone in your three-​hour window. (Plan to go long and spare yourself the rush.)

This was such a fun outing! If you’re bringing your dog, rent an outrigger. There was a perfect amount of space for my fiancé, myself and our large standard poodle. It was a blast and we thoroughly enjoyed seeing all the wild life within such close range (birds, otters and seals). We highly recommend it!

The staff was friendly and helpful, informing us how far up to go for the the hour tour during high tide.
The river was peaceful and full of wildlife-​we saw many seals swimming next to us and some water fowl. Their canoes had a rudder so steering was easier and they were nearly impossible to tip. I’d go back and rent a bike too if I had time.

Our group of 11 showed up without reservations (my fault and not recommended… help the staff out and make reservations here) and rather late (almost 1PM). There were very few kayaks and canoes left, but the staff was extremely friendly and helpful. They let us know that they’ll have to assemble a canoe that would take a few minutes in order to accommodate our whole group, which was not a problem at all.
Great rates, great service, and Big River was beautiful.

Nice people renting canoes and stand up paddle boards! The outrigger was fine for 2 of us and a dog, until the dog decided to jump off the front of the canoe into the water and had to be pulled back into the canoe. We saw two seals after a little more than an hour of rowing, which made our entire trip (and sore arms) worth it!

Fantastic bike /​kayak shop. The criteria of a bike shop are: 1 having the stuff I need when I stop in looking for it, 2 good customer service, which in the mountain biking world is more often referred to as «community», and 3 have a cool shop that’s fun to putz around in.
This place has 3 licked. It is one of the coolest business locations I’ve ever seen, I was looking for athlete junk food, some beta on nearby Manley Gulch trail, but seeing the very cool dock with all the kayaks on beautiful Big River made me realize I have to come back and try to get some paddling in while I’m here.
2 was easy enough; I was going for a long pedal and needed some clif bars and Gu.
What impressed me was how the guy knocked 2 out of the park, he balked at selling me a full trail guide on the basis that he could just pull out a free printed map of the trail I was hitting. He penciled notes on on the map to dial me in on the ride. I insisted on buying the book out of principle. In classic bike store «community» style he gave me the skinny on a lot of the local mountain bike offerings, trends, etc.
The trails in nearby Jackson State Demonstration Forest are virtually unmarked and the State, suffice to say, are bot tripping over themselves to reach out to mountain bikers and make accessing the trails easier. If you’re going to come here to do some riding, stopping in to Catch a Kayak is a must.

Fun, Fun, Fun!
The people here are very nice and helpful. They have tons of options when it comes to canoes and kayaks for all group sizes. This was our first time on a canoe and it was a piece of cake. We rented the canine cruiser to accommodate our two medium size dogs and they had a blast. So much so that one of them decided to jump in. The actual trip up the river is beautiful, pristine and so relaxing. We saw a ton of seals and birds. The river is a total of 8 miles and although we didn’t row the whole river we did spend about ¾ hours on it. The river runs right into the beach so you can stop off at it on your way in. Just don’t paddle out to the ocean. lol

Really cool guys at the shop, friendly and patient. Neither my husband or I have ever canoed. They did a great job of explaining all the pitfalls we might encounter.. .and yes, we encountered them.
During some times of day, low tide, a sand bank appears in the middle of the river right at the beginning. No joke, it took us at least 40 minutes to get past it.
Overall, it was a great experience. We saw a couple fish jump out of the water, crabs, and seagulls.
Advice for the novice.. . be patient, don’t panic, stay cool, and follow what the dudes tell you at the shop.
It was little pricey for me, came to about $ 60 for the two of us for a 3 hour rental.

Located right on the Big River basin just south of funky Medocino, the good folks at Catch A Canoe & Bicycles offer reasonable prices, awesome equipment and superb local knowledge for a Flickr-​worthy outdoor excursion.
One of the unique things about this particular outfitter is that they offer redwood-​carved outrigger canoes with 2 pontoons and a foot-​controlled rudder to steering.
Don’t be jerky like me and assume it’s gonna be a wet adventure in an outrigger, these beauties are super stable and streamlined to glide almost effortlessly along the river.
And good news for dog owners, they’ve custom built them so Spike can do a ride along via a small platform in the center of your vessel.
Chances are you’ll see a variety of wildlife & critters like harbor seals, river otters & tons of birds… so don’t forget that camera!
Pricing is $ 28 per person for a 3 hrs or less.
The also rent kayaks, bikes & wetsuits so you’re covered not matter what mode of transportation you’re looking to rock.