Bay Cats Kayaks and Catamarans

Will not be returning– the young staff told me to come back later only to turn me away when I returned because they appeared to be too lazy to put a paddle board in the water for me
Or they have just ignored me all together when I come in
It’s unfortunate because our family had previously been purchasing yearly memberships for their kayaks here
FYI– they (the staff at baycat) told me to go to the rental place two doors down Pirate Bay, where it is actually cheaper and I will be going there from now on

In the past we have rented from here & had a great time kayaking under the bridge & through the marshes.
Went today looking forward to our kayaking– but were completely ignored. Group of guys in front of us, staff guy shooting breeze with them. Did not acknowledge or ask to wait or anything. No one wants to feel invisible.
Anthor guy walked in & he warmly greeted him to help him.
It was very bad customer service, we left disappointed.

We had a great time out on a Hobie Getaway with the kids! The staff was super helpful with helping rig the boat and everyone had a blast! Definitely recommend for an afternoon of fun. The Getaway is bigger and can accommodate up to six people.

Had a great time paddle boarding with my mom. The instructor was nice and we quickly learned how to paddle board during our lesson. Overall, had a wonderful experience; and will definitely come back for more.

GREAT DAY! Great time!!! Thank u for the wonderful memories!!! We will be back! The employees were extremely helpful.

Great 2 hour kayak nature trip in the bay with Zack. We had 3 kayaks and there were 6 more in the group. This was a nice way to spend a couple of hours paddling to see the osprey nests, black-​capped gull nests and young, cranes, oyster catchers and other bird life. Kayaking gave us the ability to get into some of the small channels too. Great fun.

Usually I sail in Barnegat Bay, but since I was spending a weekend in Wildwood with friends, I booked a Getaway for a group of 3 – 4 people at Bay Cats. Before going into details, here is the summary: Very poor customer service, the Hobie’s weren’t rigged (and no one said to come early to account for rigging time), and we were advised of high wind by the staff who checked their various weather reports and instruments only to find there was NO wind on the water. I’m highly skeptical of whether the staff were reading their weather readings properly.
Upon arriving, the most senior of the staff expressed concern that we might be too light on the boat and that the wind was excessive on the day we were renting. I said I didn’t want to be unsafe, being that I was the only experienced sailor and my companions were along for the ride — if they wanted us to take out the Wave instead, I was fine with it. I’ve sailed the Waves many times. They said they would check the wind conditions first. We waited at least 10 minutes (something of note because this cut into our scheduled 2-​hour sail), until they finally decided that our group would take out the Wave instead. The senior of the staff asked me three times if I had sailing experience, at which point I became insulted and judged for being a late-​twenty-​something female. (I’ve sailed most summers for almost 10 years). It was as if he didn’t believe me, and I honestly wonder if he would’ve been as persistent as he was with a male sailor of the same age. Never mind the fact that I came with my sailing gloves and my personal PFD — you’d think that would demonstrate that this isn’t something I haven’t done before. While the payment was being completed, I showed my friend the Hobie Mirage Tandem Island, which my mother purchased in the spring, and was telling her about the boat. The same staff member argued that the mirages aren’t boats, they’re kayaks. I argued that the Mirage Tandem Islands convert to a trimaran and in has a sail. Either he didn’t know the product and shouldn’t be interjecting, or he was being unnecessarily and puzzlingly obnoxious.
When we were escorted to the Hobie Wave, we discovered that it wasn’t rigged, supposedly because of the wind issue. My family has only owned mono-​hulled sailboats, primarily Catalinas. When I’ve rented Hobies both in New Jersey and South Carolina, they’ve always been rigged for me. They had to demo the setup for me, which again cut into our sailing time, because I’m not one to assume how to do something, especially when I’m renting and there’s liability and safety to consider. They said we’d need to paddle out of the marina’s docking area into the bay (if there wasn’t enough wind for us to sail out, then why wasn’t the Hobie rigged for us in the first place?). Well, we paddled out to the bay, and guess what? There was NO wind — And I mean NO wind. We were sitting ducks while a wave running group that comes out of the same area as bay cats buzzed around us dangerously. Then to my anger, Baycats sent out two groups on the Getaways — one of which only had TWO people on it, after they said my group of three was too light because of the wind (what wind was that again)? The only reason I didn’t voice complaint upon returning the boat when our session finished was because we were sailing a lot faster than the two Getaways in the few instances where there was wind. I’d like to think that my sailing skill — which the staff questioned — had something to do with that.
When we returned the boat, the girl who came out to help us dock wasn’t very helpful. I ended up giving her instruction on what to do. When we came inside no one welcomed us back or greeted us. Our personal belongings were being held at the desk — we had to hunt someone down to get them for us, then the woman who eventually gave us our belongings was rude. I’d say between the fiasco of just getting the wind report sorted, going over the rigging, and paddling out to the bay, there was about 30 minutes of paid-​for sailing time that was wasted. Altogether it was a very disappointing experience, especially because one of my friends was sailing for the first time that day. I’ll stick to Barnegat Bay when sailing in NJ, certainly will not recommend this place, and definitely will not be returning.