Belle Isle Kayak Adventures

A friend and I were visiting Boston from out of state. We were searching for something fun to do and a cheap but great seafood place and we found both on our trip to Belle Isle Kayak Adventures. We took the Blue Line T Train to Oriental Heights and took about a 15 minute walk to their location.
Richard and his wife Rose were both very kind to us. Since we walked, we had handbags, which we didn’t want to bring on the boat. Rose and Rick live nearby so they weren’t planning on sitting in their office to wait 2 hours for us to come back, but they agreed to watch our bags for us at their home which was right down the street. I was leery, understandably, but nothing went missing or was tampered with. I found them to be very honest and trustworthy people. Rose even took pictures of us in our kayaks and emailed them to us while we were out on the water.
This was my first time kayaking, and they made sure I had everything (knowledge and equipment) that I needed to enjoy the experience, which I really did. The marsh has a lovely view of the city and is full of jellyfish — the kind that don’t sting you, apparently — which I found so fun and exciting.
After you wear yourself out on the water, an excellent seafood spot is right across the road (Belle Isle Seafood). The kayaking in conjunction with the food made this my favorite of all the days I have spent in Boston.
My advice: Make sure you’re back before sunset (little bitey bugs), bring cash for payment, a ziplock bag for your cell phone (or don’t bring one at all, I suppose), and extra cash for Bell Isle Seafood. Both spots are cash only. ENJOY!

Rick is a great fishing guide. This is the only place I know of in the New England area that lets you do fishing tours using Hobie pedal kayaks. If you want to see what that experience is like, hit up Rick for a tour. It was great fun and watching the sunset was awesome if you don’t catch any fish :-)

We found this place on the internet last summer — we called Rick (the owner) up and he was great! He dropped the kayaks off at our house (in Winthrop), gave us some great kayaking pointers and suggested routes and left us to our own devices. We got too tired after being out all day, so we just kayaked back to his boat ramp instead of our house and he gladly offered us a lift home. We like the kayaks he offered so much, this summer we invested in our own and bought 2. We’re pretty sure Rick is the deputy Mayor of Winthrop — we felt like celebrities on our drive home — he knows everyone in towm!

I didn’t think this marsh was all that interesting.
That aside, the people who run the Kayak Rental were amazing. Very nice, and very helpful. A couple people in our group had trouble making way with their kayaks, and one of the guys running it had no problem coming out on a paddle kayak and towing those people back to the dock. Also, it was strange to me that the owners pretty much advised us not to go into the harbor, while the other reviewer says that he went out into the harbor… strange. that might have made the kayaking more interesting. All in all, if I was more interested in the scenery, I would definitely come back back to this well-​run business.

Discovered this place through a friend who knows Winthrop. The owner Rick Buss, rented us a kayak and we explored the Belle Isle Marsh and went out into Boston Harbor around the airport. Prices were fair. Russ is also involved in New England Kayak Fishing and told us about his adventures. While we only were kayaking for a few hours I understand that custom trips are their specialty. Give them a try!