EXCELLENT Colorado River Kayak trip, Las Vegas, PLEASE READ

In August 2007, my 63 year-old mother, two middle-aged Japanese

lady-friends of mine with very basic English-speaking skills, and I decided we

would like to try some water activity on the Colorado River while

visiting Las Vegas, but we were faced with trying to find one that fit our

schedule and budget and inexperience. We finally settled on kayaking

in a small private tour led by our own guide on the Colorado River in

the Black Canyon below Hoover Dam near Las Vegas. Following was our

logic in choosing this HIGHLY RECOMMENDED AND FUN TOUR with the company

which is called KAYAK LAKE MEAD.

First of all, if you want to raft on the Colorado River, most people

think only of the Grand Canyon, but to raft in the Grand Canyon, you

apparently must go up to Lees Ferry, Arizona (near Lake Powell) for many of

the river trips, as that is where the starting point is for most of

them. They sound wonderful, but every trip we looked at inside the

Grand Canyon was NOT a day trip. All of the ones we looked into either

required lots of driving time to get to their starting point, hours of

hiking down to the river edge to meet the boats and start the trip, were

designed for more than one afternoon or one day, were too wild for the

ladies in my group, or were a combination of all of these situations.

This left us looking at doing some kind of river activity in the Las

Vegas area and so we choose a river trip in the Black Canyon, which is

the canyon the Hoover Dam was built in and is about a 40- minute drive

from Las Vegas. Next, we needed to decide what kind of experience we

wanted to do in that area: something on Lake Mead behind the dam, or a

more natural experience on the river below the dam. We opted for a

river trip below the dam and we were so very very happy we did. We looked

at basically 4 types of river enjoyment in the Black Canyon (the area

below Hoover Dam): a large-group raft float-trip, a smaller group raft

float-trip, a large-group kayaking trip, or a personally guided kayak

trip including just my family/friends. We are the type of people that

enjoy a more personal experience, and so the opportunity to go and

investigate what we find interesting as we notice, it is a real selling

point to us when choosing activities to do, so the small-group personal

kayaking trip was best for us, but we were worried it might be far too

expensive to actually do (in reality though, for what we got, it worked

out cheaper than any other option we found, making it by far a fantastic

value!!). We further looked at many companies and settled on KAYAK

LAKE MEAD. We were extremely satisfied. First of all, they provide you

with your very own guide for your private group and they cater the trip

to YOUR needs. As I said, I had my 63 year-old mother and two

middle-aged Japanese women with me who spoke little English, yet our guide

worked beautifully with us to make it a very enjoyable trip for ALL of us

at OUR pace. It was NOT some rushed tour regime. Our guide (Darren)

took the 4 of us on a very pleasant leisurely 7 hour trip on the super

smooth waters of the Colorado River below Hoover Dam. NONE OF US had

ever been kayaking before, but our guide very gently showed us how to put

on our life jackets properly, operate the kayaks and then watched us

carefully the entire time we were on the water. What a secure feeling

we had knowing a professional was there to watch JUST THE 4 OF US, and

not 20 or 30 of us. He also helped us to take pictures of ourselves

kayaking, stopped when and where we wanted to stop, allowed us to stay as

long as we wanted in any certain place, offered to give us some kind of

hiking around the area if we wanted that, and even brought some snacks

and simple sandwiches at our request. This tour company was so

AWESOME!! I would ABSOLUTELY recommend KAYAK LAKE MEAD to anyone looking for

a very HIGH-QUALITY trip of any length while in the Las Vegas area.

There were no drawbacks at all regarding this trip. I booked it online

directly with the owners and met one of their friendly guides (Darren)

at the kayaking starting point with no trouble. By the way, some

companies offer to pick you up at your hotel, but this company does not do

that. You must drive to their starting point, but that is part of what

makes it a low cost tour. But as for us, we preferred that option

because we had the convenience of having all of our stuff WITH US in our

OWN car, as well as having the option of stopping and seeing the dam on

the way, or doing some other things while we are out in that area.

Furthermore, this company%26#39;s start point is where MANY COMPANYS%26#39; END THEIR

TOURS, which means when we were rafting, except for the very rare motor

boat going by far away, we had the entire river to ourselves!!! We

also got the chance to relax quietly on a beach and see some wild animals.

And our private guide told us many interesting things about the

canyon itself. Please, please try this company as we were so very impressed

by it and how casual, yet friendly and professional they handled us

and our special requests. They are extremely easy to work with. When I

go back to Las Vegas, I will definitely try them again. They also

offer other wonderful excursions like special over-night kayaking trips,

moonlit kayaking trips (how romantic), and kayaking trips which visit and

allow you to relax in the local hot springs a short hike from the

river. The only slightly negative thing I could find was that to get to

this company%26#39;s starting point (which is easy to find) you have to drive

to the Arizona side of the dam (about one hour from Las Vegas if there

are no/minimal traffic delays due to the new bridge construction that is

going on near the dam and which affects ALL traffic to some degree in

the area of the dam). Other larger, more impersonal companies that

operate the large raft float-trips, start on the Nevada side of the dam

just below the dam (this means you might not encounter as much of a

traffic jam if you choose to go with a company that starts just below the

dam on the Nevada side, but you will still encounter some, and besides

that, be warned that a company that starts just below the dam requires

you to apply for a permit to ride their rafts from the Park Service as

that start point is located in a government protected area which

surrounds the dam). Finally, about price... large-group tour rafting trips

which have about 20 people in one raft and travel downriver with many

different rafts cost around $70-$80/person for an hour or two of actual

river time IF you drive yourself. If you use their hotel pick-up/drop-off

service, then an adult trip ticket goes up to about $115/person. This

prices does include lunch though. The tour we took with KAYAK LAKE

MEAD was scheduled to last for around 6-7 hours of actual river time and

we paid $120/person. For that price we got... 1) our own personal

guide, 2) we got to travel on the river with NO ONE else around which made

it so quiet, peaceful and more impressive than otherwise, 3) we got

snacks and simple sandwiches at our request, 4) we got the ability to stop

anytime we wanted anywhere we wanted, 5) and we had the ability to go

hiking or whatever, all for the same price as a much more

commercialized tour. And by using a kayak, we had personal freedom to actively

paddle and explore small nooks and crannies of the river, as opposed to

being stuck on a large raft passively floating down the middle of the

river. By the way, the river was so very very smooth, that none of us had

any trouble at all paddling upstream on the way back, but should you

get tired, your guide will tie his kayak to your kayak if necessary and

tow you upstream on the way back. Also, you have the ability to choose

a single-person kayak, or a two-person kayak for the same price. I

think I have basically said it all, so please contact KAYAK LAKE MEAD for

further information, but I totally recommend them. Oh, I remembered

another thing about kayaking in the Black Canyon: it could be very hot

during the day if you go during the summer, but that can%26#39;t be helped,

after all, you are in a desert. But whether you start in the morning

and finish in the afternoon, or start in the afternoon and finish at

sunset, you will be in some part of the hot day, but the river keeps things

pretty cool, so once you actually get in the kayak, you are totally

fine, just remember your sunglasses, a hat, sunscreen, and a towel to

drape over your head and neck to keep the sun off if you don%26#39;t remember

your sunscreen. (Personally, I recommend the afternoon-sunset kayaking

tour because you don%26#39;t have to wake up early to make the morning tour,

you can see a wonderful sunset in the canyon as you kayak and/or drive

back to the city, you can see the dam lit up at night, and you can see

the beautiful lights of Las Vegas as you drive over the hill heading

back into the city after it gets dark.) Furthermore, you can take your

personal belongings with you

in the kayak, as there is space to carry them down inside it, but just

remember to bring some large ziplock bags to wrap your things in (also,

your guide will give you some special waterproof packs for holding

your camera, wallet, etc)

EXCELLENT Colorado River Kayak trip, Las Vegas, PLEASE READ

Thank you Darren for all you remembered and wrote about the Aug trip. Very interesting.

EXCELLENT Colorado River Kayak trip, Las Vegas, PLEASE READ

I did this trip too and LOVED it - the name of the operators i went with was Evolution Expeditions, only 4 of us -magic

sounds like a good trip that others might be interested in as well. thanks.

diane

What a great idea! I never knew they did this below the Dam. This will make #171 on my list. Thank you!

sound awesome !!

i would love to do this

thanks

Attack of the paddling shill