Canoe Big River in Mendocino

The staff here is so friendly! Both our young son and our dog had an absolute blast—even when our pup accidentally fell in the water and learned a quick lesson! The canoe was super stable and didn't feel like it would tip over at all, making it very safe and easy even for beginners. They provided light paddles (I think ours was carbon fiber) and life vests for both the kiddo and the dog. They even offered a mini paddle for my little one, though I declined so it wouldn't end up at the bottom of the water! The built-in rudder made steering a breeze. We started at 12:40 PM and had smooth sailing on the way out. Heading back against the wind and current was a bit of a workout, but it was still a great experience. Highly recommend!

Definitely a worthwhile experience if you're ever in Mendocino. Dog friendly so that's plus. Instructions were easy to follow, the river was straightforward to navigate and overall it was an upper body workout! Absolutely recommend.

Really lovely experience. We paid for the day rate and went out appx 9:30a-2:30pm. We brought lunch on our boat. We saw seals and otters !

It was a fantastic experience! We managed to see a river otter eating fish, and several seals chilling while floating. We had zero experience and the canoe was stable and in good shape, so we managed ourselves better than we expected. They had life vests even for dogs! We got so excited that we kept rowing, so the way back, windier than anticipated, was a bit tough for the inexperienced and weak, but we succeeded, and felt very proud of ourselves 🙂

Super pleasant experience with one of their outrigger canoes. It was easier to glide through the water than we expected. We paddled 2.25 miles up Big River to where the river takes a southward bend. We saw cormorants and osprey. The return trip was more difficult with an onshore breeze and incoming tide requiring more effort with the paddles. Steering the canoe was easy with the foot peddles connected to the rudder. Quite the enjoyable morning, even if my shoulders were dog tired the next 2 days.