Kittatinny Canoes

1147 Delaware Dr, Matamoras, PA 18336, USA

Address:	1147 Delaware Dr, Matamoras, PA 18336, USA
Phone:	+1 570-491-2508
Site:	kittatinny.com
Rating:	3.8
Working:	9AM–6PM 9AM–6PM 9AM–6PM 9AM–6PM 9AM–6PM 9AM–6PM Closed

Location

Photos 100

Reviews 6

Manda Lambe-de Zayas

If I could give 0 stars I would. Ive done a bunch of rafting, tubing, kayaking around PA and upstate NY before but only twice with Kittatinny. I went rafting last year with them and it went pretty smoothly (though their "safety lecture" is basically, "Here are the life jackets. Turn when you see the second bridge."). If youve never done any river trips before, do NOT use them! They are wildly unsafe and dont provide any instruction. First time we tried to go this year it poured rain, with thunder and lightening predicted for the rest of the day. The staff said "Oh of course we wont send you out if theres thunder and lightening." But since wed already paid they wouldnt provide us a refund. Their policy is that if theyre launching boats, you dont get your money back. Sarcastically I turned to my boyfriend and said, "So they wait until no one sees lightening for 5 minutes and launch anyway in order to keep everyones money," and to my surprise a woman on the staff laughed and said, "Yep, pretty much!" like it was a joke. When others tried to get a refund and left the staff behind the counter actually said to each other, right in front of us, "Yeah Im not giving them their money, Im in a bad mood today." Most public pools and beaches (and responsible rafting companies) will require people to wait anywhere from 20 minutes to 1 hour from the last sighted bolt of lightening before they let anyone back in the water. Im shocked a business would take the risk. We managed to get a rain check for another day and returned to go kayaking. Again, no real safety tips or instructions. My boyfriend rowed crew but not kayaks and on the very first turn into the rapids we hit a rock and capsized. The current was too strong to properly right and drain the kayak, even though we tried several times and got banged up pretty badly on the rocks. Still, these things happen so we got to a rock big enough for us to rest on in the middle of the river. My boyfriend is like 61", 200+ lbs, and is extremely strong, but he didnt feel confident he could get himself and the kayak all the way to the shore safely. I tried twice and didnt feel strong enough to chance it considering the rocks and the current. Since we had an emergency cell in our pack we called Kittatinny. They told us to get to the shore. We said we couldnt make it. They said theyd see what they could do. 20 minutes went by. We called again and said we needed help. They had no idea who we were, where we were, or that we had called earlier. They put us on hold, they transferred us, we had to explain again. Keep in mind we can SEE the Matamoras landing right there and theyre still launching boats! Now 30+ minutes have gone by and were losing the ability to hold on to the rock. Finally they say, "Well if we bring you in we cant relaunch you so thatd the end of your trip." Obviously we didnt care we just needed help. Then they said theyd send a van with a boat in tow because they didnt have one at that launch site. More time went by. We called a fourth time just as the "boat" (2 high school kids in a canoe) got to us. It took both fit employees, my boyfriend, and myself to get the kayak, the canoe, and the 4 of us to shore and we STILL almost went under. WARNING: Be aware that if God forbid something happens to you, they have NO rescue plan or mechanism in place, no rescue equipment, and no trained personnel to help you. They literally just give you a boat, a life jacket, and a ride back to your car. Im actually in the process of reporting them to authorities because its so unbelievably unsafe it borders on illegal. But they have such a monopoly in the Delaware River Valley that I doubt theyll care in the end.

Minh T. Nguyen

Well-organized large operation. We made reservations a few days ahead, and on the day of the trip, the weather was raining a bit, and they were very easy about giving us a rain check when we asked for it. We ended up taking the risk and going anyways though. Check-in was quick and easy, and we waited only ten minutes until they called us and drove us and others in large bus to the drop off points. At the drop off point some 10 miles up the river (there was another shorter one that is only 5 miles up) , other staff members gave us a short instruction/safety spiel, and we were on our way on our raft/kayak within 15 minutes of drop off. Tip: during the instruction speech, try to position yourself further down towards the rafts -- thats how we got to be the first group out. We had a fun trip down the river.

John Wheby

We used this for a rafting trip down the Delaware and was very pleased with the service. We were able to book on the same day for an afternoon trip, with phone calls answered right away and confirmation sent before I even finished our phone conversation. Our driver that took us to the drop off spot was very friendly and helpful with assistance getting the raft into the water. He also provided some advice on how to avoid getting stuck and to gauge how far we be from the ending stop of our trip. When we returned, the staff was quick to meet us and help us take the raft out of the water. We were able to take advantage of the changing area in the restrooms to swap out of our wet clothes for the ride back to the resort. If we are in this area again, we would consider using this company for another trip.

Anonymous User

First of all, the place had no organization whatsoever. After waiting several hours, we finally got on a bus to go up north. Then, we were given a brief orientation that basically said- "Heres a raft...go down the river. Oh yeah, dont do anything stupid!" We didnt even get a "Have a nice trip!". Haha! Anyway, the website explained there was no experience needed. Luckily, our group had gone white water rafting before and knew what we were doing. Second, and most importantly, the river was completely calm for the whole 11 mile trip back to our cars. I would most definitely recommend it for kayaking or canoeing, but most certainly not for rafting! Look for a place with real rapids for real fun (cough Jim Thorpe cough)!

Anonymous User

We had 11 am reservation, which meant nothing to the staff. Didnt leave for river until 12:15. Staff very unresponsive. When pressed, their explanation for delay was that they were short staffed and people with earlier reservations had arrived late. Neither of those things should be my problem when Ive prepaid for an 11:00 trip. When we finally arrived at the river 1.5 hours later than expected, we were told water was too dirty to swim in, and they would take us back to our cars if we didnt want to canoe. Too bad they didnt tell us wed have a long wait and that we couldnt swim when we arrived at 10:40. Clearly they dont count on repeat business.

Andrew Santagata

Used this company for two different rafting trips with friends and we always have a lot of fun. The only thing that sucks are the other people who you raft with. Many boats will simply try to splash other boats, and completely disregard steering or what the instructor are saying. The company does all they can to make the ride awesome. The only thing I would change is the ability to take the trip at your own pace (I know they keep everyone together for insruance/safety reasons) so you can avoid the a-holes and congestion on the river.