We get a call most weeks that opens with, “do you guys do boat tours?” Short answer: yes, just not the kind with an engine. Here’s the long answer, which covers every kayak tour and rental we run out of the Jacksonport shop, plus how to actually pick one if it’s your first time on this water.
What “boat tour” means at this shop
We don’t run motorized boat tours. We never have, in 23 years. The Zodiac product some folks remember was a brief experiment that didn’t fit the shop, and it’s gone.
What we do run, from the same building on WI-57 we opened in 2002:
- Guided kayak tours, eight different routes from Cave Point to Cana Island to Death’s Door
- Self-guided kayak rentals if you’d rather pick your own pace
- Stand-up paddle board (SUP) rentals
- Gift certificates that work for any of the above
A sit-on-top kayak is a boat. It’s also the right kind of boat to get up against the Cave Point limestone walls without scaring off the smallmouth bass underneath you. Last June, a guest came back to the shop after the cave tour and said, “I thought I wanted a speedboat ride. This was better. I could hear the waves inside the cave.” That’s the trade we make every day, and we like our side of it.
Why first-timers do fine in our boats
Most of who we paddle with has never been in a kayak. They tell us in the parking lot. They’re not lying. Then 90 minutes later they’re paddling into a cave, and the kids are quiet, and somebody asks if we run a sunset version (we do).
Here’s why the math works:
- Sit-on-top kayaks. Wide, stable, no skirt to fight with. If you slide off, you climb back on. We’ve had two-year-olds in dad’s lap and 78-year-olds doing fine.
- Real boat ramp at Schauer Park. Not a “private beach” you have to drag a loaded kayak to. Pavement to water in 15 feet, parking right there.
- Calm-water windows. We read the forecast every morning. If the south wind’s up, we move you. If the bay is glass, we go.
- Kids 7 and up ride tandem with a parent. Smaller kids hang at the launch with grandma, that’s fine, this isn’t a daycare pitch.
- Free reschedule if weather doesn’t cooperate. No fee, no fight.
- The same guides come back. A few of them have been on this water with us for 8+ seasons. They’ve forgotten more about Cave Point than most operators ever learn.
We’ve been teaching first-timers on this water for 23 years. You’ll do fine.
The cave tour, our flagship since day one
If you only do one thing with us, do the Cave Kayak Tour. Two hours, beginner-friendly, paddles you under the limestone overhangs, into the main cave, past the cliff jumpers, back to the launch. It’s the trip the shop is named after, and it’s the trip the calls and texts ask for 4 to 6 times more often than any other tour we run.
It books up. Especially in the second half of summer and into September (which, oddly, is busier than June for us, weather’s better and the bugs are gone). If you see a spot open today, take it. Same-day bookings are normal here.
Rather rent your own boat and skip the guide?
Fair. We rent too.
- Kayak rental. Sit-on-top singles and tandems, by the hour or the half-day. Best if you’ve paddled before and have a launch you already like. We can point you at one if not.
- Paddle board (SUP) rental. The lake on a calm day is a paddle-board lake. Not on a windy day. We’ll be honest with you about the forecast before we hand over the board.
Bring a change of clothes. The water’s warmer than people expect from June through early October, and you’ll get wet whether you mean to or not.
A note: most rental customers tell us afterward they wish they’d taken the guided tour. Not all. Maybe 60%. Worth knowing if it’s your first time on this shoreline. The Cave Kayak Tour is a few dollars more and you don’t have to read a wind forecast.
Same-day booking and the weather question
You’re probably reading this on a phone in a Fish Creek or Egg Harbor cottage, deciding whether tomorrow morning works. Two things:
- Same-day and next-day bookings are normal. Our system holds spots until late the night before. If FareHarbor shows a slot, it’s real.
- The weather. We watch it every morning at 6 AM. If we have to move you, we move you, no fee, no argument. If we can run, we run, and we call you if anything changes.
On the rare days when the south wind kicks up and the cave tour can’t go, we tell guests to drive out to Cave Point anyway and find the blowhole above the main cave. Water shoots up through a vent in the limestone every time a wave hits right. Most visitors walk past it without noticing. You won’t, because we just told you.
Gift certificates
People who got married here, honeymooned here, or grew up coming up from Brookfield with their parents. We sell a fair number of gift certificates to those folks for siblings, kids, parents. Any tour, any rental, any amount, no expiration. They print and they email.
If you got this far, here’s the move: open the Cave Kayak Tour page, pick a morning slot in the next three days, and book it. We’ve been showing first-timers around these caves for 23 years. You’ll do fine.
Cedar Shore
Cave Point Paddle & Pedal