Renting Kayaks, Paddle Boards, and Bikes from Woods & Waters

We've been steadily fielding phone calls and answering emails for Type A's who are busy planning their summer vacations for their family and friends — even in winter! You too can check an important item off your vacation planning checklist because rentals are open for booking on our website www.woodsandwaters.eco. We have a limited supply of sit-on-top kayaks, stand-up paddle boards, sea kayaks, kayaks suitable for kayak fishing, fat tire bikes, gravel bikes, and all-around adventure bikes — so don't wait for certain ladies to sing, or you might find yourself out of luck.

Consider that renting bikes and kayaks is one less thing you need to pack, or make room for, when planning your UP or Northern Michigan vacation. Many people don't have adequate racks, or experience, in hauling their gear for either a quick weekend get-away or a week-long summer vacay — or you might be faced with leaving behind more important items, like the kids, when trying to squeeze everything in to the family mini-van or SUV. We've all seen those vehicles stuffed to the gills with the "kitchen sink" strapped willy-nilly to the roof rack cruising north on I-75 or US-131. Save yourself the hassle and rent! It's also a great opportunity to test-drive new and/or different equipment — or rent kayaks that are more suited to the area (it's Lake Huron and not that 10-acre inland pond you're used to).

Woods and Waters believes in providing top-notch gear, so we have kayaks and bikes from high-quality and established manufacturers. Our bike fleet is Rocky Mountain (and Kona being added in 2024) and paddle boards (SUPs) are from Salt Lake City-based Glide. Our kayaks come from several different manufacturers — and they all provide features for improved safety better than those $200 kayaks that are practically floating bathtubs. Our kayak fleet has boats from P&H, Swell, Current Designs, Dagger, Wilderness Systems, and Perception. We have one Old Town Voyager canoe too. Even though we are a small outfitter, we try hard to maintain variety in our fleet so we can best fit people to the right boat for what they are looking to do — whether it's a two-hour leisurely paddle along the shoreline in Hessel Bay, taking a P&H Scorpio for a week-long adventure on Drummond Island, or renting a paddle board to use daily at your cottage rental on Snow's Channel.

People who rent from us the first time often are surprised at how nice our equipment is — including the lifejackets (PFDs), paddles, bike helmets, etcetera. Much of our gear is new or only a few seasons old. And all associated gear is also provided with the rental. A few other things you may not know:

• Deliveries and pick-ups in the LCI-area are FREE (St. Martin's Point to McKay Bay).
• We will deliver beyond the Les Cheneaux area for a fee. We will give you a quote if you know the address. (DeTour, Trout Lake, Brevort, etc.)
• Rentals can be from 2-hours to multiple days.
• A one-day rental can be either an 8-hour day or one 24-hour period (like, from 10:00 a.m. Tuesday to 10:00 a.m. Wednesday).  
• The daily rate (per diem) decreases the more days gear is rented.

Lastly, if you fall in love with the gear you rented, we will apply 50% (yes, HALF) of what you paid for the rental (not including sales tax or booking fee) toward the purchase of that gear when we are ready to sell off gear. We regularly sell older bikes, SUPs, and kayaks in order to regularly refresh our fleets for the next season. Put down a deposit on the gear if we aren't able to immediately sell to hold it for you, ask to be added to the used gear contact list, or check back with us in mid-August for what gear we are planning to sell in order to update it the following season. Even this spring, we still have a few kayaks that are available for sale (and possibly some bikes too).

We look forward to hearing from you — be the early bird, not the worm!