We did the two hour tour and absolutely loved it!! They are great people!! Let’s support our local businesses!! The tour guy was so much fun and knowledgable. It was my first time kayaking and he made it smooth and enjoyable. Highly recommend this place

Its a fun way to spend quiet time with family or love ones or simply by yourself. The water is clean and lots of nature and wildlife around - tranquil atmosphere - the place have 2 ways to go and experience... if you go to the right side - its a lot more wooded and natural ... the left side is a lot more open... youll have a wider space to navigate and hear/ see more of the combination of city and nature... either way - its a neat experience. Kayak and canoe rentals are market price value.

Alex is the best tour guide! He is very knowledgeable and has a great personality and was very accommodating to our schedule! The Paddling Center has friendly and happy staff. Shingle Creek is so peaceful and I recommend them 100% Thanks for a fantastic morning paddle :)

Go see Ray for a tour here, he’s the best and soo knowledgeable. Would definitely go back. If you wanna get to know a different part of Florida, the real part and not just Mickey Mouse, go visit this paddling center!! Well worth it!

Awesome kayak tour. Stephanie was an excellent guide!

Perfect canoeing adventure (Christmas vacation)!! Family of 4 rented a canoe and had an amazing time on Shingle Creek! Very peaceful, relaxing and enjoying the beautiful sights! We didnt expect to go down windy waterways but it made it even more special and entertaining. Everyone had a great time. We all agreed it was time better spent than in crazy long lines at the parks.

Its an immersive trip to be sure. The presented land is thick enough to hardly notice the surrounding communities. Plenty of quite times with occasional plant noise. But when its quite, you can hear the water flow around branches and logs. Smooth currents throughout, and the boats and staff worked perfectly.

Stephanie was an awesome guide for our river tour. Had a great time!

Great place!! Good experience! Excellent customer service!

5+ as always. Looking forward to going the other direction next time. Had a few bites fishing. Saw a lot of gar, couple alligators, few turtles and birds. Beautiful day on the water! Highly recommend!

We came to Florida from Texas and wanted to do some paddle boarding. Not being from here, we didnt realize that a 15 min drive was going to take longer since the lights here are so long. We showed up literally 2 mins after 1pm and the lady was rude saying 1:00 is 1:00. I get that 1pm is the cut off and if she was nice and apologized but told us we couldnt do it cause it was after 1pm, that would have been fine. But she was incredibly rude about it and makes me not want to ever spend my money here.

Love coming here, its so peaceful and calm great to paddle out of the hustle and bustle of life, great to see the wild life as it should be seen, its probably best to go early, its cooler so more chance of seeing the wildlife in all its splendor.We have been lucky enough to see alligators, deer, turtles and many different birds and its great to see the fish jumping.

Absolutely fantastic, we hired a canoe for 2 adults and 2 children which was very reasonably priced. Saw plenty of wildlife - turtles and alligators being the highlights. Very friendly and knowledgable staff. Thoroughly recommended.

Great place to visit snd see the Crocs.

Couldnt guarantee no gators. That xreep3ed me out

Good services and a great 2 hour tour in a double Kayak with my girlfriend (single kayaks are better suited for the route). Our guides Dave and Bill were really Good, it was cloudy and cool for the tour so we did not see any alligators or turtles but none the less we learned a few things about the area and the local ecological system too. Would strongly recommend this to anyone, its suited to all abilities and is a great time to relax away from the commercial world of Disney and enjoy the real local area.

Shingle Creek Park is a hidden gem buried between a maze of shopping malls. The waters are very clean with a abundance of wildlife. The creek has a soft current that runs north to south. We rented the kayaks for three hours, which was enough time to complete the entire north and south courses.

Great place for paddling, walking, or bicycling. Bathrooms are NOT open right now. FYI for those that are like me and have to go when you get there and then when you leave. So stop before you get there!

The paddling center itself was great. Their prices are fair and the scenery is very nice. Very friendly staff also. My only concern is that they dont really watch the customers cars on the small parking lot, because when I got back from our trip 2 cars had their windows busted and things were stolen from the vehicles. I dont know how that happened given such a small lot and how close the cars were from the main office. This happened at 3 P.M. during broad daylight!

We took the Manatee Tour with Dave. He was a wonderful guide. We are city folks and it was our first time kayaking in the water. Dave was patient, answered all our questions, and took great care of us. Not only was he knowledgeable but he appeared to enjoy nature and the work he does. His passion really showed through. We highly recommend the tour and, if you can, request for Dave!

We tell everyone we can to visit here! We have so many favorite secret places near us, and this is my far the best! The prices to rent kayaks are extremely reasonable and the river is totally different depending on which direction you go from here. We also go left til we have to stop, turn around, and go right as far as we can. Plan a whole day here for the best experience Or, set aside a slowly-paced two hours and go left if its your first time

Visited here in a group of 10 for a guided tour in Single and twin Kayaks.The hosts were very welcoming, knowledgeable and informative.After a brief introductory training session, Alex and Steph were sure to point out interesting animals including baby crocs, turtles, birds along with other environmental facts as we Kayaked our way through the local river.We came to do Disney but are so glad that we booked the 2hour tour as the overall experience was great.The venue had plenty of parking, toilets and provided cold water bottles, waterproof lock boxes to take valuables with you & a life vest.I would say it is very suitable for beginners and would recommend you give it a try.

Great break from the local chaos. Go out early for a more solitary paddle. The south out-and-back can take 2 hours of pretty laid-back kayak paddling. Went self guided with no issues. Saw fish, turtles, 1 deer! lots of cranes, ibis, and we think eagles?

Excellent experience, the staff was very helpful in helping us decide which type of boat to rent. They were very friendly and went out of their way to take care of us. Thank you fellas!

This place is absolutely amazing. I’ve never been Kayaking before and the staff made it extremely easy to learn. The staff was knowledgeable about the sport of kayaking, the nature and ecosystem living in the creek. The instructor took us to see many different animals including multiple alligators. I can not recommend this place enough. The experience was amazing and the staff made sure we had a blast.

Lovely trails over the waterways

This is a great place to get away for a few hours.The reviews are great, except Cynthia Bencomo. She seems to have a bad experience everywhere she goes

If I could rate this trail a -5 I would. Worst experience we have ever had, Tuesday June 10th 2020. Beautiful day me and my fiancé sailed out in our kayaks to have a nice after noon, launched from Shingles Creek and had a great experience until an hour in (everything was very well marked till the point we got to.) we followed markers. After an hour we came to Mile marker 50ish and we realized it was getting bad so we kept going in hopes it would clear up mile marker 60. It wasn’t clearing up Mile marker 64 WE WERE STUCK! There was no going forward, there was no going back. We had to make the call we didn’t think our day would end with (Osceola Police Department.) after locating us by gps we were quickly in contact with the deputy! (By far the best one I have ever met along with the other officer and I have met plenty.) they had did all they could and everything to locate us they did what their job title entitles and then some, they made us feel safe, kept updated with us.About an hour an thirty mins in Florida sun, we seen a helicopter (Police.) above us, at this point I knew we were close to getting saved. They recognized us and stayed over us so the officers could locate us. 30 mins later I heard a voice. It was the officer. (I’m sure by now your wondering why didn’t you fight the way back? Well there was no way to do that a storm was coming in and the water was moving faster due to the wind. /Or/ Why didn’t you go to land. We would but we were in the middle of a swamp very gross, snakes, spiders, turtles, bugs, tons of water and unsafe to do so and I’m sure a gator or two some where.) I yelled back to the voice and here comes the officer cutting through bushes and trees and three feet of water. We were finally saved and had to walk through all this to safety. They didn’t a great job getting us through it safely! It was a good mile and a half of SWAMP water! To top it off we had to leave the kayaks we bought the day before. But we are safe and beat the worst part of the Flordia storm that came in that day!Fast forward to this evening I’m broke out in hives and I’m itchy, running a fever, sick to my stomach and always super hot. I made an appointment to get looked at today and comes to find out I have signs of Sun poisoning, and a Bacteria Infection all over my body from that nasty swamp water!This trail cost us lots of money, out 200 kayaks, a couple belongings in the kayak, both shoes, and a hospital bill! But we are alive and safe and hope out story helps other not chose this trail till it is re fixed!Stay off this trail.Again a HUGE HUGE thank you to the Osceola Police Department Deputies for saving us, for caring for us, for watching over us, for showing us all cops aren’t bad with the world we live in now, for taking us to our car and make sure we were okay and didn’t need anything else, thank you for getting soakin wet and risking it all to do what you could for us and save us. You don’t get enough recognize as you should. You two deserve so much! Thank you!

The best escape from the noise of Kissimmee and Orlando tourism. This is our favorite destination in Florida. It is completely unexpected that this sanctuary would exist where it does. Two minutes down the river and you feel like youre in another world. We have done this self-guided kayak trip 3 times now, and I have taken the pictures below of the various wildlife we have witnessed, including racoon, birds, turtle, fish, and alligator. We are on our way again today as we find ourselves in Florida once again. Great dip into nature, very relaxing. The river bends and winds, giving you plenty of curiosity around the corner. Gets quite narrow at times, but has a very gently current, easy to paddle in both directions. I recommend going south first, then see if you feel like going north once you get back. Highly recommended.

Beautiful place to kayak and spend the day!

Had a wonderful guided tour by Bill here. All staff was very helpful and informative. Will definitely kayak this river again on my next visit and rent from here too!

Such a great find. As soon as you pull in youll feel like you are in another place, away from all the crazy. The staff was very friendly and the price was right. Great views as you go down the creek. Highly recommend

What a great place - hidden in the middle of Kissimmee, this beautiful river and a welcoming a friendly place to rent a kayak or two and enjoy the nature close up. We rented 3 double Kayaks for 3 adults and 3 children ranging from 4-8 it was a great 2 hours, 45 mins down stream and 1 hour back then some time to go the other way for 20 mins at the end. We saw Turtles, Gators and many other animals as beautiful scenery. Well worth a visit.

Wonderful time

Great experience! Serene moments and beautiful scenes of trees. Highly recommended if want to connect with nature in Orlando and escape all the other loud attractions in the area!!!

If you want to experience the real Central Florida, this is how you do it. Stephanie was our guide while we were kayaking and she was a well of knowledge. The run is on Shingle Creek and can go for miles. However, for the tour you will travel about 1.5 miles, before you turn around and head back against the current. Youll come across all sorts of wild life. a dry case will be provided of you dont have one yourself. A group of 3 is the minimum to go; even though their site says 4. A truly memorable experience.

Beautiful paddle! Awesome staff. Joshua is a wonderful guide. I highly recommend the Paddling Center.

Nice place for jogging, trail, kayak or just relax time.

Beautiful river! Rented kayaks and took about 2 hours to go up and back. Saw turtles, birds and lots of beautiful scenery.

Amazing experience in Kissimmee. Saw gators, fish, snakes, turtles and many birds. Guides were fabulous on letting us what to do to stay safe.

Very chill path, will go again.

I enjoyed kayaking there so much, you can find many kinds of birds and the place is so relaxing and very friendly staff .

Great day of kayaking. Free if you have your own. Vwry polite and helpful staff

Definitely a must do paddle.

Very friendly staff, great views all along the river. Would definitely return to this establishment.

This was a great place to kayak. We rented the tandem kayak for 2+1 hours. They were very accommodating with the unplanned extra hour. The staff was nothing but helpful and knowledgeable. The rental process is painless also. As for the property, there was a lot of wildlife. It was a very pleasant morning. A little busy on the water, but what can you do? One side is gentle, and the other is challenging. We did both leisurely in the time span. Would return for another day.

We hired a canoe and did our own thing. It was very peaceful with lots of wild life. Great experience at a great price. Would definitely recommend.Went early to avoid the heat and see more of the wildlife

Fun day on the water

Exellent scape from civilization! A paradise inside the city! Fully recommended. Go and have fun with your family and friends!

Very knowledgeable and friendly staff! Beautiful area tucked away.

Nice, slow water, shaded, and lots of wildlife. Family friendly, we rented a canoe they had life jackets for everyone. The parking lot gets full but there is a lot more parking on the other side of the creek. And a nice walking bridge that goes over the creek.

I brought my own kayaks but I can easily say this my favorite place to paddle for Central Florida. Did not see any gators this time but usually do. Lots of birds. Caught a nice bass for dinner. Paddling Center has kayak and canoe rentals. They will give instructions if needed. Worthy experience.

Jen was an amazing tour guide! She helped us navigate the river while teaching us how to properly kayak. I would recommend this experience to all. We will most definitely be back to do it again! Thank you, Paddling Center. -Lisa

A Great place to paddle and be immersed in nature. You can rent kayaks, canoes,and paddle boards, or you can get a guided tour. Also they have on line reservations through their website.

Closed becouse of covid 19 i think

The scenery was great and we enjoyed the float trip. Equipment was nice. Managers were okay. Staff was horrible - rude, very little assistance putting in and taking out. Almost ruined what otherwise was an enjoyable afternoon. We would like to do the float again. But we will find (hopefully) a different place to get equipment.

Had a great time! Wear sunscreen!!

It was amazing. Best kayak experience i ever had. We saw a lot of cool animals like a woodpecker and a small aligator. Our guide was very kind and he knew a lot about the place, the animals, and the nature. If youre close by you should visit it.

Such an amazing place. Thanks for a great time. Well be back again to visit soon.

Nice place to go with friends or the little o es

Brilliant two hours of wonder. Alligators, turtles and birds. Great fun. Lady at reception so helpful. We had no water and because there is no shop she kindly gave me and my daughter three bottles to share which you really need out on the river. Highly recommended.

My best friend and I were just there. We had two of the best tour guides Jess and Alex I believe there names were and had a blast! Being a business owner my self I appreciate customer service and it was deff there! All the staff were friendly and so nice :) the knowledge the guides had was awesome. I will be back!

Jen was an awesome instructor! She taught us about nature, showed us several animals, and showed us how to properly kayak. I have never been kayaking before and will def go again! All of the staff were friendly and helpful. Thanks guy!

Truly a great experience! Stephanie was an amazing guide and showed and explained lots! Saw alligators, turtles, snakes and had a relaxing 2 hour kayak trip thru beautiful nature. Recommended!

A real hidden gem in Florida cheap prices for a GREAT DAY OUT on the water.Used this place twice on a recent vacay and i have too say IT WAS AWESOMEO 20/10

We had a blast. I recommend the tour. Alex and Jennifer did a great job very informative saw Allegators and their babies. So happy we did this. Recommend this to anyone not Disney related.

The staff is very friendly and the area is clean. To be able to paddle through the headwaters of the Everglades and have cypress trees surrounding is a simply splendid experience. It is catch and release fishing, but the fish do bite; I have caught a few bass and many panfish.Absolutely worth the money and time!

Had a blast

We paddled down the river in a beautiful, idyllic forest and ran into an alligator, literally, then found out we could paddle backwards faster than forwards.

Visited Kissimmee in late April and came here for a kayaking tour. I didn’t expect much, but this was a really awesome tour. We had an amazing guide (I don’t remember his name, but he was originally from Boston) who was really knowledgeable about all the animal and plant life in the area. I’m not a NatGeo type of guy, and I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this tour. Thanks guys.

Such an amazing place with amazing staff! We went on both the cypress forest and manatee tour. Both guides were very knowledgeable and showed us tons of wildlife. They even kept us out on the water past the scheduled time to make sure we got to see everything. Would recommend to anyone who comes to the area!

You’ll barely notice that civilization isn’t far away. Staff are low key and helpful. The northern route is open and easy. If you’re just learning to paddle start there. If you’re planning to do both routes I’d do that first. The other route gets narrow and winding as you go through cypress swamp. It’s more scenic. You’ll probably see turtles. If you’re quiet and alert you might see gators. (We saw one. Don’t corner them or feed them and you should have no trouble from them.). We also saw a hawk and an egret and heron. Recommended.

Wonderful break from the parks and crowds. Beautiful flat water paddle through mangroves. Lots of wildlife. We saw cranes, egrets, a raccoon, and an alligator. Allow 3 hours to see the whole route at an easy pace. Staff is very friendly and helpful.

Alex and Josh are fantastic guides and entertaining.

Lovely hidden little gem just off the highway.

We added this as a quiet way to relax during our Disney parks trip and couldnt have been more happy with our choice. It was a great way to see a different side of the Orlando area and recharge our batteries. It wasnt far from the parks, we saw lots of wildlife and the staff was friendly and helpful.

Jen and Stephanie were awesome guides! I knew I was going to have fun, and in addition I learned so much about the wildlife and history from these knowledgeable pros!

Horrible staff. They knew it was our first time and didn’t even explain how it really worked. We kept going on the wrong direction and they honestly weren’t help whatsoever the worst part was I even caught the employees laughing. Would never recommend this place. The service SUCKS!!!!

Great place to rent from. Fair prices and the staff is nice.

Great experience. Went with a group of 13 and you can reserve. No other place lets you do this. We took the South portion which was beautiful. The cypress area was insane. Staff were super friendly. Would def go there again!

Had a great paddle today! If you are experienced or not staff is very friendly and helpfull to give you the best trip. Saw lots of wildlife. Recommend to any and all to experience wilderness just feet from major highway.

I had a really good time here with my Fiance. It was peaceful and fun. It was kind of eerie because the water was really dark and we saw a baby alligator. Other than that it was fun it started raining while kayaking but it was a fun experience.

Friendly people and informative. Decent prices for kayak rentals.

By far the coolest kayaking experience Ive ever had! Good amount of wildlife, saw a gator, turtle, crane, and some others. Had a group of 4 two young kids and they loved it. The staff there went above and beyond to provide fantastic service! Coming from Indiana and taking a risk on trying this really paid off! If I ever come back to Florida I will go again. Quality gear, quality service and quality staff. You will have a good time!

Love this place! Peaceful and beautiful! They also have a great staff! Thank you John for all your help on both my visits ! You’re awesome! Thanks for the snap pics and m&m!

I love playing #pokemon go here!! People are #friendly, #kayaking is the #best experience in central FL. #Wekiwa is nice and all, but that is pale in comparison to shingle creek. You forget where you are, taking in all the #wildlife in surrounding area. Path becomes so narrow, its #unique and my #favorite place to frequent

I was super scary because it was my first time doing something like this but at the end was an amazing experience!!! I totally loved it and i sure will come back!!! The staff is super cool and kind theyll help you out in anything you need. xoxo

Stunningly gorgeous paddle! No matter if the water is high or low, youll have a great time. I paddle all over the state and Shingle Creek may be my favorite run.The Paddling Center keeps the water super clean and clear of debris. They know their stuff and are a great place to rent kayaks. If you bring your own boats consider giving them a tip for their work in keeping this run pristine.Crossing my fingers that theyll offer a shuttle service soon for the full run.

Awesome place, highly recommend this Shingle creek. Our guides Jennifer and Katy were fun, sweer and nice. Definitely well come back.

Beautiful paddling area and they went above and beyond. I managed to drop my phone in the river at the end of the day and one of their employees paddled back with me to try to find it. Great people all around.

This place was unbelievably cool! I was lucky enough to see plenty of animal life and the still quiet was unreal. I dont think I have ever been so in tune with nature. Special bonus; the proprietors were extremely kind, helpful, and informative. They pointed out special spots that wildlife frequented and shared tons of interesting stories. I will definitely be going back next time I go to Florida!

Good in all ways.

Wonderful experience! I would recommend it to everyone. The views and the nature there are really beautiful. Also the staff were all very nice and helpful. Look for the alligator there. Nice guy too. Not scary at all. He just stood still chilling in the water watching us pass, so do not worry, he will be more afraid of you that you of him. Also watch for the little turtles taking the sun in the shore.

Awesome time.Great staff.Nice people.It was a fun time.

We had a great time. Wished we would have brought a picnic basket and spend some more time. Only went downstream and will go back to go upstream next time. Richard and his son are great. His son took time to show us. Nice way to get a light relaxing work out!

Pretty good

We went on Memorial Day for the first time and the entire staff was friendly, helpful and gave us some great tips. It was quite busy, but the staff made sure the wait was minimal or none at all. The other patrons were also equally friendly and made the whole trip very fun. The scenery was beautiful and it was like being 100 miles away from the tourist area. Very easy for first time kayak/canoe goers. There is some wildlife to see including turtles, alligators, fish and many birds. Bring a camera!

Just left the 2hr guided tour. Jennifer and Kathy are so sweet and fun. Our 1st time kayaking was a blast. Will be back soon and reccomend to all.Thank you.

A great experience! Very informative and friendly staff.

What a relaxing a serene paddle we enjoyed!!!! We saw turtles, undetermined bubbles in the water which we imagined were from alligators, and many birds! We went out at 4:30 in the afternoon and with the shady canopy and breeze it was delightful! I will definitely be back to do this again!!!Our paddle experience did not start out serenely though! The first car carrying our group arrived with eagerness and got to the counter only to find out that the Paddling Center did not have our reservation written down. I made a reservation for 3 singles, 3 doubles, and a SUP about 2 weeks before our arrival. Somehow the Paddling Center didnt have our reservation on the books (handwritten notebooks).When we got there the last of the centers boaters was returning and the two staff members were preparing to leave for the day. The ten of us were VERY disappointed. BUT they made sure to set us up which required them to stay later than expected and do all the clean-up tasks again! Not only did the one staff member insist that we go out for an hour paddle, but, after setting us up in our kayaks, he also took the time to take a group photo for us! I hope the owners realize what a gem they have in their staff members!!!! Maybe a different way to do reservations is a good idea?I HIGHLY recommend paddling with them though!!!