Customer Comments

It is easy to whistle while we work at Happy Ours Kayak & Bike Outpost because our customers are so great! We look forward to seeing our repeaters year after year, and making new friends of our first-time visitors. Your referrals, thank-you notes, letters, emails, and reviews are much appreciated! Here are just a few accolades we wish to share

Fun with great equipment

"We were staying on Cape San Blas at the Boardwalk neighborhood near the entrance to the cape. Right across the street we took advantage of this outpost. The owners were very nice and explained when was the best time to rent a kayak for tides in the bay. Behind the home is where the kayaks are launched. They have canoes and bikes also. I was impressed with the condition of the equipment. The bikes were new and we could rent them for one day or by the hour. We decided on 24 hrs. for $15. A bargain! There is a bike trail from one end of the cape to the other and easy to use. Really enjoyed this rental. Must have credit card to rent. Bikes for all ages."
- August 24, 2016 / JLDC, Smithfield, Virginia / Trip Advisor


Great time!

"We had a very nice time. They are in a great location. Their business sets right at a great access to the bay and bike trails. They have great equipment. Bikes are a little more to rent than scallop cove, but they are quality. Nice and sturdy. The bay is beautiful to the back. Nice and peaceful kayaking. Very picturesque. They are very helpful and familiar with the area, and they know their product. The husband went especially out of his way to make sure we had a great rental experience. Thanks!"
- July 2, 2016 / Remington 1 / Trip Advisor


"Our family of 5, had the best time today. Everyone was extremely friendly and the rental process was as smooth as can be. The water in he bay was super clear. We saw sea turtles, horseshoe crabs, nurse sharks and fish. We've done several things on our family vacations but this has to be one of our favorites!"
- June 23, 2016 / Jennifer Braden Fisak / Facebook Review


"Our family of 6 LOVED our experience with Happy Ours!! The owner and staff were very knowledgeable, kind, friendly and helpful and they equipped us with everything we would need for our kayak excursion. We were told that we would see sharks and sea turtles and sure enough, we did!! It was thrilling!! We will definitely return next year!!! 5 stars just isn't a big enough rating!!"
- June 15, 2016 / Shannon Walker Hutchison / Facebook Review


biking kayaking standup paddling super experience

"First off, the people who run this place are friendly, knowledgeable, and efficient. Their setup is perfect for having a great time with minimal hassle. They are happy to answer all your questions (I had a lot.) The equipment is new and worked perfectly. I did two bike rides up and down the bike trail. Then, kayaked. In the morning I saw some fish, a few crabs, etc. Very nice and peaceful. They tell you exactly where to go, how to navigate, how long it should take, and what to look for. In the afternoon I did the stand up paddle and saw much more ... an army of crabs, horseshoe crabs, stingrays, small fish, and other wildlife. If you enjoy being active or just want to try, the people here have the attitude, knowledge, and equipment. I would highly recommend."
- June 7, 2016 / Atlanta, GA / Trip Advisor


Very pleased

"Originally booked with 'Seahorse water safari's' and they turned out to be garbage. After dealing with their nonsense we visited Happy Ours. Wow what a difference!!! Super nice folks, great equipment, valuable advice! Happy Ours turned our previously spoiled day into a lifetime memory. They got all our needed gear gathered, put it in the boats, gave us a brief safety and user course, told us where to go, and helped us get the kayaks out. We headed where they said and sure enough there were scallops all around. When we got back they helped us beach the boats and we got to leave all rented equipment right there. No hauling all that stuff back up. Then the guy showed us exactly how to clean the scallops and how to preserve them back to Mexico Beach. Highly recommended!!!!! If we had rented a pontoon from seahorse water safaris it would have been way too shallow for a boat like that."
- July 22, 2015 / Trip Adsvisor


Bike Rentals

"Very friendly and efficient. Gave us a booklet of nice spots to ride. Even let us use bug spray. Wonderful 9 mile paved path out of their driveway. Bikes were nice with basket and bell. :) I am 50 and my husband and I had no problem riding the 18 miles because it was flat. Funnest thing I did on this trip."
- July 1, 2015 / Trip Advisor


Treated us like family

"Our family went to Cape San Blas in order to participate in a number of outdoor activities, paddle boarding among them. Our travel vehicle, which had our paddle boards on it, broke down en route to the Cape and our rental vehicle was unable to accommodate them. Thankfully, Happy Ours had boards available! The owners are really nice, down to earth folks and the workers are great. They made sure that we were set up with boards that fit our whole family's needs and worked with our 8 year old to make her experience better. You are able to put into the bay right there at the business if you like, which we did. The paddling was amazing, with hundreds of stingrays, gorgeous fish, and other amazing sea creatures to see. I would highly recommend Happy Ours to anyone seeking a water adventure while visiting Cape San Blas.
- June 12, 2015 / Trip Advisor


Awesome customer service! Definitely recommend!

"These people were very friendly, very honest, and very patient with us. We had been to rental another place the cape and the man there was very rude and not very informative. We wanted to go scalloping and did not know what we were doing, Happy Ours gave us all the information we needed to scallop, but also told us the fishing was not very good at the moment. We then changed gears and rented a paddle board and went kayaking and had so much fun. I would definitely recommend this rental company."
- July 30, 2014 / Trip Advisor


Starfish, stingray, sea turtles! Great place!

"I would definitely recommend this place to all ages. I also recommend you call in advance to reserve your gear because they were very busy. The bay is shallow, 2-3 feet deep, and the water was crystal clear. You can see starfish, hermit crabs, horseshoe crabs, stingray, and sea turtles in their natural environment. We had great customer service from the staff and owner. We had a short wait because they were busy but the owner was very apologetic and took care of us as quickly as possible. We will come back again!"
- July 23, 2014 / Trip Advisor


Happy Ours Kayak Trip (video)

- Jul 15, 2014 / Mark Dudley


Fantastic Outfitter

We stopped in to talk to Debbie at Happy Ours on Wednesday, May 15th about kayaking the next day. When we first drove up I was charmed by the quaint feel of the grounds. It is a well maintained property with chickens, a horse and a donkey. Debbie came out to warmly greet us and answer any questions that we had about the trip. She showed us the kayaks, life jackets, and all the other goodies that they had available to rent (water shoes, dry boxes) to make our trip enjoyable.

When we went back on Thursday and Debbie went over the rental agreement, and started outfitting us with our gear. She then asked us what we wanted to see and gave us really good directions on where to go, taking the time to get out a map and then take us to the bay to point out landmarks to paddle toward that would help us get to our destinations.

When we got back from our trip Debbie asked us what we saw and answered questions about what we couldn't identify. She is very knowledgeable about the wildlife and I would love to take a guided tour with her or Dan the next time we get down to this area.

About the rental equipment: This isn't your average rental equipment, this is the good stuff. The kayaks we rented were both Perception sit on tops. These are really, really nice kayaks! They had padded seats, which if you have ever kayaked then you understand why the padding is important, like-wise with the padded back rests. The life vests were not just typical, cheap vests but were comfortable for paddling and were fully adjustable. We didn't need water shoes as we had our own but the ones they had were clean and in great shape. I was thankful that there were dry boxes for rent since I neglected to pack mine, and at $2 a piece we decided to rent one for each boat (just in case).

In the clear water of the bay we saw horseshoe crab, stingrays, a turtle, several fish, a sponge, conch, and much, much more. I would love to kayak this area again and would certainly use Happy Ours to outfit us the next time.
- May 19, 2013 / Trip Advisor


Great time on the bay

"Not sure what transpired between the owners and people who left poor reviews, but three of us found Dan and Debbie to be great. I booked a day ahead for three single kayaks and when the weather the following morning turned out to be more rainy and unfavorable than expected, Dan gladly charged us nothing and set aside kayaks for us in case the weather cleared. It did clear up and we went out on the bay. Dan was out leading a guided tour of people who were rained out the day before, so Debbie got us going and was very kind. The "Nickel and Dimed" comment from another person sounds ridiculous. Water shoes and dry bags are low $2 fees, especially compared to the costs of kayaking in Maine, which my wife and I did a month prior.

Debbie gave us a general tour direction/plan which worked out great. We also looked at their website before showing up, which recommended that if you don't have some closed toe footwear to use on your kayak trip that you should rent water shoes. Most of the other things people have complained about on here were related to their policies that were also clearly spelled out on their site.

As far as having issues with the owners, all I can say is that we came in, were as nice as most people are, and had very nice service. So to those who called the owners rude, I wonder how much of those issues stemmed from your own disposition.
- July 30, 2012 / Trip Advisor


Email to Dan and Debbie: "I would like to thank you for the fantastic time we had on our recent guided eco tour. It was defintely the high light of our vacation! We all learned so much and really enjoyed our time on St Joe Bay. Also, we each appreciated the extra instruction and paddling tips too . . . Thanks again for sharing and allowing us the opportunity to learn more about your slice of paradise!"
- April 24, 2011 / Sharon W., Mobile, Alabama


Great review with photos and video at the Pure Florida blog.
- MARCH 26, 2011 / Pure Florida


"My wife and I took an unguided 4 hr kayak trip and loved every minute of it.  Neither of us had been kayaking before and decided to give it a try.  Dan and Debbie were great, Dan was very patient with us giving us some quick lessons on how to handle the kayak.  Saw lots of scallops, horseshoe crabs, hermit crabs, birds and one small stingray."
- September 26, 2010 / Boaz, Alabama


Email to Debbie:  "I just wanted to thank you SO, SO much for taking me, my husband, our son and his friends out scalloping this past weekend.  Everyone loved it!  We have been wanting to learn where to go and how to find the scallops for years now . . . so glad we went to the experts to guide us!"
- September 8, 2010 / Joan S., Cooper City, Florida


"Debbie took us on a great four hour kayaking tour of St. Joseph Bay. She is very knowledgable and fun. She showed us sponges that were like condominiums for sea life, including starfish, toad fish, shrimp, crabs, and many other sea creatures. She pointed out that the bay is a nursery for the ocean. Saw a 4' alligator, bald eagle, osprey, horseshoe crabs, stringrays, baby sharks, pileated woodpecker, and much more. Guided tour very worthwhile."
- September 1, 2010 / Pensacola, Florida


"Thanks for giving our family a fun day on the bay!" - Nancy
"Thank you for the tour - we all had a great time." - Lynn
"Had a great time. Thanks." - Chris
"I had lots of fun! I hope I come back again!" - Kelsey
"Thank you for letting us use the kinks." - Griffin
"Thank you so much!" - Ethan
"Thank you Very Much!" - Liam
"Thank you for the great experience. We really enjoyed it." - Korsten
"Thank you for a good time!" - Olivia
- July 4, 2008


"My kids LOVED this [eco-tour with Happy Ours Kayak & Canoe Outpost] more than anything else we did this week. You can really tell Dan loves his job. He made sure we brought everything we needed, beach shoes (not flip flops) a hat, sunscreen, and drinks. It was only $40 per pair of people in a tandem kayak, plus $100 to add Dan for half a day, and is he ever worth it. Dan really made the kids feel safe, very educational, and great sense of humor. When you're done from the eco tour you can pet his horse and donkey. You can stand in the water over a mile out, so anyone afraid of deep water is safe here, a MUST DO!!"
- May 29, 2008 - Little Rock AR


"We recently returned from a visit to our favorite beach, Cape San Blas, with great memories. One of the high points was taking our 10-year-old son and his friend on a Guided Eco-Tour provided by Happy Ours. Dan and Debbie VanVleet are not only experts on the marine life and ecology of the beautiful St. Joseph Bay, they are also expert entertainers! The kids went from being nervous about the strange things they were seeing in the water to grabbing horseshoe crabs by the tail and snorkeling not far from where we'd seen a baby shark. The bay is clean and healthy, like looking through glass at the shallow bed below teeming with plant and animal life. We saw stingrays, puffer fish, scallops, conchs, blue crabs, fiddler crabs, and more. Mullet leapt from the water all around our boats. That night we raised a beer to Dan and Debbie when we ran into them at the Indian Pass Raw Bar. If you are looking for a beach without high rise condos, jet skis and banner dragging planes, this is the place. It is a protected wildlife area where sea turtles nest, dolphins breakfast just off shore, and great blue herons share their fishing grounds with the children. We'll be back."
- June 26, 2007 - Birmingham AL


"Thanks for a great kayak trip and very helpful mini-lesson on paddling."
- May 29, 2007 / Bob & Rebecca


"Lovely regards from Germany. We really enjoyed to meet you. We had some really happy (h)ours with the kayaks and talking to you. Should you ever visit Germany, please let us know, [you] are very welcome to us. We wish you all the best for the future."
- 2004 / Aleson & Thomas


"On behalf of our entire family, we wanted to say a big 'THANK YOU, DEBBIE!!' We enjoyed our eco-tour with you so much. The kids all said it was their favorite part of the vacation. They loved telling everyone about the kayaks, the snorkeling, and learning about all the bay creatures and plant life. Tell Dan I have a bunch of old spoons for his new cottage industry...'scalloping spoons.' They are old spoons from the cottage, so they'll be vintage 'Old Florida' style! See ya'll 4th of July! Fondly,"
- June 30, 2003 - Perry Ann & Keith


"It was a very enriching experience that I had visiting with you all and specially that kayak eco-trip. I told my nephew & niece about my trip and both of them are very excited about taking this trip in near future. I will get in touch with you all when they are here. Some of the photographs that I took came out pretty nice. I am sending some of them. I hope both of you are doing well and so are Lizzy and the cute donkey (I am forgetting his name). Regards,"
- 2002 / Sam


"We'd like to thank you for your friendliness and hospitality to us when we dropped into your church on Easter morning. Also for the advice and the tour of the bay and souveniers. You were an important reason why we had such a great Spring Break vacation. Thanks again,"
- June 7, 2002 / Mark & Shelly, David & Kate


"Hi! We rented a tandem kayak from you on 11-19 - which was our last full day in Florida - and we just wanted you to know that it was probably the best day of our vacation! We had a great time - saw lots & had fun! Thanks,"
- 2001 / John & Janet