Dillon Reservoir Kayak Tours


Kayaking Dillon Reservoir since 2009

Kayak Lake Dillon

If you plan to kayak Lake Dillon don’t miss out on our award-winning tours, operating since 2009! All tours include state of the art tandem sea kayaks. We provide type-3 PFDs designed specifically for kayaking in comfort. Our friendly professional and always entertaining guides will ensure you have a memorable experience. Booking directly through our website will guarantee the cheapest price available.

All Tours have a specific age limit. Please, follow those age requirements. Morning tours are always recommended over afternoons due to wind. If you have children, please, book the morning tours!

Choose Your Kayak Tour

Island Tour(Morning)

2.5 hrs | 4-6 Miles | Ages 8 & up*

Offered at the earliest time available,  this is our NUMBER ONE selling tour and is recommended for most adults and families with an even number of adults and children ages eight and older.

Family Tour(Children Required)

1.5 hrs | 1-3 Miles | Ages 6 & up

Our Family Tour is available for families with younger children or with more children than adults. Children are required to book this tour.

Island Tour(Mid Day)

2.5 Hrs | 4-6 Miles | Ages 14 & up*

Our afternoon Island Tour is reserved for ages 14 and up. It is the same tour as the Island Tour but has a greater chance of encountering higher winds and rougher water.

ALL TOURS LAUNCH FROM THE FRISCO BAY MARINA

There are two Dillon Reservoir Marinas. We operate out of the Frisco Bay Marina which sits on the more protected side of the reservoir. This less exposed section of Dillon Reservoir provides guests with plenty of sheltered bays and islands when kayaking Lake Dillon. Kayak tours launch throughout the day, our earliest kayak tour the Island Tour, launches at 8 am, and our last trip The Sunset Tour launches one and half hours before sunset. Guests can expect to see Bald Eagles, amazing rocky mountain views, muskrats, deer, and on occasion moose!

ALL OF OUR TOURS USE DOUBLE KAYAKS

We use tandems when we kayak Lake Dillon. The water is super cold, and tandem kayaks are much more stable than singles. We do everything we can to plan tours around the best weather and the least amount of wind, but sometimes the wind can build in the morning before 11 am. Our tours are maxed out with twelve guests per guide and with tandem kayaks that can still seem like a small group using six kayaks versus twelve. Using two-person kayaks since 2009 is the reason we average one capsize a year. The most common reason for a tip-over is families running into each other on purpose.

CERTIFIED KAYAK GUIDES

Please have no fear, all of our guides have completed extensive sea kayak training, through the American Canoe Association (ACA). Training includes rescue techniques, group management, CPR, and first aid. Our guides provide great instruction on how to kayak in tandem. Our tandems are the Necky Manitou II and we have found it is the perfect boat for this body of water.

SINGLE KAYAKS ARE AVAILABLE FOR ODD NUMBER RESERVATIONS

If your family or reservation has an odd number, we can put the odd person in a single kayak, as long as our guides deem them capable of kayaking on their own. Single kayakers must be at least 14 years old and should be no taller than 6″3. They must be able to fit inside the smaller seat of the single kayak. Also, please know the heavier the person, the less stable the kayak. Families with odd numbers should book the earliest tours available. Our morning tours offer the calmest water and best weather possible. Why kayak early?

KAYAK RENTALS

We do not offer rentals. We are focused on providing fully narrated guided kayaking experiences.

All Kayak Gear

  • Tandem Kayak
  • Kayak Specific Life Jacket
  • Fiberglass Paddles
  • Fleece & Rain Jackets

Professional Guides

  • American Canoe Association Certified
  • CPR First Aid Certified
  • Always Friendly
  • Always Professional

Aditional Services

  • Free HD photos
  • Dry Bags
  • Fleece Jackets
  • Retail Products Available

We always recommend kayaking lake Dillon as early as possibly

  • Wind Wind Wind – You can hike in high wind. Kayaking not so much
  • There is usually no wind in the morning
  • There will be at least some wind by 12 pm, guaranteed
  • Less wind, but colder air temps are warmer than more wind higher temps
  • There is almost always a chance of thunderstorms in the afternoon
  • There are fewer people on the lake
  • Traffic is minimal early in the morning
  • There is plenty of parking in the morning

Traffic

We are not responsible for the traffic. There is always traffic in Colorado, especially on I-70. If you plan to leave Denver or Vail on the day of your tour, you are responsible for planning ahead. Please treat your kayak tour like an airline flight. You wouldn’t expect a refund due to traffic on a flight, please expect the same here.

Road Construction – The Summer in Colorado is known as construction season. Please expect road construction everywhere you go. For travel alerts please visit CDOTs website. We recommend everyone download their app and set notifications.

Age Limits, Abilities and Group dynamics

All of our tours utilize tandem (two-person) kayaks. There must be at least one capable adult in each kayak. If you book with two people but only have one capable paddler you can expect the tour to be more difficult than it would be for two capable adults.

The Island tour is considered easy for two adult kayakers planning to paddle. It is considered easy/moderate for one adult and one small child. It is considered Moderate/hard if there are two adults, but only one plan to paddle. 

48 Hour Cancellation Policy

Guests may cancel for a full refund up to 48 hours prior to the trip departure time. After booking you will receive three emails

  1. Confirmation email – immediately after booking
  2. 60 Hour reminder – This email gives you a reminder that you have 12 hours left to self-cancel or reschedule. All emails contain a self reschedule/Cancel Link
  3. 3 Hour reminder – This email is set to remind you not to be late and contains meeting information at the top of the email

We are not responsible for traffic. There is always traffic in Colorado, especially on I-70. If you plan to leave Denver or Vail on the day of your tour, you are responsible for planning ahead. Please treat your kayak tour like an airline flight. You wouldn’t expect a refund due to traffic on a flight, please expect the same here.

How to cancel

  1. Click on the Self Cancel/Reschedule link in any of your confirmation or reminder emails

Be sure to enter your correct contact info

If you enter a fake cell phone or email, we are not responsible for the lack of communication

Weather Cancellations

  • You can cancel 48 hours prior to your tour for a full refund. Within that time frame, it is our job to cancel due to weather
  • We will cancel for high winds, Lightning, and sustained rain
  • Our morning tours rarely cancel. The weather in the morning is almost always blue skies with no wind.
  • If you disagree with our decision to run the tour due to weather we will provide you with a gift card, worth the total trip amount 25% rebooking fee if you rebook within 5 days of the original tour. This is only if you are inside the 48 hours

Additional information

We will never force anyone out on a tour if we believe the weather conditions are unsafe. However, we have designed our tours, schedules, and age limits to give you optimal opportunities to enjoy your time on the water. If you book a tour and are pushing our age limits, weight restrictions, or ability levels that is on you. If you book a tour and decide last minute it’s not for you, we are unable to give you a refund since guests within our age limits and ability requirements could have participated. Please, understand we do not want to take anyone’s money for nothing, but we do need to set boundaries and expectations.

Email Reminders

  1. Please, enter an email address you plan to use while on vacation!
  2. Enter your email address correctly.

Customer Testimonials

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Meet Our Lake Dillon Guides


ACA Certified Kayak Instructors

Located at the Frisco Bay Marina


On Frisco Beach

You Can't-miss us!

New Shed, Same bright sign!