Napa Valley Paddle

We met Tanya downtown at the river walk and she set us up with a Fagan Marsh kayak trip the next day. Loved talking with Drew beforehand, learning about wetland restoration efforts and how quickly nature can rebound. The slough was peaceful and sparkling on this sunny October afternoon. We observed cranes and fish nibbling at surface snacks. In the distance, you can see Mount Tam and a bit closer--the Brazos railroad bridge. While there is much to see and do in Napa, this experience at the end of our trip was a definite highlight.

Easy perfect outing for anyone at any age. Checkout the tides before you go out - this will allow for an easier paddle if that matters. The staff is super helpful and will help with everything you need.

We arrived here to paddle board for our first time, Julie was very helpful in instructing by jumping on her own paddle board and showing us how to paddle and get on and off the board. Thank you Julie for making our first experience a great one! The employees were all very helpful!

Our group of eight people absolutely loved this service right down town Napa! The customer service that Chad provided was the best, friendly, knowledgeable, and great advise on how to go about the Napa River. We paddled from downtown to the Butler bridge and back for a total of 3.5hrs and the equipment worked great, the tandem kayaks offered great flexibility for those who wanted to pedal and those who wanted to paddle. I would absolutely do it again, highly recommended!!

It has always been an item on my bucket list to see bioluminescent plankton. However I held very little hope of ever seeing it because it was my understanding that you never know when or where it'll ever appear.So when my wife mentioned that Napa Valley Paddle was doing a guided kayak tour though bioluminescent waters in Tomales Bay I had no choice but to book a trip.I've been kayaking exactly twice before and both times on lakes in broad daylight. So I was a little nervous about kayaking in a salt water bay in the dark. Hopefully the water is smooth and it doesn't get too choppy for my wife and I.Also, I had low expectations, maybe the plankton won't be there that night, and if it is, it's probably a very subtle glow that you almost have to use your imagination to see.When we arrived we found ourselves in a parking lot at the Miller Boat Launch in Marshall. We got some basic instructions on kayaking, given life vests and whistles and headlamps set to red light to wear backwards. It was all pretty laid back and chill.As the sun went away and the fog came in we paddled out to Hog Island and by the time we were close to it, it was dark enough that some people were beginning to see the water light up. Fortunately the water was very calm and it was comforting to see all the red headlamps on the water to guide us on our way. We paddked clear across the bay to the other side where there were cliffs making the water especially dark there. This is where we turned off all of our lights.There was no subtlety at all, it was nothing less than magical. The water lit up with every paddle and every splash. It was a smooth blue glow in the dark with occasional spatks mixed in. We spent a good while paddling around and splashing and generally bring awed by the trippy water.Then it was time to start heading back, the goal was to paddle around the other side of Hog Island where the water is also very fun to look at. However the water glowed the whole way there even.Unfortunately this is also when conditions changed. We had a nasty headwind and the water got choppy. We were seriously worried we might capsize as we paddled like crazy to get to the island again. When we finally got there, we were done. We just wanted was to get back to the car and go home and drink hot coacoa. So we kept on paddling as hard as we could while we struggled to keep the kayak heading in the right direction.People were starting to scatter and soon the only lights to follow were at the boat launch we came from. Whether that actually was the boat launch was debatable but it was the only indication of civilization so we kept heading in that direction. Maybe it was because we were heavier than anyone else or perhaps we just couldn't paddle very well but we lagged behind in the dark. To make things even more interesting the conditions continued to worsen. We had to fight the wind and the choppy water harder as we made that last leg of the paddle back to shore.Fortunately the lights we were aiming for did happen to be where we needed to land and although we missed the dock we did get to shore soaked but not dreched and we managed to actually make it without going into the drink.Needless to say, it became an adventure however no one could have predicted conditions would change like they did. Apparently under typical conditions we would have had a tail wind and that part of the trip should have been the easy part.A professional paddle boarder who was with our group told us those conditions were "insane" and it was not something she would have willingly attempted unless it was over a short distance in daylight.So we feel better about ourselves having a hard time making it back.I'm very glad we did this, it's a beautiful memory, and a great story to tell, and I highly recommend going.

My first time in kayak was with Napa Valley Paddle. Comfortable and beautiful setting. Very happy with staff and experience! Definitely going back and bringing friends.

Did a board demo day on the Napa River and a bioluminescence tour in Tamales bay. Both fun experiences and great personnel!

Incredible day on the Napa river with family & friends.Thanks Drew & Napa valley Paddle for making this experience so fun & easy. We could drive up, park & step on the river really quickly.Boards were ready to go! Very kind staff who were ready to help as we came back at the end of the day also. Would highly recommend this day adventure when you visit Napa.~ Dyer & Chris

I am now obsessed with kayaking and paddle boarding thanks to Napa Valley Paddle. Easy to book, quality equipment. Knowledge staff and love the location. Highly recommend!

Do not book with them. Due to weather they understandably cancelled our tour however said no refunds are available. Many other business offer a refund minus a minor fee.