boat rental - Pitstops for Kids

Naples and Cape Coral Florida boat rental with kids

A Florida Boat Rental in Naples and Cape Coral is Perfect for Kids. Discovery Why

If you’re planning a family vacation and after the year we’ve had, why wouldn’t you, the chances are you want more than just lazing around by the pool. Arguably, the best family adventure vacation is to rent a boat in Naples, Florida, and get out on the water.

Sailing is a great vacation for kids as it offers adventure around every corner. Day-to-day parenting involves thinking of ways to engage and entertain your children. On the waves, you’ll find you won’t have to do that as you explore western Florida.

Boat rental businesses such as Click and Boat will offer you boat with or without a captain, offer a range of options for length of hire either by the day or the hour, and no matter how long you hire your boat, you and your family will have a one of a kind of adventure. A Cape Coral boat rental is very popular, and that is for a good reason.

Things to do After you Rent a Boat in Naples

Naples is well known for golf and relaxation, but there is a wealth of things to do with kids. As a rough guide, consider the following:

Naples Zoo – Kids love seeing exotic and wonderful animals, and Naples Zoo will not disappoint. Featuring a Petrof’s Primate Pavilion exhibit features animals native to Madagascar, the zoo also offers rare tigers, hyenas, and leopards. The perfect family day out.
Delnor-Wiggins Pass State Park – Florida is blessed with miles of beaches, and arguably the Delnor-Wiggins Pass State Park is one of the best. The park encompasses 166 acres of land, and as well as full facilities on the beautiful beach, you can attend a guided nature tour.
Clam Pass Park – This 3000-foot boardwalk (you can take a free tram if you prefer) takes you through mangrove forests and plenty of great wildlife to see, including several species of birds and possibly an alligator or two. At the end of the park, the white-sand beach has all the facilities for a great family day out.

Get Your Cape Coral Boat Rental And do This…

Located in Florida’s Gulf of Mexico, Cape Coral is famed for being one of the best places to have a vacation in the world. It has 400 miles of canals and 27 miles of shoreline. It is perfect for a sailing vacation with the kids.

So what to do:

Fossil Expeditions – Fossil Expeditions gives kids the opportunity to find alligator and shark bones and teeth. This is perfect for capturing your kids’ imagination as few kids don’t like the idea of ‘dinosaur hunting.’
Cape Coral Historical Museum – Give your kids an education as to the origins of Cape Coral. This is not a stuffy museum but engaging and vibrant and brings the history of the place to life.
Family Water Parks – Cape Coral has plenty of water parks with Sun Splash Family Water Park and Gator Mike’s Family Fun Park being two of the best. They have different features with one focusing on beach activities while the other offers go-carting and escape rooms.

Get out on the water and enjoy a vacation of a lifetime.

End of summer hurrah: Boat rental from Cruzin

September 7, 2015 By Amy Hagstrom

Happy Labor Day! We hope you’re having a fun, sun-filled, and relaxed day off, this unofficial last day of summer. We’re spending our Labor Day in boating on a local lake. Do we own a boat? Nope! But as it turns out, it’s easy to rent a boat for a day.

Families can rent fishing boats, ski boats, sailboats, speedboats, and even houseboats from Cruzin, a boat rental website for boat owners and vacation-goers. Think of Cruzin as a HomeAway or Airbnb for boats. We rented this vessel, a party boat holding 25 people.

Yes, we decided to host an end-of-summer, informal party on Northern California’s Lake Shasta for family and friends. And dogs…they’re welcome, too!

What exactly is a party boat?

As non-boaters, this was our first question. We were familiar with houseboats, of course, but not party boats. Basically, they’re very similar in style and structure, but instead of interior rooms, our party boat was all open air. We had two large decks (one lower and one upper), plus a head (toilet and shower) and BBQ and wet bar. Best of all, we had a slide!

How Cruzin works:

It was pretty easy to find a party boat that fit our needs on Cruzin. Starting on the website, we perused boat rentals by selecting the lake we wanted to cruise on (sorry, couldn’t resist) and the type of boat we were looking for. Once paired with a boat, Cruzin acted as a middle man of sorts with the partner company or owner (just like when you rent an apartment or home while on vacation). In our case, our partner company was through houseboats.com, located at Jones Valley Resort on the lake.

Once we booked on Cruzin, we were sent a confirmation from the partner company, which listed all FAQs and rules. Generally speaking, Cruzin boat rentals are single day use only, but some partner companies have their own additional rules that override this. For instance, our party boat rental needed to be returned by 8 am the next morning, which meant that should we have wanted to, we could have spent the night. I’m told this is rare, so be sure to ask if you have questions. We found responses to be quick from both Cruzin and the second-party partner.

We were given clear directions to the marina, and the crew at Jones Valley Resort were so friendly, it put us at ease even though we were new to boating. They helped us haul our gear, including coolers and groceries, to the boat and back off when it was time to leave, and their marina has lots of fun outdoor games to keep the kids occupied while we got settled, like ping-pong and basketball. With a brief orientation about the boat, it was less intimidating than we thought to captain it. Did I not mention this? Our very own Pit Stops for Kids’ Dad was at the helm of our party boat, which was tons of fun. We were able to cruise around the lake, play in the water, dock on several beaches, and pick up some additional friends at the marina when needed. Since the boat holds 25 people, all our kids could invite several buddies.

Boat rentals don’t end when summer ends, so keep this travel idea in mind next time you’re ready to spend some family time outside. For our crew, it was a fun detour from our usual camping trips!

As I disclose whenever applicable, our family tried out Cruzin at no expense, for the purpose of review. Without review opportunities, lowly writers like me would not be able to update readers on ways to explore the world with their families.