Surely not?! We do our best to avoid getting bad reviews. But nobody is perfect and it can happen.
Another nice photo! Is this just another classic Paraty Explorer photo taken in the mangrove on our daily kayak tour?
Everything looks ok. But have another closer look.
How comfortable is the paddler at the back looking?
And is it your imagination or is the kayak actually sinking at the back?
Read on for a recent problem we had on our daily Mangrove and Islands Kayak Tour – the clients’ disappointment, the bad review and what we decided to do about it.
But let's back up a bit. In July 2024 Paraty Explorer received delivery of 2 brand new double sea kayaks, Orcas made by leading Brazilian manufacturer Eclipse.
Top quality, robust, fibre glass sea kayaks that we knew our clients (and guides!) were going to love paddling! These kayaks are sleek, aquadynamic, spacious and comfortable with a drop down rudder to help make them go where you want even in windy conditions.
But no matter how well you plan things not everything can be controlled.
After only 3 months we had a problem on one of the tours. As our client Adrian explains on Tripadvisor:
Here's Adrian's bad review in full:
"It was our first time kayaking. It would have been a great trip because both the tour and the tour guide were otherwise excellent, but our kayak had a small hole near the right steering pedal that no one knew about. The result was that my area in the kayak gradually took on a lot of water that needed to be pumped out several times during the tour. Not knowing of the hole, the tour guide initially blamed my rowing technique for causing water to come into the kayak, which was VERY stressful as I tried to overcompensate even as I didn't know what I had done wrong. Eventually, as the kayak continued to take on water, the tour guide watched my technique and concluded that it wasn't me. So, when an opportunity came up, he examined the kayak, found the hole and improvised a plug (pieces from a styrofoam cup, I think) to plug the hole, significantly slowing the intake of water.As if that wasn't bad enough, the left steering pedal broke off during a max left turn while returning back to the beach."
The problem:
A nightmare situation for a Kayak Tour Operator.
And to make matters worse, Adrian continues:
"I didn't even get any pics.I tipped the tour guide because I didn't really blame him for what happened and he was great, including towing us for quite a bit of the way.Although incidences are probably rare, it seems that a good practice for tour operators would be to inspect each kayak before each use (at least for holes)."
We didn't even send him the photos!
Thoroughly embarrassing from the point of view of Paraty Explorer.
This bad experience caused us to think carefully about how we do things as a company before replying:
"Dear Adrian,
We are very sorry that we were unable to successfully operate this tour for you and your paddling partner.
Apologies also for the delay in refunding your payment which has now been done in full.
We are sending you some photos taken on the day of the tour.
Paraty Explorer is recognised for having the best quality sea kayaking equipment in Paraty, and in Brazil generally. We are proud to offer clients imported paddles, life jackets, and safety and rescue equipment made by leading international manufacturers (Werner, Yak, Palm, etc).
The double kayak you used is brand new (July 2024), built by leading domestic manufacturer, Eclipse. Eclipse is known for making robust boats designed to withstand heavy multiday sea kayak expedition usage. It is the only Brazilian manufacturer to use the pedal steering system which is especially useful for our tours. This is the first time Eclipse has experienced this problem with 20 years of manufacturing experience.
Regrettably on the day of your tour the pedal system broke after you left the beach and water entered the kayak through the hole. The guide tried his best to rectify this but we recognise that as a company we failed to react adequately to the situation. We have never experienced this type of problem before. We’ve revised our procedures and training for guides so that we can respond better to future problems involving equipment that breaks or fails to work properly.
The manufacturer, Eclispe, has taken full responsibility for the defective double kayak and has repaired it as it was still under guarantee.
Paraty Explorer prides itself in over 15 years of successfully taking people out paddling to explore the bay of Paraty. Almost all the participants have little or no paddling experience and we have always managed to give people a positive first experience in sea kayaking, in many cases the highlight of their visit to Paraty (see all the other reviews here). We failed to do this in your case but hope that this will not deter you from future kayaking opportunities. Ultimately, it’s a great way to explore nature allowing you to feel a greater connection with the landscape.
Sincerely , Paraty Explorer"
To which Adrian replied in a private message:
"Thank you very much for that response. I've tried to publicly reply with my appreciation to your careful thoughtful response to my review but either I don't know how to do so or I can't do so. I may be able to delete my initial review if, instead, that would be helpful. Please let me know. Thanks again, Adrian"
Very kind of Adrian to offer to have the 3 star review removed and have fewer Paraty Explorer Bad Reviews. But after thinking about it we’d rather be wholly transparent and continue to have his review online. In over 15 years of activity we have 00s of wonderful reviews that we value highly. Each one is a little success story; someone has taken the time to thank us publicly for a job well done.
Some clients have even commented how we don’t have any negative reviews, implying that this is suspicious! We believe it could be more interesting for prospective clients to see what happens when something goes wrong at Paraty Explorer. Most importantly it's caused us to change our Guide training and operational procedures so that when things go wrong we can be better.
See you on the water!
