Huntington Beach - Duffy Boats?

heybets30

Mouseketeer

Joined

Mar 25, 2010

• May 18, 2016

• #1

Has anyone rented a Duffy boat at Huntington Beach? It sounds SO AWESOME! I'm looking for new stuff to do with my family on our Oct visit. We're in SoCal often enough so the kids can see their grandpa & grandma, that I am trying to get new things for us to do (we start at Gma/Gpas in Lake Elsinore with day trips, end at Disneyland just the 4 of us). I read about the Duffy Boat rental on a family blog, and since it is next to the beach, I can kill two birds with one stone - beach & activity! We love the Silver Strand State Beach in San Diego, and kids BEG to go each trip so they can add to their shell collections, but I think it's time to shake it up.

I'd love to hear about it if you have rented a Duffy Boat and cruised the canals on your own (or know anyone who has!).
Thanks!

 

L

longboard55

DIS Veteran

Joined

Oct 9, 2014

• May 24, 2016

• #2

Not in Huntington Harbor but we have done it often in Newport Harbor. Yes its great, easy to drive, its very popular. They run a lot of groupons, which are a great deal but you have to book weeks in advance often with the groupon

 

heybets30

Mouseketeer

Joined

Mar 25, 2010

• May 26, 2016

• #3

Thanks, Longboard55! Great to hear they are easy-to-drive! I heard they run groupons often enough, but I'm not sure we can plan too far out given my in-laws. I'll definitely be on the lookout for groupons, though - maybe we'll get lucky with one with few restrictions

 

J

Jajone

DIS Veteran

Joined

May 29, 2007

• Jun 5, 2016

• #4

what can you see and do with these boats?

 

heybets30

Mouseketeer

Joined

Mar 25, 2010

• Jun 13, 2016

• #5

Jajone - you can drive them around the harbor & into the canals. I've found write-ups of them in several blogs - moms who do "day-trippy" things with their kids in the LA-area. The Yelp/TripAdvisor reviews also show groups of families out on them, bachelorette parties, casual outings - alcohol allowed, easy-to-drive, bring on your own food as you want, and up to 12 people allowed to ride. We've done so much around the LA area with our 2 kids, that I think this sounds so unique - to rent a boat for ourselves (that we can actually drive on our own!). I think them allowing alcohol is going to be the only way I lure my father-in-law and his wife on this trip with us ;-)

 

K

KPLC

From SA

Joined

Jun 24, 2008

• Jul 11, 2016

• #6

We just did this yesterday. We grabbed sandwiches from a bakery called c'est ci Bon across the road from the road heading into Newport Beach road and rented the boat for an hour. There were 5 adults and 5 kids and we had lots is space and fun for a full hour!

 

heybets30

Mouseketeer

Joined

Mar 25, 2010

• Jul 21, 2016

• #7

Thanks, KPLC!! I'm so glad to hear it was fun. Hubby suggested we shift the DUffy boat rental to Long Beach - so we can visit the Queen Mary, THEN do a Duffy boat without "wasting" driving time, so we may try Long Beach. Still on my list of things I want to do in October!!!

 

GoBears 1980

DIS Veteran

Joined

May 30, 2013

• Aug 1, 2016

• #8

I would NOT take a Duffy about in Long Beach/LA Harbor. They are great in Newport Harbor and Huntington Harbor, but they don't mix well with bigger ships (wake), you need to be a good drive to deal with big wakes.

Duffy in Newport, gondola in Naples (Long Beach).