North Shore Landing

Rented the luxury pontoon and it ran great! We called ahead to make sure it was available, I suggest you do the same! Stereo worked well and it has a USB port so just bring your cable if you want your own music. Seats are nicer than the standard pontoon, that’s the main difference. It was $ 130 total for 1 hour for the luxury, $ 115 for the standard large pontoon.
It’s not as organized as it could be. We walked down to the dock with our ticket and didn’t really know what to do since no one on the dock area said anything. So I just asked the younger boys I saw and they ended up helping us. Not a big deal but it would be better if they acknowledge you. They showed us the boat and went over everything we needed to know.
Great option for renting boats if you’re looking to have a good time on the lake!

I usually rent boats from another vendor. I decided to try North Shore this time. It was a great experience. The lady (from Italy) at the desk was super friendly and service oriented. She arranged a boat ride across the lake where the boat was located. A very attractive blonde lady (sorry I can’t recall her name) assisted me with the boat, fuel, etc. The only challenge was the steering wheel had spider webs. Otherwise a five star experience. I will return to rent again next season. Thank you.

This place is great! I came here in Summer 2015 and rented from them twice. First a pontoon boat for a sunset cruise. The next was a one hour speed boat for water skiing… this included an instructor who just amazing! So kind and helpful. We had a blast! Great service, great company!

I’m torn in writing this review for North Shore Landing. The staff was cordial and patient, but the reason why I can only give 3 stars is cause of the lack of some professionalism. My friend who made the reservation was told to come by 8:15AM to fill out consent forms and such, so we made sure to wake up early and got there exactly at 8:15AM to a closed main office. We initially thought we had come to the wrong location, but when we called the number we had made the reservation through, we could hear the phones ringing inside. It wasn’t until closer to 8:30AM that we saw someone walk around the building, but since they made no acknowledgement of us, we assumed it was just a passerby. We eventually were able to get on a boat and do our hours worth of wake boarding as we had reserved so I won’t go more into detail, but my friends and I were just a little confused on their lack of professionalism.

DO NOT RENT THE PEE-​WEE PONTOON BOATS. My boyfriend and I were just looking to spend a few relaxing hours on the lake, but ended up spending half of our time drifting aimlessly while waiting for someone to come fill up our gas tank. That’s right… WE WERE SENT OUT WITHOUT ANY GAS. Obviously did not think to ask/​check ourselves to see if our tank was full because that’s not our job. Since it was just the two of us, we decided to rent the pee-​wee pontoon for two hours based on the front desk employee’s recommendation. The fabric on the seats were torn and tattered, there was an old bandaid stuck to the railing and the carpet was disgusting. About ten minutes into our journey, the engine sputtered and died. We thought maybe it was overheating and let it rest. Managed to start it again, but it died within minutes. Could not start it again, so we called the office and told them of our predicament. Had to call again fifteen minutes later to confirm that someone was coming to help. Finally a women came to help us. She was not apologetic and our situation did not seem to faze her… does this happen a lot?! She filled our tank and offered to give us another hour for free, but we were so fed up already that we declined. Even though we denied her offer, she told us to come back to the dock in an hour so we could refill our tank again (does it only hold enough gas for an hour?) and she would send us back out. We enjoyed our next hour on the lake, but returned at our original port time. The attendant asked how our trip was and we told him what had happened. He pretty much laughed it off. The woman who came to give us gas (she was foreign, blonde hair) was on the phone in the office and did not acknowledge us when we collected our deposit slip from the front desk employee. We considered complaining and getting a partial refund at least, but didn’t think it was worth our time. We aren’t ones to really make a fuss, but it would have been nice to have had our inconvenience acknowledged. Chalked it up as a funny experience that we would recap to our friends back in LA, but wanted to give a warning to those who might consider renting. Seems like they have wonderful reviews which is why we rented, but just be sure you know what you are getting yourself into.

Upon arriving at the place, we were greet by an older lady who seemed like she knew what she was doing. We were wrong. She messed up on paperwork because she was rushing. Yes, it was a holiday weekend, but guess what, nobody was using any wave runners. They directed us down to the hut for more paperwork, but nobody was there so we went to the dock. The guys at dock said you need to see guy at hut for directions and waiver. We went back up and he made us sign the waiver. We went back down only to find out he still didn’t do his job of directions. The wind on that day was ridiculous, and we couldn’t even go out. Did they tell us that? NO, because of course they want the money. Guys at dock were super cool and told us to ask for raincheck because even they wouldn’t go out in this wind (why I’m giving 2 stars). We got a raincheck for next morning. We came back the next morning, and another dock dude was even cooler. The morning ride was great although it was a little windy (not as bad as day before). I just think this company needs to get their process in order to make this more streamlined for customers. It shouldn’t take 40 minutes to get started… nor should customers have to stop at 3 different places during the process. I would give the dock guys a 4 star, but the ladies inside a 1 star, and the overall experience a 3.

We called ahead and asked if they had any jet skis available for rental and they said they had four at the moment and three coming back in. We only needed two so it sounded great. We drove over in less than 10 min and there are a ton of people waiting already, which was not mentioned when we called. Turns out, the four they had available were the deluxe ones which of course, cost extra. We were then told that it would be about an hour until we could go on regular jet skis.
There were two women and one guy in the office at the time. The younger girl and the guy were nice and helpful but the older lady was rude! We even overheard her tell someone that they should know that it’s a holiday weekend so a 4 hour rental really only means 3.5 hours max and they should have expected that. Um, what?
Anyway, we wait until about 5 minutes before our time and head down to the dock. The people before us ended up taking about 30 extra minutes on their jet skis (and even tried to get more time by asking if they could switch kids) so we waited while the deluxe jet skis sat nearby doing nothing. It was already 5:10 by the time we had gotten there and we waited until about 5:40. With the amount of people waiting, you’d think they would just let some people take the deluxe so that they don’t get more backed up than they already were.
Once we got out there, it was awesome, the jet ski ran great, picked up speed well and we had a blast. We had waterproof pouches for our phones so that we could take photos and we kept track of the time that way.
Overall, 1 star for fun jet skis, 1 star for the younger girl working in the office and 1 star for the awesome guys down at the dock who kept us entertained while we waited.

We rented a boat yesterday (8÷15÷15) and had a terrible experience. After reserving and paying in full for the rental, we drove an hour to then wait 45 minutes only to be told that the boat we paid for was unavailable. To add insult they offered to substitute the boat with wave runners that were in poor condition (ripped seats and beat up looking) and cost less than the boat rental. Extremely poor customer service and communication from management.

The guy working the dock was great and the front desk was okay, but the website said nothing about the $ 20/​hr additional gas charge. That only came out in the total of the phone reservation. Also stated, on the phone, the luxury JetSkis go 35mph, 5 mph faster than standard 3-​seater, but never able to exceed 30. Felt they were a bit dishonest. I will try a different rental location next time.

Get away weekend for four families to get away from heat was awesome. We rented a Pontoon with premium package for two hours. Although it was pricey but we were lucky to get a brand new Pontoon boat which was good deal. We had so much fun with water splashed on our faces when going full speed. Only bad was restrooms needs to get updated. Porta potty were cleaned but later on were a mess! But, the restrooms floating in the lake were much cleaner.

From the time we stepped out of the car, the staff was extremely helpful and friendly! We rented a speed boat and Karen the captain was absolutely amazing! Karen ensured our safety and made it a blast, especially with under 10 kiddos! She was so fun with her smiles and laughter!
Then we rented a pontoon for 2 hours and Hayden got us all set up! He was extremely helpful and showed us how to use the pontoon. He was so nice and showed us the great places to cruise by and stop at!
North Shore Landing is the perfect rental place! Ask for Karen and Hayden!

Really bad customer service. Looks like I had the same experience as a few of these posts. Sister company Holloway told us they had boat and driver ready to go. Took pontoon loaded with kids over only to find they didn’t, but said their sister marina North Shore did. Got the kids back in pontoon over to North Shore only to find they had no driver. We also were going to have part of the group do 3 to 4 person jet ski’s while the other group was out tubing. Come to find out they haven’t had those since last season. Really dishonest. Said they confused us with another group. Spent a small fortune there and even after them not having a boat and driver ready and us sitting in the sun waiting, they wouldn’t even offer a discount or maybe some free time on the lake. The owner/​manager lady said well in the future just know you should book days in advance. Wow… you tell me to come over you have a boat and driver ready to go and then you scold me for not reserving days in advance. The driver Bruce saved the day and really did his best to make up for such unpleasant customer service and the wait. I have used Designated Wakesports several times and they are top notch. They just happened to be booked. They could have taken us out if we could have waited two hours. They are more affordable and really great guys. The only reason I left their dock is because Holloway/​North Shore said come on over we can get you on the lake now. Turns out now turned out to be almost two hours by the time we actually got out.

Karen was very very nice!
Went out onto the water for about 2 hours, it was a little cold but what do you expect in the mountains. Karen was able to get all of us to learn how to wakeboard and was able to get all of us up.
I will have to come back next time I’m up here.

Been here 4 times! Rented different boats here! They are very nice people and helpful! I rented a speed boat and pontoon boat and the prices are reasonable. Although, expensive for the jet skis. I will still come back soon!

Was there over the 4^th of July weekend and wanted to rent a pontoon for the day.
Here were the clues this place was a poor selection;
1. They were not properly staffed for a holiday weekend
2. The staff that were there, were busy arguing with other customers
3. The manager, Maria, was arguing with both the employees and customers, (multitasking)? Perhaps that explained her black eye!
4. One entire wall, painted in red, stating «NO REFUNDS»
5. Employees accusing other employees of lying
6. Equipment not working properly
7. Given a bait and switch on a pontoon rental
8. Returning the boat, to still more customer complaints
9. And, even more complaints about being cheated
10. The owner digging in his pocket, tossing money at people, to just get rid of the problem, while referring to the aforementioned red refund sign… which fully explained why it was there.
Overall…never, never, did I say never do business with this company. Big Bear is about fun and relaxation. This place took both ideas and tossed them out into lake… making sure their no refund policy stood the test… over and over again!

On a hot day at the end of June I was visiting Big Bear Lake and was looking for an opportunity to cool down a bit. What would be better than taking a kayak on the lake?
There are several places on the lake that rent kayaks, visiting some of the rental places I was rather disappointed by the available equipment they had to offer. Most of the kayaks you can rent here are sadly sit on top style… Bleh…but here at NSL they had the type of kayak I wanted… with a cockpit.
The crew at NSL were friendly, explained a little about the lake and things to do and even advised me not to go out on a kayak before 5pm because of the wind so I had the impression that they do care about their customers. I was there already and did not want to wait so I took the kayak nevertheless.
After going through papers and a 5 minute briefing on safety rules on the lake I launched my kayak from their shore and went on to explore the lake. Wearing a life jacket is mandatory on the lake, but any serious water sports enthusiast never goes on the water without life jacket anyways.
I paddled close to the shore going West at first and then South towards the Southern side of the lake. The wind was pretty brezzy as advised by NSL but it was a great work out for me so I did not mind. I had a wonderful time on the lake and splashes of water and wind provided the cooling I was looking for :)
A word of caution:
The lake itself is beautiful but there are many locos on the water with jetskis which may or may not see you. Traffic beyond the white buoys is crazy from speed boats to larger barges you ll see all of them. Kayaks are not permited beyond the white buoy line. Do your best to keep away from those crazies and you should have a great time kayaking. Although you have the right of way on the water because you are not motorized, many might not know this rule and it is easy for the bigger vessels to oversee you, especially those jocks on jetskis.

We had a great experience here! Got here just before 10am on Friday and they gave us an additional 10 min on our jet skis as well as 20% off. It was nice because we got there early, so no one else was there. We got a lot of attention and the dock to ourselves. By the time we were done at 11 people were starting to arrive.
After our jet ski ride we decided to get a pontoon for a couple hours as well. Everything went great and we had a great time. Prices were the same as the other places we had looked out around the lake, so no complaints there.
Love that they have a small beach area with picnic tables for those not jet skiing, too!

Another example of the famous «Big Bear Customer Service.» first we went to their main marina, based on their web site. No jet skis and we were abruptly told they are across the lake. But we went over, based on their advertised prices. Woops. That didn’t include gas. Oh, and they only had one single seater so we were asked to wait an hour so that my son and I could each have a machine. By the looks of the jet skis and kayaks they did have, these are old and well used. No way they were worth the price, especially with the gas charge added in. We own property in Big Bear and so we are there often. But we won’t return here or their parent, Holloway Marine, on the other side. Our money will go to local businesses that at least try to make an effort with customer service.

This place is amazing! I love that it on the side of the lake with less boat traffic so it wasn’t hard to go in and out. We got 2 pontoons for $ 95/​hr each with gas included and pulled up a coupon on my phone and got 10% off. We also rented 2 jetskis for $ 125/​hr each. It was so much fun and customer service was excellent! The guys helping out with docking were all young an enthusiastic and very helpful! I would definitely come back again :) Come before 11am to avoid the crowd and if you’re coming on a weekend an want to rent a pontoon I would suggest reserving it the day before. Jetskis and kayaks are rented on a first come first serve basis and they have a lot so there’s usually no wait.

I was sorely disappointed!
We called Holloway’s Marina to reserve 2 jet skis. We were told that we would have to call the North Shore Landing, another branch of this business, for jet skis. I asked about prices, and she told me the different options and that «gas was included.» I called North Shore Landing and was told that they don’t take reservations. It is «first-​come-​first-​serve.»
On our day to Big Bear Lake, we drove to North Shore Landing. I didn’t find any of the friendliness nor the discounts here that were mentioned by other Unilocalers. What I found is that the prices quoted to me on the phone by Holloways did NOT include gas. So, we paid about $ 20 more to include gas as it seems they really don’t appear set up for refuel at their docks and that’s how we were charged.
We did enjoy two excellent ski jets that were the 2 – 3 seater types (more expensive). They didn’t have any of the 1 – 2 seater types quoted over the phone. The jet skis were powerful and fast yet easy to operate. We never had any spills or problems with them.
However, even though this was a hot August day, we froze our buns off. All it takes is a little spray with that wind and we were very, very cold. I was wearing board shorts and a t-​shirt for their summer temps, but I might as well been naked and rolling in their winter snow. My lady and I wanted to quit after ½ an hour, but I saw the sign in the office that warned «No refunds!» (I should have recognized all the danger signs.)
If you learn one thing from my review, WEAR WATER AND WIND RESISTANT CLOTHING! Don’t believe the photos displayed by this business that show young near naked women in bikinis riding these things. Note the local residents instead riding their jet skis wearing surf outfits. They know what they’re doing, not like us.
I won’t rent here again.