Leam Boat Centre
Leam Boat Centre
4.5
Boat ToursBoat HireStand Up PaddleboardingKayaking & CanoeingDay Trips
10:00 AM - 4:00 PM
Tuesday
10:00 AM - 4:00 PM
Wednesday
10:00 AM - 4:00 PM
Thursday
10:00 AM - 4:00 PM
Friday
10:00 AM - 4:00 PM
Saturday
10:00 AM - 4:00 PM
Full view
About
The Leam Boat Centre is based in beautiful Jephson Gardens along the river in Leamington Town Centre. The park's old Victorian boathouse was renovated thirteen years ago as part of the Millennium Project and it is now a thriving centre of activity. It's a lovely place to come for a day out as a family; row boats and pedalos can be hired as and when you arrive and floating along the river for a carefree, sunlit hour is a wonderful experience. For more adventurous visitors, canoes kayaks and paddle boards are also available for hire. The Leam Boat Centre also gives lessons in canoeing, kayaking and paddle boarding and can cater to all levels of experience, from taster sessions for beginners through to training courses for instructors. Kayak and paddle board courses are held throughout the holidays for children to get their first taste of the sport. It might turn into a lifelong passion!
Leamington Spa, Warwickshire, England
Awards
Travellers' Choice
2023
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Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.
Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as waiting time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.
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4.5
165 reviews
Excellent
134
Very good
18
Average
7
Poor
2
Terrible
4
NikJ
Ascot, UK843 contributions
Mar 2024 • Family
Visited on a wet weekend to look for kit… appreciated the help and the fact that the store was open on a day when could easily finish up early.
Thanks for the chat and the advice on kit.
Thanks for the chat and the advice on kit.
Written 3 March 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Rachael Elizabeth
Birmingham, UK6 contributions
Sept 2023 • Couples
Jack and Sam at The Leam Boat Centre were absolutely fabulous with us as we sought to buy kayaks. Jack spent a good hour with us, in knowledge and humour, working out what we wanted, what kayaks would suit us, and the kit we needed. Then Sam got us on the water with the shortlist of kayaks and helped us fine tune which was right for us and got us a great deal. Honestly, the team were so friendly and obviously love what they do, it was a pleasure being with them and thank them for an outstanding service. We are very very happy 😊
Written 13 September 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
VanessaC
7 contributions
Aug 2023 • Friends
We love this place! I work for a disability charity and we take a group of friends to enjoy the great outdoors most school holidays.
The staff here are superb - always safety conscious and friendly.
For us specifically, the staff understand needs of disabled or neurodivergent clients and cater for us as a group brilliantly.
The cafe does great coffee and ice cream too :)
If you haven’t tried it yet, go ahead, you won’t be disappointed. The stretch of river is beautiful and peaceful and well shaded for a sunny day.
Special shout out to ‘Captain Jack’ who always takes such great care of us! Thanks 😊
The staff here are superb - always safety conscious and friendly.
For us specifically, the staff understand needs of disabled or neurodivergent clients and cater for us as a group brilliantly.
The cafe does great coffee and ice cream too :)
If you haven’t tried it yet, go ahead, you won’t be disappointed. The stretch of river is beautiful and peaceful and well shaded for a sunny day.
Special shout out to ‘Captain Jack’ who always takes such great care of us! Thanks 😊
Written 18 August 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Noor
World2 contributions
Aug 2023 • Family
Despite the busy day, I was amazed at the enthusiasm and patience of one of the young girls on the deck. She was constantly smiling and sharing kind words with customers despite the clear rush- doing her best to navigate the queue. She was helpful with questions we had regarding the local area and made sure we were comfortable in the boat. Not only was she helpful to us, she was equally as kind to everyone we watched her deal with! We will definitely be returning if we have time!
If this could be passed on to her that would be great. I think her name was Ona from what we could hear.
If this could be passed on to her that would be great. I think her name was Ona from what we could hear.
Written 11 August 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
This is absolutely wonderful to read. Thank you for leaving such a great review and your kind words about our staff member Honor. I will certainly be passing this on to Honor. I am sure she will be very pleased to read this.
Hopefully we will see you on the water again soon!
Written 14 August 2023
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
charles c
2 contributions
Aug 2023 • Family
I took my kids on a discover kayaking course, they loved every moment the instructors made it the best day with encouragement and words of wisdom. Many thanks to Charlie and Sam making the greatest day for my kids
Written 9 August 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
This is absolutely wonderful to here. I will certainly pass this is on to our instructors Sam and Charlie. Hopefully we will see you on the water again soon for another course!
Written 14 August 2023
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
James T
11 contributions
Aug 2023 • Family
Underwhelming Kayak Explore 1 Course
A bit disappointing really. The boys didn’t real feel as though made any significant progress. The lead coach failed to effectively engage with the kids.
Of the 3 sessions, new skills were only introduced on the first two days with the third session being titled a “mess around session” despite there still being sections of the log book that could have been completed or time spent cementing the core foundation skills of dynamic forward paddling, posture and boat control so that they progress into effective kayakers.
Feedback at the end of the course was limited to a well done you have passed Explorer 1 and an invitation to attend more sessions to “mess around on the water”! There was no feedback on what the areas of weakness were that need to be improved or worked on before attending the Explore 2 course.
The course fell well short of the benchmark set by other providers such as Lowri at Flowfree or Jamie at Paddle 365. It is a shame as the feedback on your other coaching teams seems excellent.
A bit disappointing really. The boys didn’t real feel as though made any significant progress. The lead coach failed to effectively engage with the kids.
Of the 3 sessions, new skills were only introduced on the first two days with the third session being titled a “mess around session” despite there still being sections of the log book that could have been completed or time spent cementing the core foundation skills of dynamic forward paddling, posture and boat control so that they progress into effective kayakers.
Feedback at the end of the course was limited to a well done you have passed Explorer 1 and an invitation to attend more sessions to “mess around on the water”! There was no feedback on what the areas of weakness were that need to be improved or worked on before attending the Explore 2 course.
The course fell well short of the benchmark set by other providers such as Lowri at Flowfree or Jamie at Paddle 365. It is a shame as the feedback on your other coaching teams seems excellent.
Written 2 August 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Hi James, I firstly would like to apologise that you feel this way this is certainly not the course we aspire to provide and can assure you we take your comments very seriously.
To give some context as to why some skills were completed and others weren’t:
The Explore booklet is split in to two courses: Paddle Explore 1 and Paddle Explore 2. The Explore 1 course is designed to get you most of the way through the booklet, with the Explore 2 course being where you complete the booklet. We split the Paddle Explore Course due to the nature of the skills the children are leaning, and the Explore 2 has the more difficult skills (sideways on the move for example) than the Explore 1. By completing most of the skills in Explore 1, you have more time to learn and consolidate some of the harder skills in Explore 2 along with aspects of the theory side of the Explore Syllabus. I hope this helps to clear up why not all skills were ticked by the end of this course, as we aim to get these ticked by the end of the Explore 2 course, paving the way for fully independent paddlers to start learning white water skills, becoming an instructor, touring awards etc
In terms of the mess around session. We do quite often run a more relaxed session on the third day of the course due to the intense nature of the first two days. This is designed to allow the kids to practice their skills in games and challenges set by the instructor.
As for feedback at the end of the course. The lead coach will be sending some more comprehensive feedback this week to help you understand where your kids need to develop.
Overall, we understand that you feel this course hasn’t quite met your needs and so would like to offer your boys a free private session to work through more of these skills. This will be with one of the management. Please contact myself sophie@leamboatcentre.com if you would like to take us up on this.
Written 9 August 2023
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
Susie E
2 contributions
Jun 2023 • Family
Fantastic paddleboard birthday party for my 9 year old. Mitch, the instructor, was really great with all the kids of varying abilities, and they all had a great time with lots of fun activities on the water helping them learn how to paddleboard.
Written 5 June 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
This is absolutely wonderful to here. We are so glad that your kids enjoyed themselves. We have certainly this feedback to Mitch our coach as well.
Hopefully we will see you on the water again soon!
The Leam Boat centre Team
Written 9 August 2023
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
Alesh j
5 contributions
May 2023 • Family
Thoroughly enjoyed today at leamington boat hire, and Jack is an absolute legend and a credit to the company. Definitely recommend it as a family day out.
Written 21 May 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
This is wonderful to here. Jack is certainly very happy you called him a legend! Hopefully we will see you on the water for many years to come!
The Leam Boat centre Team
Written 9 August 2023
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
Barry M
1 contribution
May 2023 • Friends
Visited Leam Boat Centre to try out some paddle boards before making a purchase.
We phoned beforehand to book, and found the whole process very easy, and on the day we were made to feel very welcome, and were given plenty of time to try out the boards we were interested in.
No big sales pressure either, but I did make a purchase - the shop is really well stocked with all sorts of goids from boats to t- shirts - and the team were very knowledgeable and helpful. No parking at the centre, but we foukd a space nearby with no drama.
All in all we had a great day in Leamington Spa and will certainly be back - thanks guys!
We phoned beforehand to book, and found the whole process very easy, and on the day we were made to feel very welcome, and were given plenty of time to try out the boards we were interested in.
No big sales pressure either, but I did make a purchase - the shop is really well stocked with all sorts of goids from boats to t- shirts - and the team were very knowledgeable and helpful. No parking at the centre, but we foukd a space nearby with no drama.
All in all we had a great day in Leamington Spa and will certainly be back - thanks guys!
Written 7 May 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Jon E
1 contribution
Mar 2023
I did the Core Coach Training last month and really enjoyed it. Sophie is a great tutor - she really knows her stuff but also helps you work things out for yourself.
I’ve done beginner, intermediate and instructor courses with Leam Boat Centre over the past three years, as well as sea kayaking and white water trips - they have so much on offer and the whole team are super friendly and knowledgeable. It’s a great place to learn and have fun on the water!
I’ve done beginner, intermediate and instructor courses with Leam Boat Centre over the past three years, as well as sea kayaking and white water trips - they have so much on offer and the whole team are super friendly and knowledgeable. It’s a great place to learn and have fun on the water!
Written 5 April 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
This is so wonderful to here. Thank you for leaving such a great review.
We look forward to seeing you on the water again soon!
Written 10 April 2023
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
janeG569YU
London, UK
Do you have to book?
leamboatc
Leamington Spa, UK
There is no need to book - just come along when you're ready to go.