Orchid Island Bikes & Kayaks

I have a condo in Vero that get to visit rarely enough that I rent a bike when I go, instead of keeping one there. I am a regular rider, at least 2 – 3 times per week. Vero area has some great road routes.
Orchid has upgraded their fleet in the last couple of years to include some higher end bikes, which the staff keeps well tuned and ready to go. They have my info on file, so reserving and picking up my bike is easy.

I just want to share what a fabulous experience I had with Orchid Island Bikes and Kayaks. My daughter and I had such a wonderful time renting paddle boards today. We went on a 2.5 hour tour with Rachel around Round Island park today. She was great! It was my first time out she was so patient and a great instructor. We saw so many manatees– they came super close to us too! Many different species of birds as well. Fish were jumping all around us. We stopped at a little beach and picked up tiny hermit crabs. I really had a wonderful experience and highly recommend a tour with Rachel. Tours are typically Tuesday’s and Thursday’s they were so very accommodating with my schedule as we are leaving on Tuesday, and Rachel graciously agreed to take us out on a Friday. My first experience paddle boarding was fantastic, and next time I’m in Vero Beach I would love to go again.

My daughters and I rented 3 kayaks this weekend. The kayaks were delivered to McWiliams Park at the exact time promised. The gentleman who dropped them off and picked them up was cheerful and polite. The kayaks, paddles and life preservers were in great condition. The whole experience kayaking on the Indian River was fantastic! I highly recommend this company.

This was a super easy and nice place to rent bikes from. My wife and I were visiting family in Vero Beach, and I found Orchid Island Bikes on the Web. We exchanged some emails, and they took care of the rest. They were very clear on their pricing (that’s nice), and offered a simple range of different bikes. My wife and I rented the Trek One Series 1.2 road bikes, and asked that they be delivered (slight extra charge). They delivered them perfectly, and we had a couple, great, long rides over Thanksgiving. (From Vero, you can go north on A1A to Sebastian and the inlet (very pretty) or head south and set a destination of the Navy SEALs museum (very cool). Orchid also includes with each bike a bike computer (for speed, distance, time) and a tire repair pack (extra tube, air cartridges, and tool). I would definitely rent from them again.

Called an hour in advance to have 2 stand up paddle boards dropped off at round island park to view manatees. 2.5 hours was long enough on the water for us. Manatees were amazing. The guys at ORCHID ISLAND BIKE AND KAYAKS were awesome. Dropped off our paddle board in the water and met us at 5 to pick them up. So easy, just call at least and hour in advance of your arrival.

Mixed reviews. I’ve been here three times in one week and had completely different experiences each time.
Note I manage two full service bike shops in Alaska and have worked in specialized retail for 8 years. Our bike shop is listed in National Bicycle Dealer Association as a top 100 bike shop. So I have high standards.
First we rented a bike trailer for our kid. They were prompt to help us, good weekly rental price. Had a good conversation about weekly rides, where to road ride, etc. and had mostly undivided attention.
Second time I came to help my mom purchase a new bike. We had to ask someone to help us. No one greeted us. The guy helping us started off ok, then completely left us hanging when my mom went on a test ride. He did not adjust the fit of the bike to her for the test ride. Luckily I know about bike fit since that’s what I do so I was able to get her going. No one was there to help us after she came back from her first test ride. There were three mechanics and about ¾ other staff available. But the guy helping us was more interested in the old couple purchasing two bikes. He didn’t even say «hey, I’m going to finish up with these folks, here’s JimBob he will help you out now…» Or something of the like. I asked if they had the model up and he said no, but I noticed it on another rack and grabbed it after he left us, for my mom to try later. Since we sell Treks at our stores in AK I’m familiar with the models, components, and bikes. Finally after we looked lost and neglected enough another guy (a mechanic, not even a sales guy) helped us out the rest of the time and did a somewhat better job of fitting, etc. most disappointing was the fact I had to ask if my mom could try the different models, they did not offer for her to try out different ones just to get the feel. Luckily I did because she ended up getting the last one she tried, that I knew she would like based on riding style, need, and comfort level. She is a frugal shopper and no one asked what her budget was or even what type of riding she does. They were very pushy on accessory sales, even more than bike sales. I get that bike sales don’t net much profit and most profit comes from repair and accessory sales, but a bike is a big ticket item and the sales people should spend more time with customers on this sale.
Third visit was ok. This time I was taking my dad to buy a new bike. He’s a big spender and usually buys the top end product just because it is. This is an important customer for shops to help. We walked in and were NOT greeted again. We were looking around for about 10 minutes. Again, I was showing him what I thought he might like only because I know bikes. Any other joe would’ve felt lost. Finally a lady helped us. She was more attentive and fit him to the bike and told him about the components and benefits. I BET THE ONLY REASON SHE WAS SO ATTENTIVE WAS BECAUSE MY DAD TOLD HER I WORK AT A BIKE SHOP. He took it for a ride and bought it. Most pricey in the line up, didn’t even try any others.
In conclusion, I was disappointed with the customer service in sales. The range of product was good. Prices seemed reasonable for repair work. Pretty competitive. Limited selection of accessories and tools. The plus is that they delivered both bikes to my parents house with in 24 hrs. This is a good service for folks around Vero that may not have car racks.
The only reason we went here for our purchases was because it was local, they carried Trek, and my parents have used their repair service before.
It’s a shame their customer service was so poor in my experience. Maybe we didn’t «look» like the kind of people that would be rich and spend $ 2000 on bikes and accessories. If there was another reputable shop in Vero we would have taken out business there.
Please improve your customer service to EVERY customer, even if they know more about the bikes than you do. Each customer deserved your undivided attention.

Update: Monday morning I got 2 calls from OIBAK. Apparently the bike was dropped Saturday and put in some ‘other’ bike rack so when I looked a few times at my bike rack it wasn’t there. I was not called on my cell as planned. The guard at the gate where an was staying was less than helpful… so lets just say it was all his fault :-). I was concerned about being charged for the 2 days and Malcolm at OIBAK waived the charges for the whole week. So thanks for that and next year we’ll make sure there is better communication and the guard is bribed!

This place was seamless. Smooth. As in…“you guys are really this easy”?”-smooth. Found them online while searching for paddle board rentals.
We were visiting family (in-​laws!) for 10 days (!) 3000 miles away from home (!). For some reason, I HAD to paddle board – I keep telling myself it was for something MORE than just to post «look at us paddle boarding 3000 miles away from home» on Facebook.
Most places I found online asked back, «Paddle-​WHAT?» when I asked them if they rented paddle boards. One place 20 minutes away HAD them, but didn’t have delivery/​drop-​off as an option. At home, no worries… strap ‘em on the top of the truck and we’re good. At the in-​laws, the prospect of rented paddle boards («paddle-​WHAT?!») strapped onto the perfectly functional crossbars of their crossover was met with enough doubt to send me back online.
Found Orchid Island Rentals on the second look. Called them while riding along on for the 12^th holiday shopping trip… around 5pm the day before I was hoping to paddle. Woman on the other end said in an assuring and super causal tone that they had boards, they delivered for a fee (confirming exactly what they have online) and they could have them where I wanted by 10am the next day. Really?
$ 40/​board for 4 hours – I’ll take it. That’s with paddle and state-​required life jacket («to be in arm’s reach»). Got two completely legit boards (Doyles, although I hadn’t heard of the brand, they looked and rode like many), legit paddles, dropped off within 3 minutes of the target. They picked up four hours and 2 minutes later… the quite-​cool and definitely living-​her-​job Rachel was out on kayaks, loading them up as we wrapped up. She said, «just leave them over there, I’ll get ‘em.»
And that was it.
Totally exceeded expectations. That’s not really a critique on my expectations of Florida (read: «yes, it is»), but… that was more than I would have expected. I didn’t even get to the actual store, but I figure I will next time (read: «quality customer service leading to incremental future sales… and good Unilocal reviews, of course»).
As for renting paddle boards, that was a great way to see more of the ICW… saw manatees, rays, dolphins and plenty of fish.