Boating in DC at Ballpark Boathouse

I’ve only been kayaking a couple times in my life but when I go I like to visit this location.
Aside from it being very conveniently close to my home, the location in general is great.
You can kayak then enjoy the beautiful-​ness of The Yards Park.
The staff here are always pleasant and knowledgeable.
I highly recommend this location. It’s never crowded like at the National Harbor.

My friends and I came during Labor Day weekend. There was a really large crowd, but they handled mass of people well. It didn’t take us too long to get onto the water at all. The process to get a locker could be improved. As of right now there isn’t mucb space and seems even less locks. Their solution is basically people hovering around seeing who is anout to give up there lock.
Overall it was a fun experince. Good price, good facilities, and great views.

This location is very low key. A lot different than Key Bridge. The staff is super laid back and really helpful. The huge battleship is a little scary but really cool at the same time!

So I don’t know if I missed a note on the website but this «boathouse» is barest of bones! I’ve gotten the summer pass to the boathouse the past two years but up until this month had only visited the Key Bridge location. The site did say this one had only kayaks and canoes (Key Bridge has paddle boards) so I thought it would be smaller but wasn’t expecting to show up and find a place with no changing area, hard to locate and far away port-​a-​potties, zero bike parking (locked my bike to a rail on a nearby bridge path) and no locks or doors on the storage «cubbies».
The actual water and boating experience was fine, I was the only person out that day and had a good enough time. I was surprised that the attendant working did not tell me the boundaries for kayaking, something that the other location says every time I go out, even though I said it was my first time at this location.
It’s possible I’ll be back if I’m in the area but definitely sticking to the Key Bridge location.

We had purchased a Groupon Coupon for this place. It is a fairly short walk from the Navy Yard Metro station, which is great. Also great is that the area around the boathouse location looks nice, right after our Kayak trip we had a nice lunch at a Potbelly that was about a quarter-​mile away. The kayak experience turned out great, the people who were working there on both of the days we went were great, very attentive, very thorough. The Kayaks appear to be in good shape. Highly recommended!

The staff are chill like beach dudes but still helpful. They keep plastic bags behind the front desk and also show you how to stow your stuff in a watertight bin on your kayak. The equipment is in fine shape. Just be forewarned that the water is amuck dirtier than the Potomac. No paddle boarding here. Just kayaking — as it should be.

Great time, lots of fun. Great service and staff. Well worth the trip! There isn’t much parking but the boat quality and the things you see out on the water are great! You can see the USS Barry and many other bridges and rowers on the water! Very fun for families!

I came here twice last summer on a Groupon and really enjoyed myself. Both times I used a two-​person kayak for an hour. I came on a Saturday so there was a bit of a wait, but it was okay since we just used that time to fill out the waivers. The staff were friendly and explained the techniques since we were new to kayaking.
While it was easily accessible by Metro (Navy Yard on the Green line), I was glad we drove and parked since we were a bit wet after our time on the water. There was a decent amount of metered parking but you might want to be mindful if you go during a game day (it’s right next to the Nationals Stadium). Also, make sure you wear sunscreen, clothes you don’t mind getting wet, and closed toe shoes (I almost lost my flip-​flops lol)
The kayaks themselves seemed in good shape. The area you can kayak is in the Anacostia River and it was really cool because you could go under a bridge or just take breaks like we did in the middle of the river :). The water was a little funky but other than that it was fun and a great workout. Next time I have the urge to go kayaking I’ll definitely be back!

Had a great first experience there. Used a Groupon with two others to do a one-​hour single kayak rental. It was pretty busy, but their staff handled it easily and kept a fun, upbeat attitude, even with the long line of customers. The kayaks were in good shape and it was an easy process all the way through. They even had baggies to put your stuff in so it doesn’t get wet and sunscreen for customers. I’ll definitely be going back!