Reviews

L'Ann Bingham

Enjoyed a wonderful experience renting a Patio Boat for my birthday party! Holiday Harbor recommended Captain Michele to drive the boat, since none of my friends nor I knew how to drive a boat! Captain Michele gave us a great tour of the islands, dam, coves etc. on Lake Shasta. Surprisingly, although we are all locals, none of us had been on the water, so a great first time experience. The Patio Boat was just the right size for our group. Karen and all of the team at Holiday Harbor were most helpful in making this a fun and pleasant experience!

Harry Kendall

it's a wonderful houseboat experience. Come prepared with enough food and water and prepare for a wonderful time. one issue: if you visit the dam there are signs every twenty feet warning of rattle snakes and bears. there are no warnings at the boat launch. beware....

Jeanine Odell

We love Holiday Harbor Houseboat rentals for the price, and the great customer service by the staff. We had an older boat this year that had several issues. The maintenance staff took care of each one. They came all the way out to where our boat was to fix the problems. At the end of our week we were given a compensation for our troubles. 4 Stars instead of 5 because of the “not perfect” experience.

Bob Geiger

Great value for houseboats, and the best customer service on the lake. They are not the newest boats on the lake, but key items like generators, refrigerators, and house batteries have improved notably in recent years. You can't beat the price for these competent and comfortable boats. Also, the staff is amazing. They will do their absolute best to help make your vacation smooth and memorable. Special shout out to Lesa, who has made us happy customers for decades!

Adrian Silagan

I just rented a kayak for 2 days. For my first day, I took my kayak in my car, drove off, and kayaked elsewhere. The second day, I kayaked there in Shasta Lake. Firstly, the location is absolutely gorgeous. I have never before seen water that beautiful in the color of emerald here in the continental United States. And it was refreshing too. I am very impressed. If you go further onto the lake, the 360 degree views of the mountains are spectacular. You can swim in the water too. Secondly, the staff - every single staff member I interacted with - are so friendly! One staff member at the check-in counter is very kind and sweet; the other is friendly. The staff member directing traffic in the parking lot is extremely helpful and nice. The staff member who helped me get the kayak out of the water, she was really cool and helpful. But I really need to commend the service of that guy who helped me check out the kayak I used. He is phenomenal. Genuinely super friendly. Seems like he enjoys his job and spreads positive vibes. He is great. He first helped me day 1 when I rented the kayak and he helped load it in my rental car. Super friendly. On day 2, he asked me how my trip was going after my first day. After I expressed my disappointment of where I had driven off to the day before, he seemed like he actually wanted me to have a good experience and he gave me suggestions, and he insisted that I enjoy my time there at Holiday Harbor that second day when I considered just leaving. I did indeed enjoy my time there - he was right. I am just very impressed with the staff because they all felt genuine and not fake like the workers of San Francisco where I am from.

Daniel Mula

Five star experience from start to finish. We booked the house boat back in November and the staff at Holiday Harbor was absolutely a pleasure to work with from Alicia to Leslie in the office booking. The houseboat in the ski boat was very simple communication was maintained throughout the process. Our trip began on a holiday weekend of June 29 through July 6 and the entire staff of that whole harbor was absolutely incredible. From our houseboat tour guide Randy as well as the harbor staff, Michelle was very helpful and knowledgeable. Also in the parking lot Sammy was extremely helpful and saved our butts letting us use an air compressor for a low tire we had. Overall, the staff was super kind, caring, considerate, and went above and beyond any of our needs and expectations. We would highly recommend Holiday Harbor for your next house, boating, adventure or ski boat rental. Don’t forget to stop by the caverns as it’s right next-door and another wonderful experience.

Liza Lowe

We Love Houseboating on Shasta Lake. Holiday Harbor is always our go to. The staff always take really great care of us and our guests.

Kristina Quinn

Went to pick out and reserve our slip and had such a wonderful experience! The staff were so helpful and pleasant! We look forward to many summers of fun in the sun!!!

Hans Brook

We had a great time for 1 week on a houseboat. The equipment was well maintained and didn’t have any issues. The orientation was concise and covered everything we needed to know to operate the boat. Overall it was great! We’ll be back.

Janice Ray

The houseboat size Premier was perfect for four adults. Plenty of room to move around and not have to do the side squish by. Very clean and quite comfortable. We did have an issue with a loose cable and the engine wouldn’t start. A call to the main office and within minutes an awesome mechanic ( woman at that) came out and had us up running in now time. Every staff member were friendly, helpful, knowledgeable and supportive. Already planning another trip next year with Holiday Harbor.

Kevin Tu

We rented a big houseboat through Holiday Harbor over the labor day weekend. It was an overall good experience. The staff were super friendly, phone calls were answered promptly before the trip for the questions we had. However the houseboat is old, there were a couple of not so minor technical issues: 1) boat ramp (used to step on and off to shore) felt off the ramp track twice during the 4-day trip, but can’t be put back into track without getting into water and using proper tools. So the first time we ended up driving back to the harbor to have it fixed. Again, the staff were friendly and eager to fix it. But it wasted us half day to have this issue resolved. The second time we had to jump into water and unscrew the chain to fix it ourselves in order to save time. 2) the second technical issue was that the engine battery voltage was kind of low (voltage meter pointing at the yellow/green edge), so starting engine was tricky and takes multiple trials.

John Wiser

Even with the lake down low its still beautiful up there this time of year.

Angie Bonham

We had a great trip! Great place and Great employees Made tons of lastly family memories ❤️

Monica Padrnos

A very nice company to deal with. Good prices with good value. Highly recommend.

Zachary Allen

Had an alright experience with them. House boats are old 30 plus years. So we arrive for check in when we’re suppose to3:30 pm. We are told they’re working on the boat and they’ll tell us when they’re done . It takes about 3 hours for them to finish. What they were doing was swapping out a engine and temping in a generator. After that one of the light, radio and horn wasn’t working so they said they’d come back on the next date to finish it. Three guys had to come back and forth to finish the light. The second day we were leaving a cove and lost hydraulic pressure for the steering wheel. So we were stuck dead in the water for some time. The mechanic did his best and got us back so we could steer but said to call if it was still acting up. On Day three , we were at another cover and lost all power to the whole boat, the refrigerators were getting hot and women were getting angry and feisty. On the fourth day they brought out a charger for the power and changed out all our batteries. On the fifth day we did the midweek clean out and when we went to a close cove noticed that none of the faucets were working. Once again they get out there and fix it. Overall all the staff were very nice and helpful. Most are young and they can work on getting more efficient. After all that they said we’d be taken care of when it was done. But we only got reimbursed a small fraction (10%)of the total amount that we paid. Which was even more each day because we left early. And paid for a full week and the first day was shot because of the work. I understand the they have a business to run but all the issue effected where we could go and cut back on our vacation time. Update: Holiday harbor cruises revisited our request and ended up giving us 50% back which we are very happy with.