ottawa tiki tours

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Tiki Boat Ottawa

Quick Details

• User Ages: All Ages
• Hour Glass Duration: 1.5 Hours
• Users Capacity: Up to 12 Guests

Party on our Floating Ottawa Tiki Bars!

Palapa Tours provides a safe, unique, and exciting boating experience. Experience a new way to enjoy the beauty and history of the Ottawa River! With a capacity of 12 passages, you can book as many individual seats as you like. Our captain and first mate (bartender) will make your 90-minute experience memorable and exciting.

Available on the Tiki

• Selection of alcoholic drinks: CA $5 – $12
• Selection of non-alcoholic drinks: CA $3

Additional Information:

• Bring Your Own Food
• We have gone green. Palapa Tours does not offer single use plastics. As such, your initial drink will include a 10oz Palapa souvenir glass. We will reuse this cup for all on-board purchase/refills.
• During you Tiki experience, we will be playing a selection of music to enhance the summer vibes. We encourage you to become a Juke Box Hero for CHEO. While cruising you may request a song for a $1 donation to CHEO.

Related Activities

• Users Up to 12 Guests
• Hour Glass 1.5 Hours
• User All Ages

Haunted Tiki Boat Tour Ottawa

Dead men tell no tales — but we do! Join us for our haunted tiki tours . Trick or treat your way up and down the Ottawa River. Come in a costume and get a surprise! Book online.

Ottawa Palapa Tours

Follow Ottawa Palapa Tours

Looking for a tropical way to experience the Ottawa River? Float on a Hawaiian-style hut while enjoying great scenery and drinks with friends.

Cruise down the Ottawa River on a boat built to look like a Hawaiian palapa hut, with a thatched roof and wooden bar that seats 12 people. Sit back and enjoy the views of downtown Ottawa and Gatineau while sipping on cocktails or non-alcoholic beverages, and nibbling on light snacks such as chips and pretzels.

Ottawa Palapa Tours has two vessels, Lilo and Moana, departing from the wharf at Jacques-Cartier Park in Gatineau, just across the river from Ottawa. Cruises last 90 minutes and the company also offers charters and corporate or full-day rates. Hold your bachelorette or bachelor party, sunset cruise, family gathering, team-building event, or wedding onboard—they even have a licensed wedding officiant available!

More Details

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General inquiries: 1-833-864-7839 [email protected]

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Stay up to date on upcoming events and ideas to plan your next trip to Ottawa with friends, family or on your own by signing up for the Ottawa Tourism Newsletter.

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COME JOIN URBAN BARREL FOR A UNIQUE TIKI BOAT RIVER CRUISE ADVENTURE!

Cruise smoothly down the Ottawa River for a learning-adventure experience that’s one of a kind! Urban Barrel offers you fun with friends and/or with your corporate peers, learning about brewing and cocktail mixing on the only floating Tiki Bar there is! Plus, you will have delicious drinks to sip and enjoy at your leisure.

About the Tiki Bar Boat Cruise

You and a group of peeps or workplace colleagues will take a tranquil journey up and down the ottawa river on a hawaiian-style floating tiki bar organized by urban barrel. cocktail cruises are one of the trendiest ways to get out on the water, whether you want to hang out with all your friends, go on a romantic cruise with your partner, or organize a corporate team event for this amazing tropical escape in ottawa..

THE CRUISE & COCKTAIL CLASS TYPICALLY LASTS FOR 90 MINUTES OR LESS.

• You will learn how to make these craft cocktails from spirit-making experts Urban Barrel and get their advice for developing your own distinctive flavours with their signature barrels.
• Participants will be able to sample cocktails and spirits that have been expertly matured in barrels during each lesson, and Friends and family will love the mood and ambiance out on the river! Companies will enjoy a fun, hands-on team-building exercise that will have everyone talking! Barreling and Cocktail mixing classes are provided by experts in spirit-making, Urban Barrel.

CRUISE & COCKTAIL CLASSES: DETAILS AND PRICING

Tiki boat cruise, cocktail mixing classes, barrel-aged barreling masterclasses, about the organizers, urban barrel company.

Call Us:  (1-365) 602-5035

Website:  https://urbanbarrel.com

Email:  [email protected]

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Yes, there is a type 1 PFD for every passenger. Along with all the requirements for a small vessel including a first aid kit.

The maximum capacity of our vessel is 12 passengers during a tour.

Our new boats are 18′ in diameter. There is a 3′ x 6′ tiki-toilet located at the back of the vessel.

Average speed is 4-6 nautical miles per hour.

Commercial Vessels are  NOT  regulated the same way leisure vessels are regulated.

We do operate in the rain as the boats are covered. However, the captain can decide at anytime to cancel due to conditions. This may include choppy water.

You are responsible for staying under control and abiding by our behavioral agreement. If the Captain determines your behavior is inappropriate you will be removed from the tour without refund and appropriate measures will be taken.

Yes, we do allow walk-up bookings and payment. Keep in mind that we do not guarantee there will be walk-up availability. When pre-booking, you must pay at the time of booking. You cannot reserve online and pay upon arrival.

Municipal by-law prohibits the smoking and vaping of tobacco, cannabis, and any other substance in public places and workplaces including our Tiki Boats.

Yes, we do have bluetooth-capable stereo systems that can sync to your phone and choice of music. Unless you chartered the whole boat, others may not be fans of your playlist, in which case, we use ours.

You may book a Back-2-Back charter which will extend your cruise to 3.5 hours total. This is subject to availability. *You can also book 2 boats side by side.

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Tiki Boat Cruise

Cocktail mixing class, barrel-aged barelling masterclass.

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Welcome to Ottawa's Floating Tiki Bar

Take a relaxing tour up and down the Ottawa River on a Hawaiian style Floating Tiki Bar with you and a bunch of your Peeps! Whether it’s just chillin' with friends, taking a romantic cruise, or coordinating a larger Tour/Corporate/School Group for a Tropical Ottawa Escape, Palapa Tours is one of the coolest ways to get out on the water! Just head to one of our embarkment sites, climb aboard and become Palapa Ohana!

Individual Tickets/Charter Cruises

90 minute cruises.

Sunset Cruises   Boat Tours

Corporate & Full day Rates

Bachelorette and bachelor cruises

Weddings (yes we have a minister)

Office events and meetings

Team Building

School Field Trips

Birthday Parties 

Family Gatherings

Ready for Cocktails on the River?

Make it a theme event.....

Quick links

• Refunds & Cancellations
• Getting & Returning Rentals
• Privacy Policy
• Terms & Conditions

Store Address

1860 Bank St - Ottawa - ON - K1V 7Z8

Store email: [email protected]

613.260.5556

Lilo Floating Tiki Bar on the Ottawa River provided by Ottawa Palapa Tours (A Floating Tiki Bar)

A Tourism Transformation Story: Ottawa Tiki Tours

By Joe Baker, Tourism HR Canada Board Member

We are now well past the one-year mark since COVID-19 was officially declared a global pandemic. The data, the projections, and the road ahead seem almost insurmountable as we fight towards our next normal. But of course, there is hope. Through the devastation and grief, we have continued to look within ourselves and our support systems for strength and courage. The word resilience has come to define Canadian tourism during the first year of the pandemic. Our industry, our businesses, and our people have embodied author Adam Grant’s definition of resilience: “the strength and speed of our response to adversity”. We have demonstrated immense strength and we have been forced to embrace speed as we responded to the many waves of adversity.

So where do we go from here? What lies beyond resilience? I believe it’s time to focus on reinvention. Reinvention is not scrapping everything and starting again. Nor is it throwing out the proverbial baby with the bathwater. Reinvention is about re iterating our original idea—our invention —to create a more powerful and relevant version of ourselves and our businesses . If we want to reinvent tourism, it begins not as top-down policy from government or business strategy implementation. Although those are vital to our recovery, reinvention begins with individuals—tourism professionals embracing the moment and creating new things that centre around our core tourism ethos. And we don’t have to look far to see it happening already.

Along my local travels, I bumped into two people who have embraced that very philosophy. Gaby Saucedo and Mike Karpishka are co-owners of Ottawa Tiki Tours. They kindly shared their inspirational story of transformation with me, and I share it here with you as an example of the potential to reinvent.

Gaby is an insurance broker. Mike has been a children’s entertainer for 30 years. He was instrumental in Mad Science’s early developments and was part of that family for 15 years before establishing his own entertainment company. When the pair met, they quickly discovered their shared interest for the tourism and hospitality industry—an industry neither had experience working in. As it turns out, they didn’t need that experience to enter the industry because they came equipped with something even more potent: an idea and the willingness to embrace change. They allowed themselves to be vulnerable, and through their passion and interest in the industry, reinvented their careers and joined the Canadian tourism family.

Scheduled to set sail in May of 2021, Ottawa Tiki Tours provides a new way to experience the nation’s capital. Hawaiian tiki hut-style boats are rented for 90-minute tours that take guests up and down the Ottawa River and can be rented for a variety of different events and social gatherings. They meet Transport Canada’s guidelines, are equipped with all coast guard requirements, are licensed, and even have toilets aboard! With a limit of 12 people per ride, it is also an ideal tourism experience for the current and post-COVID world.

How did two people with no experience in the tourism industry embark on such a business journey? They opened their minds to new ideas and did not accept limitations as roadblocks. About two-and-a-half years ago, the concept of tiki boats in Lake George, New York, was first brought to the attention of the co-owners. They immediately saw it as a tourism opportunity for Ottawa and promptly left the careers they knew for the chance to explore the unknown. The pair checked out the operations and discovered it was a franchise based in Florida. They found someone closer, in Connecticut, selling boats and put in an offer to purchase their first micro-fleet. They now had the idea, the business plan, and the resources.

By fall of 2019, they were ready to launch their business when they found out that the way the boats were constructed was not authorised for Canadian waters. Despite some challenges, they spoke to Transport Canada, who suggested they build their own boats, and that’s exactly what they did. All of their boats are now manufactured in Canada, within the Ottawa region. Once again, they were ready to launch when another disruption occurred: COVID-19. Ever optimistic and hopeful, the co-owners pushed through with their idea, and their perseverance and resilience worked in their favour. They were getting noticed, and even more encouraging was that they were getting bookings. Partnership requests poured in from all over Canada, the U.S., Australia, and the Bahamas. The pair anticipate that by summer 2022, they will have 40 boats in the water across Ontario alone.

What is the bigger tourism picture here? They believe people will drive in for the experience and simultaneously take in Ottawa’s vibrant tourism scene while there. And as they expand, the same philosophy of community tourism applies for any region they occupy.

“We’re a ‘bring-your-own food’ experience, so we want the restaurants to really use that as an opportunity,” states co-owner Mike Karpishka. “If we put our third boat in the water, we are going to use it for re-bookings and to help local tourism or at least the restaurants by saying the only way to get a ticket to the hottest event in town is to buy a $50 meal from one of the local restaurants. Then you will be given a code to buy the tiki tour tickets. We want to deflect some of the attention that’s being put on us and really support every tourism business in the region, because everybody is suffering and we want to help as many small businesses as possible.”

Their excitement for collective transformation and success is undeniable, and their faith and encouragement to prosper in this hard-hit industry is inspiring.

Their business prospects don’t stop at what they themselves own. They are also interested in helping others that want to be a part of their business. Part of that expansion includes selling boats to current operators. They will license one of them for 10 years for their specific existing territory and create a lease agreement as to where the vessel can be operated.

Their advice on how others can reinvent and succeed in this era of disruption? “Even if COVID goes away, the scar of COVID will linger for many years. People are going to stay in their micro-communities. As much as possible, people should try to learn how to pivot, focus, and develop that nimble mentality and think differently. Talk to people, lean on other people’s experiences, utilize social media, connect,” offers Karpishka. Co-owner Gaby Saucedo adds, “Think about your idea of the business and take away COVID. Does it still work? If it does, move it forward. It’s not easy, it’s not impossible, and you have to not give up. Keep trying.”

Accepting change is not an admission of failure. It’s quite the opposite. It’s a statement about embracing transformation and growth. A willingness to be vulnerable. And acknowledging change is necessary to realize that. So, as we move through this pandemic trying to rebuild and refocus, let’s not retreat. Let’s move forward head on. Let’s reinvent our industry, which starts through reinventing ourselves. And let’s not be afraid to rock the tiki boat along the way.

Joe Baker is President and CEO of Joe Baker & Co., a leadership consultancy focused on strengthening organizations and people at the core of a future-forward hospitality and tourism industry. Joe is a board member of Tourism HR Canada and presently working with the team at OTEC as a Strategic Advisor on the Tourism and Hospitality Emergency Recovery initiative. You can find Joe everywhere @thejoebaker.