BreakAway Cruises careless rude unfair unconcerned unsafe unapologetic tardy South Padre Island, Texas

My wife and I just returned from our honeymoon in Texas. We flew down to San Antonio for a few days and on a whim decided to drive down to South Padre Island.  We checked in Thursday afternoon and were happily greeted by a couple of nice guys from Breakaway Cruises at a stand by the front desk who claimed to have everything we would need to make this a trip of a lifetime.

After a few minutes and several hundred dollars, we were signed up for a Friday of para-sailing, snorkeling, jet-ski riding and, to top it all off, an evening cruise with fireworks.  Our "vacation specialist' admitted that the day was booked tight but he said it would be no problem. My wife and I are pretty outgoing so we were excited and ready to get started. That's when we the "fun" began.

The next morning we woke up bright and early for our para-sailing trip.  It wasn't our first time so our nerves were in check.  We arrived at the dock at 8:45 am as instructed.  While we were waiting for our "captain", one employee came by and said to another, "You're not going to let them fly in these winds are you?"  No one responded.  At approximately 9:20am, two guys finally showed up with the boat to take us out.  We cautiously climbed aboard and asked the crew about the winds and told him what we overheard.  He assured us we would be fine.  When we were in the air for three-five minutes  the chute felt like it was either going to be ripped apart or turned inside out. I love to para-sail but this was a frightening experience.  We immediately gave the distress signal and the team wenched us down. 

Once on the boat, our captain apologized and admitted that he thought it was much too windy but he was afraid of getting into trouble with his boss if he didn't try.  Basically, our going up guaranteed that we couldn't get a refund. We later found out the wind speed was 45 mph.

Back at the marina,  we told the twenty something young lady what happened and as expected she denied our request for our money back but offered to make us another appointment for Saturday morning, apathetic to the fact that we were leaving at ten am.
With no other choice, we reluctantly booked it. We left unhappy but willing to move on and make the best of our day.

After a quick lunch, we went back to the dock and prepared for our snorkeling trip.  Overall, I must say this wasn't a bad experience. Our "captain' gave an excellent tour and answered our questions courteously. The wind was still crazy wild and producing turbulent sailing conditions but he did the best job he could.  The only negative aspect to that trip was when my wife asked about life jackets prior to our departure and they seemed a bit stunned.  The first mate produced them but they were stowed away and never mentioned again.

We returned late from our snorkeling trip due to the weather conditions and were told to hurry to the waverunners because we were behind.  When we got there, the "tour director" seemed a bit miffed, gave us the "quickie" version of the tour expectations and we were off.  One of the most important rules he said was to allow at least 100 feet between you and the person in front of you. Since we were the last couple to arrive, we were also the last couple to pull out.  Our tour director, whom I assume makes his living riding jet-ski's, hit the water like he was going to a fire. My wife and I, bringing up the rear, were getting the wakes from all the "tourists" in front of us as well as from the side by several large boats.  Needless to say, with the wakes, the wind and blinding water, we fell behind.  After traveling for about a half mile, our party was out of sight.  With the increasingly dangerous conditions and having no clue where we were
going, we decided to head back, park the wave runner and forget it.  After a few hundred feet, we realized we were so distraught by trying to go forward that we didn't know the way back.  Luckily, the Coast guard were nearby. We had pulled alongside their boat when our "tour director" sped by us.  He stopped and asked "what was up."  We explained to him that due to the wake of the passing boats we couldn't keep up with him. He then escorted us to the dock.  

After docking the watercraft, we talked a bit and he said he personally thought the tide was much too dangerous to have a group out in it but he was supposed to make money.  We again went to the office and complained about being left behind and the dangerous conditions.  The young lady only said 'sorry about that" and turned away.  Her supervisor was standing behind her and heard the entire conversation.

We left the marina and went back to the hotel. We explained our nightmare day to the young man who sold us our tickets.  My wife told him that we would at least like to cancel our cruise and get our fifty dollars back. He seemed genuinely concerned and called his supervisor.  Later that evening over dinner at Pier 19 (a great place to eat), a woman from the company called me to apologize.  She said she was terribly sorry for our bad day and if we could only stay Saturday she would make amends. I explained to her that our flight was leaving that afternoon and couldn't if we had wanted to. I restated my wife's request for a $50 reimbursement for the cruise. She said she was soooo sorry but that wasn't an option.  I told her more nicely than she deserved that words were cheap and she had ruined our trip and now was ruining my dinner.

My wife have traveled in many parts of the world but neither of us have ever experienced a company like Breakaway Cruises with such a calloused, indifferent approach to business and customer relations.  We feel that they knowingly put us in harms way for the almighty dollar with little regard for our safety.  Their apology was shallow, their performance was haphazard and several of their employees were rude.  

There are a few other marina choices for ocean adventure on South Padre.  I can't vouch for any of them but I would never take my family to Breakaway Cruises.  For a fist full of dollars, they might even allow you to  para-sail in a hurricane.