Bayou Bienvenue · New Orleans, Louisiana

Rent a kayak.
Paddle real bayou.

Self-guided kayak rentals 15 minutes from the French Quarter. Book online, get your unlock code by email, and spend 3 hours exploring marsh channels, shipwrecks, and wild Louisiana on your own schedule.

Book a Kayak Pricing & Details

No guide. No group. No schedule.

The bayou, on your own terms

Most kayaking around New Orleans means joining a tour group at a set time. This is the other option. You book a window, show up at the launch on Paris Road, punch in your unlock code, and go. Paddle hard for an hour or drift for three. Turn around whenever you want.

The route is an easy out-and-back through Bayou Bienvenue, with open marsh views, a line of half-sunken shipwrecks, and more herons, egrets, and pelicans than people. On a clear day you can see the downtown skyline rising over the grass.

See what the paddle looks like →

Two paddlers raising their paddles from a tandem kayak on Bayou Bienvenue near New Orleans

How it works

Book it, unlock it, paddle it

Reserve online

Pick a date and time on the booking calendar. Singles are $35, tandems $55, and every rental runs 3 hours.

Check your email

Your confirmation includes the kayak unlock codes, a waiver to sign, and a suggested route map so you know where the good stuff is.

Launch at 2101 Paris Rd

Park on site, grab your kayak, paddles, life jackets, and backrests, and put in right at the bayou. No hauling gear across town.

Explore and return

Follow the out-and-back route at whatever pace suits you. Lock the kayak back up when you're done. That's it.

Half-sunken shipwrecks along the shoreline of Bayou Bienvenue seen from a kayak

What you'll see

Shipwrecks, marsh, and a skyline on the horizon

Bayou Bienvenue is not a theme park swamp. It's a working wetland on the edge of the city, and it shows you things a guided loop in a nature preserve can't: rusting shrimp boats listing in the shallows, wide-open marsh that turns gold in the morning light, and wildlife that shows up when it feels like it. Alligators, turtles, pelicans, herons. Wild, never baited, never staged.

It's also one of the few places where you can sit in a kayak in the grass and watch the New Orleans skyline float above the marsh line. Bring a phone dry bag. You'll want it.

Meet the wildlife →
Why the swamp became a ghost forest →

Who this is for

Made for confident beginners and up

You don't need to be an athlete, but this is self-guided open water shared with boat traffic, so we ask that you know how to swim and have paddled a kayak at least once before. Renters need to be 21 or older to book. If it's your very first time in a kayak, a guided tour is the better call, and we'd rather tell you that up front than have you find out mid-bayou.

Check available dates

Three hours of bayou. Zero logistics.

Kayak, paddles, life jackets, backrests, and a route map are all waiting at the launch. All you bring is water, sunscreen, and whoever's riding in the front seat.

Book Your Kayak

Rent a kayak.
Paddle real bayou.

The bayou, on your own terms