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We are thinking about a houseboat vacation next summer - maybe on Lake Mead, Lake Powell, or someplace like that.
I have absolutely no experience with houseboats, so I am asking anyone who does to lend their opinions.

Background: There will be eight of us, two families with two kids each. We have done beach-house rentals before as well as Disneyworld, so we know we can get along well. We all enjoy the relaxation that comes along with vacations by (or on) the water, but we will be looking for some family-friendly activities too. (like fishing, sightseeing, maybe a jetski)

It seems a little pricey, compared to a beach-house or a condo in Kissimmee, but it might be worth it.

Has anybody ever rented a houseboat?
Or have you ever vacationed on a houseboat?
Or have you ever vacationed on a lake in that part of the world?

bravedave wrote:We are thinking about a houseboat vacation next year - maybe on Lake Mead, Lake Powell, or someplace like that.
I have absolutely no experience with houseboats, so I am asking anyone who does to lend their opinions.

Background: There will be eight of us, two families with two kids each. We have done beach-house rentals before as well as Disneyworld, so we know we can get along well. We all enjoy the relaxation that comes along with vacations by (or on) the water, but we will be looking for some family-friendly activities too. (like fishing, sightseeing, maybe a jetski)

It seems a little pricey, compared to a beach-house or a condo in Kissimmee, but it might be worth it.

Has anybody ever rented a houseboat?
Or have you ever vacationed on a houseboat?
Or have you ever vacationed on a lake in that part of the world?

In high school I took two trips to Lake Powell, one on a houseboat. Loads of fun, I'd do it again, but there is no privacy at all. I thought LP was breathtaking, it was like going back in time in some spots. Back then it was pretty peaceful too...this was in the early 80's. We had ski boats too so we pretty much parked the houseboat and used the ski boat to explore...and to ski of course.

In college we rented houseboats up here on the Delta during finals week, loads of fun! Now that i think about it, it's a wonder we survived.

They are fun, but like I said, the lack of privacy can get to you. And I now Lake Powell has suffered a lot with droughts since then so I'd do a lot of checking around to see the condition of the lake. I know we went out of Bullfrog Marina for at least one of the trips, I'll have to check to see if we did both out of there.

It's been a few years, but I've done it twice with big groups of jet skiers on Lake Norris in TN. We rented like 6 houseboats and tied them all up together in a cove, and explored the lake on the jet skis during the day. If you split it up per person, it really isn't that expensive. If you can afford it, get one with a jacuzzi up top. Nothing like sitting in a hot tup on the lake under the stars.

I had never driven a houseboat, but they show you what to do and it really isn't that difficult. I say Go For It!

Lakes Mead and Powell are both pretty cool, and you might want to check out Lake Havasu too. There's a cool village area around the London Bridge and you can get to Topcock Gorge from there. It's a good 2 hour drive through the desert from Vegas but you can stop at the Hoover d*m on the way.

I hear spring break is pretty wild at Havasu so you might not want to take the families then. The jet ski world finals are in October every year, and that's worth checking out for sure. Prices will probably be at a premium though. It got to the point that my buddies just started renting houses for the week.

I've done the houseboat thing on Lake Foul, err, Lake Powell several times and with the water down as much as it is, I would be a little worried about the concentration of pollution along the "beaches". If we have a really wet winter (and we need one) then the water level should increase and hide the waste that is piled up on the sandstone. Having said that the lower water does expose a lot of things that you won't get to see again when the lake is full. One of the things I love about LP is that you can get away from everyone else since it is so big.

I've done Lake Mead once and we had a reasonably good time. It's not a big as Lake Powell, nor does it have as many places to explore but one can have a good time on it.

Lake Have a Chew, as my college roommate described it this summer when he took his family, is fun but relatively smaller and this everything is more concentrated. This can be good and it can be bad depending on what else is going on when you are there.

Keep in mind that all the lakes on the Colorado are down right now but can come back surprisingly quickly depending on how wet the winter and spring weather patterns are. Deep water hides a lot of issues that lower levels reveal.

Mr D and I took a couple of houseboat vacations with our boys, but that was
about 15 years ago, so I'm not sure just how current my information would be.
We had a week in the Keys out of Islamorada with Houseboat Vacations of
the Florida Keys http://www.thefloridakeys.com/houseboats It was a great
way to spend time in the Keys with lodging and boating all in one package.
The boat was a pontoon-type, which made it pretty much a camper on floats,
but we had a wonderful time.
Later we rented on the Suwannee from Miller's. The boat was nicer, but after
being right on the water in the Keys for a week, it was a bit of a "letdown"
until we changed gears an started visiting the small creeks off the river in a
runabout we were towing. LOTS of alligators to see and springs to visit.
http://houseboat-rentals.gordonsguide.c ... erssuwanee We even caught
a huge catfish using a piece of hotdog for bait!

The Lost Manatee wrote:I've done the houseboat thing on Lake Foul, err, Lake Powell several times and with the water down as much as it is, I would be a little worried about the concentration of pollution along the "beaches". If we have a really wet winter (and we need one) then the water level should increase and hide the waste that is piled up on the sandstone. Having said that the lower water does expose a lot of things that you won't get to see again when the lake is full. One of the things I love about LP is that you can get away from everyone else since it is so big.

I've done Lake Mead once and we had a reasonably good time. It's not a big as Lake Powell, nor does it have as many places to explore but one can have a good time on it.

Lake Have a Chew, as my college roommate described it this summer when he took his family, is fun but relatively smaller and this everything is more concentrated. This can be good and it can be bad depending on what else is going on when you are there.

Keep in mind that all the lakes on the Colorado are down right now but can come back surprisingly quickly depending on how wet the winter and spring weather patterns are. Deep water hides a lot of issues that lower levels reveal.

LM, the lake level was my concern too. Even when I was there in '80 and '81 the lake was down somewhat, but nothing like it has been recently. It did expose many cool things, but also made navigating while exploring rather hazardous. And for as big as the lake was it was VERY annoying to find a great spot, park your houseboat, take the ski boat out for the day then be followed back to your private cove and end up having someone anchor RIGHT NEXT TO YOU! We got even...we stayed up late and were loud and my friend's bro threw a perfect rooster tail of water right thru the open door of their houseboat and completely soaked it. They left pretty quickly after that...with plenty of choice words.

This thread brings back memories. The first trip was with my friend's divorced parents and 4 high school girls. We drove there from SoCal in a 57 Chevelle towing a boat! Nothing like driving thru the desert with the heater on in the dead of summer to keep the car from overheating. They were selling the boat after that trip so we drove the hell out of the boat and the car on that trip...good time. The next year we added more family and friends, rented two houseboats and had 2 ski boats as well. Good times.

We did houseboat rental on Powell for a couple of years and then had a timeshare on Powell for eight years.....it's truly one of my favorite places on earth.....I would love to get back in to another timeshare someday.

If you do a rental on Powell, you have to go through Aramark....they are the only rental vendor. Pay the extra and get a decent boat....the two smaller ones are a POS and do NOT lend well to a pleasant vacation.

This is the boat we had.....


We've done Disneyland, Disneyworld, and a cruise.....but Lake Powell weeks are still the vacation our kids talk about the most![/img]

pbans wrote:We did houseboat rental on Powell for a couple of years and then had a timeshare on Powell for eight years.....it's truly one of my favorite places on earth.....I would love to get back in to another timeshare someday.

If you do a rental on Powell, you have to go through Aramark....they are the only rental vendor. Pay the extra and get a decent boat....the two smaller ones are a POS and do NOT lend well to a pleasant vacation.

This is the boat we had.....


We've done Disneyland, Disneyworld, and a cruise.....but Lake Powell weeks are still the vacation our kids talk about the most![/img]

Oooh, Paige....I'm getting ideas...!

it was VERY annoying to find a great spot, park your houseboat, take the ski boat out for the day then be followed back to your private cove and end up having someone anchor RIGHT NEXT TO YOU!

Aahh... houseboat etiquette. I am a barbarian. Which fork do you eat your soup with?
(Is soup allowed on houseboats?)
(I have heard bananas are bad luck on boats.)

Here's the setup we had at Lake Norris, looks like we had 5 houseboats instead of 6. You know, maybe we should have a Buffettnews convention with houseboats the next time Buffett plays on or near a suitable body of water - Good times I'm telling you.

Lost Manatee - if you don't like Mead, Powell, or Havasu, what lakes do you recommend out there? Those are the only 3 I've been to...

Travel channel had a special on houseboats the other night. I caught a bit of it. There were some beautiful boats in there!

Desdamona wrote:Mr D and I took a couple of houseboat vacations with our boys, but that was
about 15 years ago, so I'm not sure just how current my information would be.
We had a week in the Keys out of Islamorada with Houseboat Vacations of
the Florida Keys http://www.thefloridakeys.com/houseboats It was a great
way to spend time in the Keys with lodging and boating all in one package.
The boat was a pontoon-type, which made it pretty much a camper on floats,
but we had a wonderful time.
Later we rented on the Suwannee from Miller's. The boat was nicer, but after
being right on the water in the Keys for a week, it was a bit of a "letdown"
until we changed gears an started visiting the small creeks off the river in a
runabout we were towing. LOTS of alligators to see and springs to visit.
http://houseboat-rentals.gordonsguide.c ... erssuwanee We even caught
a huge catfish using a piece of hotdog for bait!

Ooooooh, cool. I hadn't thought about a houseboat in the Keys. That would be a fun summer vacation.

bravedave wrote:

Desdamona wrote:Mr D and I took a couple of houseboat vacations with our boys, but that was
about 15 years ago, so I'm not sure just how current my information would be.
We had a week in the Keys out of Islamorada with Houseboat Vacations of
the Florida Keys http://www.thefloridakeys.com/houseboats It was a great
way to spend time in the Keys with lodging and boating all in one package.
The boat was a pontoon-type, which made it pretty much a camper on floats,
but we had a wonderful time.

Ooooooh, cool. I hadn't thought about a houseboat in the Keys. That would be a fun summer vacation.

It was a wonderful week, and something to remember your whole life.
I had my close encounter with a sea turtle under the boat on that trip!

Funny, reading about the houseboats they have available now... We had no
refridgeration, only a big cooler that we kept restocking with ice. And our
camper on the water had one double bed in a separate cabin, bunk beds in
the passageway, and a double futon in the salon, but 6 of us spent a comfortable
week on it. The best part was the front deck, since there was no real usable
upper deck.

not to rain on your parade. but a word of caution.

every year we have multiple fatalities on lake powell from carbon monoxide poisoning. turns out the engine exhaust is on the stern where you jump off for swimming etc. CO is heavier than air so it lays in on the water and you end up breathing high concentrations of it. also a few week ago, one cove on powell was closed due to high CO concentrations because it is a popular hangout and sheltered from the breeze and the CO buildup got to a dangerous level....

also powell is a big spring break destination. plan accordingly. definitely NOT a family destination then.

I thought this image was fitting for this thread...


LOL

bravedave wrote:I thought this image was fitting for this thread...


LOL

I'll take one!! How much?

NOW that's a houseboat!

Lake Have-a-Scr... er, Havasu, is a beautiful location with beautiful scenery downriver on the Colorado

that is, if you have no problem with all the amateur p*** being filmed all day



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