Knotty Oar Marina

We have been customers with Knotty Oar for about 10 years. Our first experience was a pontoon rental to check out the lake as a family member wanted to buy a house and the experience with Knotty Oar was pleasant. Their boats are very nice to rent and the brand would be a good boat to purchase. Over the years the entire staff have been polite to us and are quick to help. Knotty Oar has serviced our boats numerous times quickly and accurately without any issues from repairs, routing maintenance, winterization, and accessories. The Prior Lake community is lucky to have Knotty Oar servicing the community and visitors. Pizza pickup by boat is fun and they have sodas for sale as well. Service with a smile!

We had such a great experience here! Booking was easy, every single staff member we interacted with was so nice and helpful, and the boat we rented was in great shape and the perfect size for our group! 10/10 would recommend and rent here again

The Knotty Oar is awesome! They are knowledgeable, friendly, helpful, efficient, and much more! Larry and his staff always have the best cheerful and positive attitude. We are thankful for all they do!

The best marina of all marinas in the Twin Cities metro. New pontoons, helpful staff, and reasonable price for a hassle-free fun boat day on Prior Lake. Knotty Oar has been my go-to for the past two years and I’m proud to be a repeat customer for 1-2x a summer. Highly recommend to anyone looking for a boat rental on Prior Lake.

We had an extremely positive end-to-end pontoon rental experience with Knotty Oar. Booking Process and Pricing: We called multiple times in the booking process with a number of questions about the rental, and the two young women who answer the phone were always incredibly helpful and patient. The price is competitive vs. others on Prior Lake, and when you add up all the costs/amenities most will find Knotty Oar is on par or better vs. the 1-2 rental companies who only charge $200 for 4 hours (Knotty Oar was $250 for our rental from 10AM -2PM on a Summer Wednesday). Gas is extra and ran us $17 (you pay only for what you use and they fill it up at their location - other rentals you actually have to get gas somewhere before pulling it into their slip!) The pricing walk-through and billing is very transparent - no surprises unless you are reckless and damage a boat. Boat: In fantastic shape, felt almost brand new. Powerful motor, on-board depthfinder for peace of mind to avoid shallow areas, very comfortable seating, fast moving power bimini shade that easily could be adjusted to keep the newborn in our party in the shade, etc. I think the website actually undersells the amenities, as it had a high quality sound system you could connect to via Bluetooth or Auxiliary cable (or listen to radio) and a nice captains cup holder that had a cooling function! Nice anchor and swim ladder made stopping in a few swim spots a breeze. Location: Prior Lake, between Upper and Lower, was plenty large enough for us. Not too much traffic on a Wednesday, plenty of calmer areas to pull over to dock/swim, and a pull-up bar/restaurant (Charlie's). There are larger lakes and rec areas in the area but this one, in particular for a one day or half day excursion, is plenty. Overall/Family: From beginning to end, across every employee interaction, we were really pleased with Knotty Oar. From a family perspective, they were extremely patient accommodating our four young children (from 8 years old to 14 weeks!) and had a variety of child life jackets to choose from as they are required for anyone under 10. One other location we called said we had to bring our own which quickly made them a much worse deal vs. their slightly lower rental price. After the trip, they have ice cream bars, cookie sandwiches, popsicles, etc. in the office for reasonable prices (most everything in the $2 to $3 range). We were surprised with how clean everything was (office, boat, etc.) and their public bathroom to use before/after the ride was immaculate - we all commented on how nice the bathroom was! Added bonus - they just recently adopted young English Golden Retriever puppy named Wilson (12 weeks old?) who greeted us in the office and both kids and adults were besides themselves. We will absolutely be back and make this a Summer tradition.