Trying to decide on duration for an upcoming trip and figured this would be worth crowdsourcing. Looking at boat rentals ontario options and stuck between booking a half-day versus committing to a full day, curious what's worked for other people.
From what I've gathered, most providers offer both, plus multi-day options for longer trips, and the per-hour rate tends to drop the longer the booking, so a half-day isn't necessarily half the price of a full day. If your plan is mostly cruising and swimming without a packed itinerary, a half-day seems like it could easily cover that without paying for hours you won't use.
Where it seems to matter more is if watersports are part of the plan. Between actually getting everyone geared up, taking turns on skis or a wakeboard, and just general downtime between runs, a half-day can go by fast if you've got more than two or three people wanting a turn. A full day gives more breathing room for that without feeling rushed toward the end.
Group size factors in too. Bowriders seating six to ten people means everyone's sharing the same time window, so a bigger group with mixed interests, some wanting to swim, others wanting to ski, probably benefits more from a full day just so nobody feels like they didn't get enough time doing what they actually wanted.
Delivery timing is worth asking about regardless of duration, since a half-day booking with a late delivery or early pickup can eat into actual time on the water more than people expect going in.
Anyone found a sweet spot between half-day and full-day that worked well for a group with mixed interests, some wanting relaxed swimming, others wanting watersports time?