Kerbs Memorial Boathouse

Its always great to have the privilege to row a boat in the heart of manhattan! Rowing is a lot of work but you get the hang of it in a few minuits. Its a little bit crowded with boats in the beginning of your journey but its gets better as you go. Great view of all the manhattan buildings.Great for pics but be carefull not to drop your Iphone in the water! Lol. Its about a half hour wait and for the boat rental they want from $12-$15. Per hour. But they make you give them $30 collateral so you dont steal there boat. And as soon as you return then they give you the rest of your money back. If you are like 10 minutes into the next hour they will try to charge you for the whole second hour at full price. The time is on the receipt. Just a heads up!

Do you want to do something unique and iconic in central park as a local or a tourist? How about supporting a rad local charity while doing so? Well definitely pay a visit to the Model Boat Pond at Kerbs Memorial and rent a remote controlled sailboat. Proceeds support the Bronx-based nonprofit Rocking the Boat that teaches young people how to build wooden boats, while learning about environmental science and sailing.

Super easy to rent online in 1/2 hour increments. We were planning to visit on a a super hot day with our 5 year old so a half hour was perfect. Rentals are $15 for 30 minutes.

Their staff was friendly and accommodating. We called to change our reservation time and they made it easy.

Once there, our guide showed us how to operate our boat and my little one got the hang of it and was driving on her own pretty quickly. Really fun and unique experience we all had fun with, even in the heat.

Be sure to check the centralpark.com website for hours and days. They were only open 3 days a week in June when we visited, but those hours are expanded later on in the summer.

There's a cafe here should you need something cold to drink while you "sail"

It's been a while since I rented these rowing boats and the system is much more organized these days. Cash is not accepted and you'll need your phone to download the waiver to sign.

It can get very busy, but even on a Saturday afternoon (the day before a rainy Mother's Day) we waited for a little more than half hour.

I'm not gonna lie: on weekends you ARE surrounded by dozens of other boats, but the setting is beautiful. If you're a tourist, you dream about doing this. If you're a local, it still feels pretty darn special.

$25/hour is a pretty good deal, considering the zip code. An hour goes by fast, so if you're planning on chilling on the lake a bit (reading a book, or something), rent your boat for 2 hours.

Crazy busy spot. Why you might ask? There's a Le Pain Quotidian on the side where you see the crowds. The nice thing is sitting outdoors in the park with your Le Pain treats. There is plenty of seating.
The view while you sip your coffee is the view of the lake. On a sunny day it might be nice. Even still, everyone was enjoying this spot today.
I'm sure I'll return another day and bring an appetite.

You can't find a better place to buy your morning coffee or tea and a croissant.
Located by conservatory pond.
Plenty of room to sit and watch the beautiful Central Park landscape.

After a few weeks of discussing going on a rowboating date, the boy and I took to the pond in a little rowboat last Friday afternoon. The weather was perfect, not too hot - not unnecessarily breezy, but perfect boating weather! I was lucky to get out of work around 3:40pm and we arrived to the boathouse around 4:30pm after a longish walk from 57th and 8th.

We only waited about 15-20 minutes, wasn't too bad - the wait went by quickly because I talk a lot to the point where I don't shut up and my "gift of gab" is able to bend the space & time continuum and thus time goes by faster...lolzies. True story.

Words cannot express how happy I was to be in the middle of Central Park's pond. This is such a welcome change from traditional dinner/movie dates (which I LOVE!! But c'mon - BOATS on a POND in CENTRAL PARK, no comparison or competition there!).

I was envisioning that classic scene from the Little Mermaid where Eric is trying to figure out Ariel's name but she can't talk so Sebastian has to whisper it to him while gaining his balance on the end of an oar and they almost kiss right before the sun sets on the third day but then Flotsam and Jestam are stupid, dumb jerk face buttholes and they make the boat flip over thus ruining Ariel's chance to get some that night....only my actual experience was a million times better because my boyfriend knew my name, did kiss me and there's pretty much no way in hell that Flotsam and Jetsam would survive in the pollution infested and murky hunter green waters of Central Park...although technically they are moray eels and are designed to thrive best in freshwater...ugh, I digress :).

Love how the oars are attached to the little boats. Thank goodness or I feel as if there would be a lot of stranded people out there that would have to be saved by gondola people...speaking of gondolas, OMG THEY HAVE GONDOLAS!!! And the guys who row them around for the lazy folks who don't want to work up a sweat, actually wear traditional gondola-wear! Yanno, black and white striped tops, little red silk scarf things and hats - little gondola hats! AWESOME!!

As I said to my boyfriend (who did 75% of the rowing, lol) every guy in a boat with a significant other was totally going to get it that night. Ladies, don't go on a rowboating date if you're not going to put out (unless it's specifically stated), men take your ladies here whether or not you're looking for some instant boomchickawahwah. It'll create an unforgettable memory either way, you'll get a good arm/cardio workout and it's just plain FUN.

DO IT. Oh, and it's only $12 per boat, $3 for each additional minute (so really another $12 if you really want an extra hour) and it's a $20 deposit - but you get it back upon returning the boat...which I totally suggested taking back to Astoria, Queens and at first the boy humored me and said we could take it back to Queens via secret, underground water tunnel...but then he just laughed and told me I could not take the boat with me. I still think $20 for a rowboat with attached, industrial strength oars is a STEAL, but whatever - lol.

Last tip - this place is CASH ONLY. Don't be a douche and try to use a card after waiting on line to take your lady rowboating only to have to reschedule. Then you'll probably not get any for sure, lol.

Okay, lies - this is REALLY my last tip. Rowboating doesn't have to be all coupley. It's totally cool to go with friends and with kids or family members. Ponds are for everyone. Except for jerk eels from Disney's "The Little Mermaid".

It's too crowded with no privacy anywhere. It looks like they increased their price. It is $20 per person + $20 deposit. Prospect Park is better for boat rentals.

When my boyfriend and I went to NY, the only thing he specified that he must do is sail one of the model boats in Central Park. At the time we were living on a people sized sailboat and he wanted to teach me sailing basics with one of the mini boats. We were there for a week and each day we checked in to see if the boathouse was open, each day finding it closed. On our last full day in the city, we were exploring the mass of the MET and got understandably overwhelmed so we decided to take a break and try the sailing one last time.

Of course, it was open and the wind was perfect. I'm not sure it helped me with sailing a real boat, but I am now an expert at chasing ducks with a model boat and would like to propose that someone back in San Francisco starts up something like this. It was a ton of fun, and something that anyone can do. There were five year olds powering their boats around, right along side the older folks.

It's good when it's not crowded but most of the time it's crowded. $15 for the first hour isn't too bad. There's a $20 deposit and it's CASH ONLY. Always a solid place for a date. Be prepared for a decent workout.