Longtime island business Vashon Adventures is undergoing a big change this year, as the business will no longer offer e-bike rentals.

The reason: Insurance costs.

Vashon Adventures started as Vashon Water Sports a little more than a decade ago, offering rental kayaks and paddleboards. They added camping and rental bikes to their offerings seven years ago, at which time the company grew into its new identity as “Vashon Adventures,” co-owner Erin Kieper said.

The business has occupied its town center location across the street from Snapdragon for three years, from where they’ve rented out bikes to eager visitors and families. The electric bikes were “a big hit,” Kieper said, as families sought an adventure experience that would still be safe during the worst of the pandemic.

But in December, they got the news that their insurance provider would no longer cover their risk class for electric bikes and would cancel their policy.

“We are in the same class — electric bikes — as the ride shares in Seattle, and all the ride shares everywhere,” Kieper said. “And that’s been a pretty high liability risk for insurance.”

They scrambled to find an alternative, Kieper said, and learned that to keep their coverage for putting kids on bikes, their liability insurance would skyrocket 400%, even though the company hasn’t had any claims.

Those infeasible insurance spikes spelled the end of the bike rental program.

But there was a silver lining: The news came after an already relatively slow year for the company in 2023, affected “significantly” by the island’s disrupted ferry service, Kieper said — so they had already decided to avoid buying any new bikes for this year.

“That would have been a bummer” had they invested many thousands of dollars into a new fleet of bikes, Kieper said. And it meant that the insurance sticker shock made it “a fairly easy decision” to make the switch altogether and sell last year’s bikes.

Vashon Adventures will keep the name but move out of that in-town location, Kieper said, hopefully by the end of March. Kieper said that anyone interested in that location can reach the landlord at info@stationvashon.com or 480-518-4338.

The company will retain its operations at their Jensen Point Boathouse at 8900 SW Harbor Drive, Kieper said. Moving forward, they’ll focus on the boathouse and paddling services, which will expand from six to seven days a week. They’ll continue running camping at several locations on the islands.

Kieper said she’s excited to broaden their program offering guided tours and field trips on the island to the community.