Carolina Tiki: A Family-Built Lake Norman Favorite Looks Ahead

Before Carolina Tiki became a four-boat charter business, there was an old dinner boat and a family who could see another life for it. The vessel had once served the Blue Parrot, a restaurant on Lake Norman’s shoreline. According to Carolina Tiki’s own history, it had then sat unused for almost two decades.

Jason and Lisa Kraft founded Carolina Tiki in 2020. Jason and their son Austin took on the hands-on work of bringing that 41-foot pontoon back. This was not a fresh coat of paint and a new name: the family describes rebuilding The Cabana from the pontoons up, a project that took almost a year.

What emerged was a boat designed around a simple kind of pleasure: enough room for friends and family to spread out, a captain to handle the driving, and a day on Lake Norman that did not require anyone in the group to own a boat. A piece of the lake’s restaurant history had become the beginning of a new family business.

The early crew was as personal as the rebuild. Jason captained the boat, with Austin working alongside him as first mate. Lisa handled the work that makes a charter happen before anyone reaches the dock: bookings, emails, phone calls and guests’ questions.

Austin’s role grew with the company. Its team biography records that he earned his U.S. Coast Guard Master Captain’s license in the winter of 2022, progressing from first mate to captain while also helping with social media. Captain Chris became another key member of the crew, bringing a background in aviation and a love of boating to the operation.

That family involvement is more than part of the origin story. Carolina Tiki describes treating guests as it would its own family, with a licensed Master Captain and first mate included on every charter. For someone organizing a birthday, a family outing or a weekend with friends, having people take care of both the planning and the time on the water is a large part of the appeal.

After its first successful years with The Cabana, Carolina Tiki took on another ambitious project. The family brought The Hut to North Carolina from Lake Lanier, Georgia, and began a full renovation in 2023. Walls, floors, ceilings, decking, the bathroom and kitchen fittings were all part of the work. The company’s history describes getting it ready for the May 2024 season.

The Hut offered a different way to enjoy the lake: an indoor gathering space, an upper deck for lounging, and a slide into the water. Rather than simply buying another copy of its first boat, Carolina Tiki was giving guests a reason to choose an experience that fit their group.

La Cantina followed. The company dates its purchase to 2024 and describes bringing the 31-foot Premier SkyDek tritoon from the Outer Banks to prepare for the 2025 season. Its current website also introduces La Cascada, a 27-foot Tahoe Cascade Platinum Funship acquired locally on Lake Norman, as the newest addition.

Today’s fleet is a long way from a single restoration project. It gives a group a choice between the open feel of The Cabana, The Hut’s indoor-and-upstairs layout, and the double-deck tritoon experience of La Cantina or La Cascada.

For groups looking for a captained day on the lake, Carolina Tiki makes a strong case through the combination of distinctive boats and attentive hosting. The boats draw the eye, but the service is what turns an outing into a day people want to repeat.

As of this article’s publication, Carolina Tiki’s website reports more than 1,000 five-star Google reviews. That is the company’s published figure, rather than an independently audited ranking, but it gives a sense of the reputation the family has worked to build since 2020.

The practical details help explain the appeal. The company includes a captain, first mate and fuel, along with amenities such as coolers, life jackets and floating equipment. Guests can focus on their group instead of navigating an unfamiliar lake or figuring out how to dock a large boat. Amenities and rules vary by vessel, so it is worth reviewing the boat’s individual page before booking.

There is also a difference between adding more boats and offering more choice. Carolina Tiki’s growth has done both. A family with children, a birthday group and a gathering of old friends need not all want the same kind of afternoon. A varied fleet gives the company more ways to make the day fit the people aboard.

Carolina Tiki’s story is also tied to the community around the water. On its About Us page, the family describes donating a charter each year to J.V. Washam Elementary School’s silent auction, collecting aluminum can tabs for the Ronald McDonald House, and donating cans from The Cabana to the Firefighters’ Burned Children Fund.

Those are modest, tangible connections: a school auction, a collection of tabs, the cans left after a day aboard. They fit a business whose identity comes from family involvement and familiarity with the lake, rather than just the number of trips it can sell.

The next chapter is not only about what happens aboard the boats. Carolina Tiki lists its address at 8693 NC Highway 150 in Terrell, the Midway Marina property. That makes the marina’s planned transformation especially relevant to the experience surrounding a Carolina Tiki charter.

As covered in our Midway Marina redevelopment feature, the planned rebuild includes modern docks, fuel and pump-out service, improved shoreside facilities, an expanded surf shop and a new waterfront restaurant. Midway’s own website describes the new marina as being in the permitting stages. These are plans for the future, not a list of amenities already open to visitors.

For Carolina Tiki, there is plenty to look forward to in that vision. A renewed waterfront setting could make arriving for a charter feel like part of the outing rather than simply a place to board. The prospect of shopping and a meal near the water could give guests more reasons to spend time at the marina before or after their trip.

That is the opportunity the remodel represents—not a promise of a particular opening date, restaurant operator or new Carolina Tiki package. Construction schedules and guest-access arrangements can change, so anyone planning a charter should confirm current arrival instructions directly with the company.

Carolina Tiki started by seeing possibility in something others had left behind. The family took an idle dinner boat, put in the work and created a new way for people to enjoy Lake Norman. Every addition since has broadened that original idea without losing the personal story behind it.

A four-boat fleet and the prospect of a renewed Midway Marina give that story an optimistic next chapter. The opportunity is to welcome more people, offer more kinds of lake days and keep the family-run attention that made the first boat worth booking.

For Carolina Tiki, the future looks promising for much the same reason the beginning worked: distinctive boats, people who care about the experience, and a lake that keeps giving everyone a reason to come back.