Extreme Sports
Beginner adventure

Sea kayaking in Alaska lets you create your own adventure, while escaping the responsibilities you have left behind. Alaska offers a unique combination of education and adventure so you can enjoy the beautiful nature all around you.

Alaska offers a variety of different kayaking opportunities such as paddling and rapid riding. You can also hike, camp, fish, bird watch, and get up close with the sea mammals like sea otters, whales, seals, and dolphins. Most kayaking groups are informal and move at a leisurely pace. This insures that you will have the most relaxing trip possible, and give you time to enjoy your surroundings.

In the Alaskan wilderness, you never know what you will find, which is why sea kayaking is so exciting. There are many times when you could happen upon something unexpected and unique. Things such as dolphins swimming in the water beside your canoe, or sea lions playing at a rest stop provide for a one of a kind experience and a great video opportunity.

The most important thing to consider when planning a sea kayaking trip is hiring a professional kayaking tour guide that knows the waters and is very committed to saving and preserving the wilderness and environment. You should make sure that your tour guide is practicing environmentally safe procedures. Then you will be able to kayak and learn about Alaska and the vastness of the land, the animals, and the flora but also understand the importance of saving it so that it can be passed down from one generation to the next so your children and your children’s children can also sea kayak.

When hiring a tour guide you should make sure that their number one priority is your safety, not an adventure themselves. Their concern for your safety should be reflecting in everything they do. He or she should have completed the necessary training and first aid courses as well as wilderness first responder’s courses and emergency medicine. Your tour guide should also carry a satellite phone or some other communication to the outside world because most of the kayaking locations are remote and out of touch.

No matter how long you would like to go for, whether it be one, two, or seven days, there are many wonderful experiences to be had. For example, you could take a trip to the Kenai Fjords National Park, a favorite destination for sea kayakers for some of the most amazing and diverse adventures in all of Alaska. Or you might want to have a backcountry experience that offers an escape from the clamor of everyday life, and just lets you get away from it all.

Many people consider Florida a divers dream come true. This is because Florida is composed of over 1,700 islands and the Keys that stretch over 150 miles there are many different places to go diving. The waters are calm, clear, and full with beautiful and unique sea life and colorful coral. You can visit some of the over 5,000 ship wrecks in these waters, or the only barrier reef in the continent. In addition to sea diving, Florida also offers some of the finest spring diving sites you will encounter.

One of the places that should be on the top of your list to dive is John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park. John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park is the nation’s first underwater preserve. Located near Key Largo, the visibility here is almost perfect, making it a favorite dive destination for beginner and advanced divers alike. Another place that comes highly recommended is Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. This sanctuary starts in Key Largo and then stretches the entire length of the islands, offering some of the most sought after diving in the world.

Statue of Christ of the Abyss is an eerily magnificent site to dive. Located 25 feet beneath the surface, the statue is prominent and distinct. Divers also love this site because it features canyons and trenches to be explored, and a large variety of eagle rays and sea turtles.

Then there is the Pillar Patch, an enchanted place where you will find beautifully colored coral rising up from the floor, almost like cactus on the desert floor. For shipwrecks, we suggest you make time to visit the Elbow, also in the Upper Keys area. The penetration is outstanding and the overall experience unbelievable. All of these areas offer wonderful visibility, which makes the diving experience unrivaled.

Located in the Looe Key National Marine Sanctuary is 5.3 nautical miles of sculpted reef, the Stargazer. Just five miles off Key West, this reef includes a series of replicated star constellations once used for sea navigation. If it is diving in waters with colorful marine life and coral, then this is the place to be.

Last, in the central region of the Pan Handle you can find over 1,000 diving springs. Some are located on private land, while others are located in National or State parks and reserves. Many divers visit Blue Springs because of an incredible once in a life time experience: the migration of the manatees. Other favorite diving sites in Florida include Turtle Reef with a depth of 25 feet, Carysfort Reef that has a diving range up to 70 feet, Carysfort South with a diving depth of 20 feet, the Elbow, as mentioned, which is up to 35 feet deep, and the Dry Rocks in Key Largo, with a depth of 25 feet. For more advanced divers who like to dive in deeper waters, you should visit Adolphus Busch, which has water depths up to 110ft, or Outside Reefs and Western Dry Rocks up to 210 feet depths.