50 Active Vacations for the Fitness-Conscious: Water Sports

Get wet on these water sports vacations:

• Rafting Desolation Canyon
• Whitewater Rafting and Hiking the Grand Canyon
• Classical Music and Rafting on the Dolores River
• Kayaking in South Carolina
• Washington, D.C., Kayaking
• Big Bend Saltwater Paddling Trail
• Everglades Multiday Kayaking Tour
• Paddling the Eastern Shore of Virginia
• Paddle Baja
• Vermont River Sampler
• Shadowing Lewis and Clark in Montana
• Learn to Kiteboard in Key West

Whitewater rafting on the Colorado River in Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona.

Rafting Desolation Canyon

Where: Moab, Utah
Duration: 5 to 6 days
Distance: 81 miles
Cost: $875, adult; $525, child
Operator: Red River Adventures (www.redriveradventures.com; 877-259-4046)
Difficulty: Easy

Even nonswimmers and children are welcome on this camping tour through the red-rock canyon walls of Utah's Green River. Everybody paddles through the 50 or so riffles and rapids on 18-foot rowing rafts captained by guides or—if you're feeling independent—in inflatable kayaks. Boston-area wine shop owner Jay Faber and his wife, Holly, chose a rafting trip as a way to introduce their two children, then 14 and 9, to white water. "They loved it," says Faber. "Maybe when they get older, we'll do something a little more wild." Camping equipment and meals are provided.

Whitewater Rafting and Hiking the Grand Canyon

Where: Flagstaff, Ariz.
Duration: 15 to 19 days
Distance: 280 miles
Cost: $4,716 - $5,296
Operator: O.A.R.S. (www.oars.com; 800-346-6277)
Difficulty: Easy to moderate

O.A.R.S company founder George Wendt first rafted through the Grand Canyon 30 years ago, so suffice it to say he knows where he leads. This canyon journey from Lees Ferry to Lake Mead covers a geological wonderland—creeks, waterfalls, ancient rock, and some of the biggest whitewater in the canyon, rated 5 or higher. (A 1 is a small riffle. A 10 is the most difficult.) You navigate the river, and 47 major rapids, in a 17-foot hard-hulled dory that holds four passengers and a guide. Have no fear: The guide rows the dory through the daunting white water. In general, you're paddling for three to five hours a day; the rest of the time is yours for hiking and exploring the canyons. Plan to sleep on sandy beaches along the river, in a tent or under the stars. Bathing is done in the Colorado River. If you prefer to bring a solar shower along, you're welcome to do so. Minimum age: 12.

Classical Music and Rafting on the Dolores River

Where: Cortez, Colo.
Duration: 4 days
Distance: 100 miles
Cost: $1,120, adult; child, $1,010
Operator: Bill Dvorak's Rafting and Kayak Expeditions (www.dvorakexpeditions.com; 800-824-3795)
Difficulty: Easy to moderate

Referred to as the "Bach Before Breakfast" trip, this year's excursion combines morning and evening performances by a Santa Fe Symphony flutist and a string quartet from the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Talk about a setting for a concert. You paddle and raft through alpine forests, grottoes, and sandstone caverns decorated with Anasazi pictographs during the day on the river. The desert canyons of the Dolores include Ponderosa, Slickrock, and Gateway. Expect a wild ride or two through white water along with quiet, gentle moments on the river. Some days feature more hiking; others, more rafting. All are song-filled. The minimum age is 10.

Kayaking in South Carolina

Where: Awendaw, S.C.
Duration: 2 to 9 days
Distance: 6 to 10 miles a day
Cost: 2 days, $300—or $200 for ages 12 and under
Operator: Nature Adventures Outfitters (www.natureadventuresoutfitters.com; 800-673-0679)
Difficulty: Easy to moderate

These kayaking tours of the region near historic Charleston offer up an education, too: Guides are professional naturalists, so you learn all about the flora and fauna—dolphins, loggerhead sea turtles, more than 270 species of birds—while you paddle. The coastal expeditions head out in sea kayaks to the barrier islands and saltwater marshes of the Cape Romain Wildlife Refuge while the inland tours explore the rice canals, black-water swamps, and freshwater islands once paddled by the Santee Indians and populated by bald eagles, alligators, river otters, and wild boar. Time is built in for hiking, and the coastal tours include some open-water paddling with full sun, wind, and currents; bring plenty of sunscreen.

Washington, D.C., Kayaking

Where: Washington, D.C.
Duration: 2 days
Distance: 10-plus miles
Cost: $385 per person (not including lodging)
Operator: REI Adventures (www.rei.com/adventures; 800-622-2236)
Difficulty: Moderate

This summer you can avoid the throngs of sightseers by taking in the nation's capital from the water. You start this weekend getaway with a paddle across the Potomac River to the Tidal Basin and then past the Lincoln and Jefferson memorials as well as the Lee Mansion, Arlington Cemetery, Memorial Bridge, Key Bridge, the boathouses of the Washington Canoe Club, and the Three Sisters Islands. Stops include Roosevelt Island, where you hike around the historical 88-acre site. On the second day, you move swiftly downriver to the Seneca Breaks. Depending on water levels, you'll pick a route with easy, Class I rapids. This section of the river is wooded and populated by birds and otters, raccoons, deer, and more. You'll pull ashore at an island for lunch and then work your way to the takeout at Riverbend Park. Back on two legs, you hike the Billy Goat Trail to the dramatic canyon and rushing views of Great Falls. Figure on paddling for four to six hours per day in both calm and moderately rough conditions. This trip is operated rain or shine.

Big Bend Saltwater Paddling Trail

Where: Suwanee, Fla.
Duration: 8 days
Distance: 105 miles
Cost: $1,300 per person
Operator: Adventures in Florida (www.adventuresinflorida.com; 407-924-3375)
Difficulty: Moderate to challenging

Suwannee is on the north Gulf Coast of Florida, about an hour from Gainesville in the heart of the Lower Suwannee National Wildlife Refuge, where the saltwater of the Gulf of Mexico intermingles with the spring-fed Suwannee River. The river mouth opens to a water world of natural salt marshes dotted with small coastal islands, and an area of shallow flats and oyster bars. Thousands of shorebirds make their homes here, and it serves as a nursery for fish, shrimp, and shellfish. Osprey and bald eagles nest in island trees, and water birds such as the snowy egret and the great blue heron can be found hunting in the estuary.

The 105-mile Big Bend Saltwater Paddling Trail begins at the lighthouse at St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge. Over the course of eight days, you paddle a course through freshwater rivers that flow to the Gulf of Mexico, camp primitive-style on remote beaches and tiny islands, and feast on freshly caught trout, reds, and drums. Be prepared to leave your electronics behind: Watches, cellphones, personal radios, laptops, and all other battery operated gizmos (except cameras) are banned from the trip. The goal is a true wilderness escape. Stopping points: Camp Rock Island, Spring Warrior Creek, Sponge Point, Steinhatchee, Sink Creek, Butler Island. This trail ride is offered in October and November and again in February. Why? That's when the bugs are gone, the weather is crisp and cool, and large flocks of migrating ducks and loons inhabit the region.

Everglades Multiday Kayaking Tour

Where: Everglades City, Fla.
Duration: 4 days
Distance: 8 to 12 miles a day
Cost: $599 per person
Operator: Crystal Seas Kayaking (www.crystalseas.com; 877-732-7877)
Difficulty: Easy to moderate

This swampy jungle journey typically runs from December to April, but custom dates can be arranged. The outfit provides all kayaking gear, meals and drinks, safety equipment, Marmot two-person dome tents and Therm-A-Rest sleeping pads (which convert to beach chairs). Before you push off, you'll review the basics of sea kayaking with your guide, plus what to do when a sea turtle or alligator surfaces next to you. (Stay calm. They are rarely interested in kayaks.)

The paddling locations are well suited for an array of paddling skill levels and the guides will bend to the needs and desires of the group as you skim the calm, briny waters of Everglades National Park, paddling through a vast maze of native red and white mangroves. The first day, you weave your way to a campsite along the coast where white sand beaches await, and your guide prepares a gourmet dinner of fresh local fish and serves up a traditional key lime pie to renew your spirit. The following day's paddle in one- or two-person expedition kayaks ends up on a small key in the Gulf of Mexico, where you'll camp again. Along the way, expect to encounter dolphins, great white herons, egrets, even alligators. The next morning, as you paddle through a maze of mangrove tunnels into the brackish water of the Key interior rivers, keep your eyes open for manatees. Fear not, the guides are skilled with their compasses. The trip is enough to make you want to pick up a DVD of the '60s Flipper TV series when you get home.

Paddling the Eastern Shore of Virginia

Where: Cape Charles, Va.
Duration: 2-night minimum
Distance: Varies
Cost: Starts at $495 per person
Operator: SouthEast Expeditions (www.sekayak.com; 757-331-2680)
Difficulty: Easy to moderate

Paddle back in time through mazes of marsh creeks and spend the weekend in a century-old working waterman's cabin perched on the marsh in the Virginia Coast Reserve. The cabin, which sleeps four comfortably and up to six in a pinch, is available for only a limited number of weekends every year. The uninhabited barrier islands, nestled where the Chesapeake Bay meets the Atlantic Ocean, line the eastern shore of Virginia. Figure on four to six hours of paddling a day, but distances are flexible. The trip includes the necessary equipment, meals, and guide service. All guides are Virginia Certified Eco-Tour Guides and trained naturalists as well as world-class kayak instructors. Novices might opt to spend a day enrolled in Sea Kayak 101, a $65 skill course that teaches paddling and boat-control techniques, as well as self- and assisted rescues.

Paddle Baja

Where: Loreto, Mexico
Duration: 8 days
Distance: 24 to 40 miles
Cost: $1,045
Operator: REI Adventures (www.rei.com/adventures; 800-622-2236)
Difficulty: Moderate

Mexico's Baja Peninsula is a mountainous 1,000-mile sliver of land that separates the turquoise waters of the Sea of Cortez from the Pacific Ocean. Your Sea of Cortez paddle begins in Loreto and takes you to three or four campsites along island coastlines. Time en route can vary greatly, depending on how calm the waters are. Typically, you paddle in the early morning, often starting by sunrise before the wind picks up and the seas get choppy. Travel time between camps is from two to four hours; after you set up camp, you're free to hike, paddle in the protected inlet where you've landed, snorkel, or simply stretch out on the beach. Professional guides accompany you and provide the kayaks, food, tents, expedition gear, and snorkel equipment. All you bring is clothing, a sleeping bag, and a seafaring spirit.

Vermont River Sampler

Where: Randolph, Vt.
Duration: 5 days
Distance: 40 miles
Cost: $1,575 per person
Operator: BattenKill Canoe, Ltd. (www.battenkill.com; 800-421-5268)
Difficulty: Easy to moderate

Your canoeing group of eight to 12 gathers the first evening at the Three Stallion Inn, near the quiet village of Randolph in the foothills of the Green Mountains, for orientation and safety and paddling instructions, in preparation for about 8 miles per day on the river. You put in at a rocky gorge on the Winooski River, where the water is quiet and you can glimpse Mount Mansfield and Camel's Hump in the distance. The Winooski is a sampler itself, with smooth and easy sections as well as quick water. That afternoon, you load up a support van and take a short drive north to Stowe, "Ski Capital of the East," for the night.

Next up, the Lamoille River. Once you enter the Northeast Kingdom, an unspoiled area that many consider the jewel of the state, you run Sit-A-While rapid and Ithiel Falls then enjoy an easy paddle among granite islands in the afternoon. There are several river choices, depending on skill and water level, the following day. The Missisquoi is a wide, meandering river that flows westward across the top of Vermont with a loop into Canada on its way to Lake Champlain. Or you might opt for the Black's gentle pace, heading north toward Lake Memphremagog. The Connecticut River offers fast water and relative isolation. The most exciting is saved for last: The White River combines flatwater and quickwater, as well as Class I and II rapids. Throughout the trip, the guides are sharpening your paddling skills, so you'll be ready for this ride.

Shadowing Lewis and Clark in Montana

Where: Fort Benton, Mont.
Duration: 3 days
Distance: 47 miles
Cost: $655, adult; $525, child
Operator: Lewis & Clark Trail Adventures (www.trailadventures.com; 800-366-6246)
Difficulty: Easy to moderate

The landscape has changed little since Lewis and Clark passed through the upper Missouri in the spring of 1805, which pleases history and fitness buff Ralph White, 51, of Washington, D.C. More than once, White has traced the route of the Lewis & Clark expedition by canoe and on foot through portions of Montana and Idaho. This three-day canoe paddle down the White Cliff section of the upper Missouri River moves with a gentle meandering current free of rapids. "The paddling is so painless that you only have to be fit enough to get in and out of the canoe," says White.

From Fort Benton, you paddle 13 miles to Eagle Creek, where the explorers camped on May 31, 1805. Before dining, you can hike through the Eye-of-the-Needle sandstone rock formation or explore the slot canyon. Moving on, you'll paddle 10 miles to the Hole-in-the-Wall rock formation for a hike, then paddle 11 miles to land at Slaughter River Camp (L&C were here May 29, 1805, and June 29, 1806). The next day's 12-mile route ends at Judith Landing. Here the river canyon changes from vertical sandstone rock to wider and deeper bluffs, commonly referred to as "the Breaks." Some trips feature historians such as the chairman of the University of Montana's history department or character actors like Ritchie Doyle, who performs as William Clark over the evening campfire.

Learn to Kiteboard in Key West

Where: Key West, Fla.
Duration: 5 days
Distance: 1 to 15 miles a day
Cost: $1,095, does not include lodging or meals
Operator: Kitehouse (www.thekitehouse.com; 305-294-8679)
Difficulty: Moderate with challenging elements

Kiteboarding, sometimes called kitesurfing, is for water enthusiasts seeking a new high: You ride a board and are propelled by a kite that drags you along and up into the air at times. Kitehouse, founded by Paul Menta, a championship-level wakeboarder and one of the first competitive kitesurfers, offers basic surfing packages for beginners as well as courses for advanced boarders that teach jumping and flips. "It's the latest in green water sports," says Menta. "You're utilizing wind power rather than a powerboat."

You get two days of one-on-one instruction in how to steer the kite and the correct body positions followed by three days of assisted riding and instruction, use of all equipment, and boat support. You ride on flats about 2 miles offshore in an area known for steady winds, shallow warm water, and no waves to slow your progress. "As you build kite muscles, your endurance increases," says Menta. So you might start by boarding a mile or two and work up to 15 miles. "There's no charge when the wind's not blowing," say Menta. For accommodations, you're on your own, but there are several reasonably priced guesthouses nearby. You might also opt to rent a condo or house for the week through keywesthideaways.com. Kitehouse patrons may be eligible for a discount.