Top Reasons to Choose Kayak Adventures for Your Travel Experience

Booking a kayak tour can add a new element of adventure to your trips — and provide mental and physical benefits that may surprise you.

One of the most alluring aspects of experiencing new things through travel is the ability to assume a temporary identity — we can be whoever we want to be and explore curiosities beyond our normal realms. Although I grew up in a landlocked metropolis, my parents were avid outdoor aficionados, and every vacation of my childhood was spent in nature. One of my earliest memories was tent camping in Durango, Colorado, along the Animas River, where my dad fished for trout as I wrote in a composition notebook on a riverside rock. This trip greatly impacted my childhood for many reasons, but it was also the trip we went whitewater rafting — my first introduction to the thrill of being on a boat, paddle in hand.

A few years later, we stayed in a simple log cabin in the Ozark Mountains of Arkansas where the White and Buffalo Rivers meet. We spent a day canoeing along the calmer waters of the Buffalo River, and the tranquility of paddling along with my parents, making stops along sandbars, is ingrained in my memory. It’s a feeling that came to define what it means to me to escape.

Fast forward to adulthood, and I remain a city girl in my everyday life, but I will always be the first to volunteer to get on a boat — even if that means commuting to Manhattan on the ferry or taking a guided kayak tour on the Long Island Sound to a haunted lighthouse. During the pandemic, I convinced my family to kayak on White Rock Lake in Dallas, Texas. I’ve become quite enamored with kayaking as a way of exploration in a new or even familiar place.

Last fall, I woke up early to kayak with a new friend in Banderas Bay in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. Gentle waves carried us along the coast as we paddled for a couple of miles watching birds catch their breakfast. The perspective you gain while floating so closely to the surface of the water makes you feel small but reminds you you’re a part of something bigger. This feeling is what keeps me coming back. Despite the physical challenges of kayaking, the refreshing waters keep you alert and balanced, helping you carry on.

On a recent trip to Cabo San Lucas, I went all in on exploring the ocean through water activities. We had chosen the Corazón Cabo Resort & Spa based on their exclusive offerings through an adventure operator, Cabolectric. Before our first water outing to try electric surfing, I started to feel that cocktail of adrenaline and nerves, similar to what you experience before riding a roller coaster. It will be fine, I told myself, but roughly 45 minutes into the experience, it became evident that I did not in fact love it the way I love paddling. The choppy waters crowded with taxi boats and the challenge of trying (and failing) to pull myself up onto the board diminished all of my excitement and confidence. We began to rethink our whole itinerary.

Kayaking to El Arco, Cabo San Lucas’ famous arch, was on the schedule for the next morning, and my need for adventure promptly resurfaced. The four-mile trip would be a challenge on fairly choppy waters; however, I wasn’t prepared to tackle it alone. The experts at Cabolectric offered to send one of their guides with me in a two-seater kayak, which felt like the best choice given the situation. The trek out into the deep yet bright blue water was fairly smooth, and our earlier departure time allowed us to miss most of the water taxi traffic entering San Lucas Bay.

My guide navigated around Pelican Rock, and we arrived at Lovers Beach, where there are immaculate rock formations with so much history and texture. Soon after, we kayaked as close to the arch as law allows. Paddling up to it and sitting in its presence felt nothing short of ethereal. When you’re on a motorless vessel with just your arms to power you, rocking gently with the waves, a feeling of unity with the water takes hold. It’s a quiet moment that allows you to tune into natural sounds and sights in a completely different way. Our journey back to the beach was a bit more challenging as the boat tours began to populate the waters, yet we watched a sea lion swim beneath our clear-bottom kayak, which inspired me to finish the tour. Troubles aside, I would go back and do it again in a heartbeat.

I’m not alone in my desire to explore the world by watercraft — research has shown that water-based adventures can help calm our minds. Best-selling author and marine biologist Wallace J. Nichols has spent years conducting research that proves being near, on, or in water can improve our mental health and overall sense of wellbeing. In what Nichols terms a “blue mind,” our brains are calmer, the water offsetting a “red mind” overwhelmed by daily stresses. When we immerse ourselves in the sights, feelings, or sounds of water, he found, our cortisol levels decrease and we are overcome with a sense of serenity.

In addition to reducing stress, paddling through the water on a kayak is remarkably empowering. Simply being in control of where you go and how you get there does wonders for the confidence we all need. As someone who tends to worry often and question everything, kayaking enables me to be in several realms of control. When the adventure is over, I take that confidence boost with me into my everyday life and am better for it. Whether it’s with the flow or against the flow of the water, you learn that you can manage your interactions with the currents — that sense of empowerment can help you navigate difficult situations off the water as well.

Whether you’re a professional, amateur, or novice, embarking on a kayak tour can add excitement to your adventures, all while providing mental and physical benefits that may surprise you. For me, it ensures that I am constantly tuning into nature, feeling at one with the water, and returning home empowered — all thanks to my parents for instilling that love of outdoor adventure in me from the start.