20 Things To Do, See and Expierience With Water

Posted on August 22, 2011 - By Michael

Waterskiing

This sport involves holding onto a line behind a boat, while wearing skis and getting pulled along by a boat or line. It’s basically like skiing down a snow covered peak, except instead of using gravity as your momentum, it’s a powered line or boat. This is a great sport for amateurs to try as it’s relatively easy to get started, you just need to have an average sense of balance. When you’re up, it’s up to you to decide what you want to do, whether it’s straight or weaving around and over jumps. I like going out with friends and taking turns to ski and drive the boat, trying to come up with a line that will knock the skier over, that’s always pretty funny.

Photo credit: Clement Serrat

Wake Boarding

If waterskiing is to skiing, then wake boarding is to snow boarding – it’s the same concept as waterskiing, only both of your feet are attached to a single board. This makes it a little bit more difficult for most as it’s harder to get up on the board, but I find it a lot more fun then waterskiing as it’s easier to ride the wakes. Because it’s only 1 board, it’s a little easier to do tricks because you don’t have to worry about another board getting in your way and it’s easier to maneuver.

Photo credit: Glenn R Carter

Kite Surfing

This is similar wake boarding, only this time you’re propelled by a kite, but you may be asking yourself, what’s the point, they seem the same? Well, they’re not. The great thing about kite surfing is that you’ve got much more freedom of movement and direction as you’re not being pulled along by a boat or a line. You also have the ability to make jumps a lot higher as the wind gets under the kite and lifts you up over the waves. It can be very dangerous if you don’t know what you’re doing, or you’re out in winds higher then your capability, but start small and it’s easy to learn. I strongly recommend having practiced using a kite onland before trying it on the water as it’ll speed up your learning time and make it much safer for you.

Photo credit: Monstar888

Wind Surfing

I’ve always found this sport quite difficult, but I’ve got some friends who have taken to it very easily. This is a combination of surfing and sailing; you stand up on a surfboard while hanging onto a sail which pulls you along. Once you’re up, it can be fairly easy to go in a straight line, but tricks can become quite difficult, but hugely impressive. This can be awesome fun, and because the sail is relatively large, you don’t need a massive amount of wind to get started. It is a pretty expensive sport though with all the boards, harnesses, sails, etc.

Photo credit: goms.at_sylt

Banana Boating

This is definitely something to try on holiday and there’s many different variations, but you’re essentially being pulled along behind a boat on an inflatable. This is hilarious fun as the driver of the boat pulls every maneuver they can, to try and throw you off the inflatable, while you lean into different parts of it to help keep you onboard. You can also do this with donuts and lie-down inflatables with friends, taking it in turns to see who can stay on the longest.

Photo credit: Peanuttt

Zap Cat

Zap Cat racing is crazy, high speed fun in a light weight, twin hulled inflatable boat with a large outboard engine which is huge in comparison to what is typically used on a boat of that size. The lightweight craft races across the water at speeds reaching 50 mph, reached in 3 seconds from standstill – if the speed doesn’t shock you when you’re on the boat, then the acceleration certainly will. During this amazing aquatic ride you will be exposed to between 2 and 3 G’s in the turns as you throw yourself around the boat to help balance through the corners. Superfast exhilarating fun, from relatively minimal gear and at low cost.

Photo credit: Gary Tanner

Jet Skiing

There’s nothing quite like being propelled along the sea by a water jet spraying out the back of a single man craft. The fastest ever recorded speed was 92mph and there’s a whole range of tricks and stunts available to you. Competitive jet skiing involves racing around, taking on jumps and freestyle tricks. This sport works best on wavey seas where you get up speed and use the waves as jumps. Be sure to use the deadman’s key though because if you’re really going for it, then you may find yourself coming off the ski and into the drink.

Photo credit: Phil Flawka

Sail a Yacht

I used to love sailing when I was younger, there was something about moving at speed using only the power of wind that I really enjoyed. This would be a great sport to do as a couple or group of friends depending on the size of the sail boat, however you can do it as an individual too if you prefer. The freedom provided by this amazing sport once you’ve become skilled enough to go it alone is very liberating, and maybe a little bit scary too, but it’s completely worth it – the world is your oyster.

Photo credit: Ken Hodge

Stand-Up Paddleboarding

Unfortunately for surfers, it’s not always big waves and strong winds, it’s often too calm in places to really get good surf. That’s where stand up paddleboarding comes in; you can do it on a lake, or anywhere where there’s not much surf. The idea is that you stand up on a long surfboard and use a paddle to push yourself around the water in this relaxed sport. It’s a little difficult to get started if your balance sucks as bad as mine does, but when you’ve got a little speed up, it’s a lot easier and very relaxing.

Photo credit: Taro Taylor

Surfing

Surfing is one of the most popular water-sports in the world to date, every country has its following of the sport no matter how big or small, it appears everyone wants to live the surfer lifestyle. Surfing really is a fun sport to do, especially as you get better at it and you begin to ride the waves like a pro, until you get the ultimate hang-time underneath a monster wave. There are places nearby most coasts in the UK and in America that offer lessons for surfing should you want to take it up, but you don’t have to take the lessons if you don’t want to, it is however advisable as it will get your skill as a surfer up a lot faster. More and more people seem to flock towards surfing each year, whether it is to compete in a competition, learn as a hobby or watch as a spectator.

Photo credit: Mike Baird

Coasteering

This sport is about working your way around a cliff or rock edge between the area that is above water at low tide and under water at high tide (known as the intertidal zone), using a variety of techniques. You can abseil and climb, scramble and swim, walk and run along a rock face in the water. You’re basically encouraged to do all the things that your parents told you not to do when playing in the sea, jump of rocks, and dive from a height, all in the name of fun.

Photo Credit: Scott Hamilton

White Water Rafting

There are obvious similarities between this and kayaking, with the main differences being that you’re on a raft and there’s a team of you to look out for one another. This sport takes place in a specialized, durable raft made to withstand being thrown against rocks and along a river at speed. There are advantages to having people in your raft, such as more experience people who can help to control and balance it, but there are disadvantages too such as losing members on the team on the journey and having to get them back in. If you’re going to to try it, start off small with an instructor and then move up to teams of people operating at the same skill level as you, in a grade of river that you can all handle.

Photo Credit: Huberton

Deep Sea Fishing

Deep sea fishing takes regular fishing and it makes it pretty hardcore. You’re usually a lot further out to see, in rougher conditions, catching big fish that you can’t find closer to the shore. It’s amazing, exhilarating fun as you bounce along the sea, trying to score the catch of a lifetime, and better still, you get to eat it! A basic understanding is a must when it comes to deep sea fishing, but if you go out with a guide, they should show you everything you need to know.

Photo credit: Ian Mackenzie

Dive In A Blue Lagoon

There are blue lagoons all over the world, but the most famous one is in Iceland and it’s also a geothermal spa. The temperature of the water ranges between 37-39°C and the deep blue water waters are rich in minerals like silica and sulphur and bathing in the Blue Lagoon is reputed to help some people suffering from skin diseases. This is the ultimate in outdoor water relaxation and a completely one of a kind experience.

Photo credit: Placid Casual

Dive With Sharks

There’s something equal parts terrifying and exciting about swimming with sharks, which makes so many people want to do it. In the past, this list might have had ‘swimming with dolphins’, but we’re all about outdoing ourselves these days. You can of course accidentally swim with sharks, but we don’t recommend this at all; we recommend going out with a trained professional and diving with them inside a cage – you don’t want to get too close on your first go. When you become more natural around different sharks and know how to act around them, you can eventually lose the cage.

Photo credit: Manoel Lemos

River Tubing

If you’ve ever been at a water park and gone on the river rapids on a donut, then you’ll be familiar with the concept of this. You sit in a donut and get carried along a river by the current, rather similar to white water rafting, only tamer. If you go in groups, you can bounce off of each other an attempt to make it more rough, but this is usually considered a fairly relaxed watersport when done commercially. Of course, it all depends on your skill level and river you choose to go down, because there are plenty of rivers that you can jump into that would knock you all over the place.

Photo credit: apermanentwreck

Swim In The Dead Sea

This isn’t just any old Sea, it’s called the Dead Sea because of it’s extremely high salt content (33.7%) which allows people to float on the water without the need for treading water, but prohibits any animal life. The sea itself borders Jordan to the east and Israel and the West Bank to the west and interestingly enough, it’s surface and shores are 423 meters below sea level, the lowest elevation on the Earth’s surface. It’s quite far away for most, but it a truly unique experience to float on top of the water, so if you get the chance, we thoroughly recommend you go.

Photo credit: Kevin Lim

Scuba Diving

If you like the idea of water-sports but you’re not really much of a petrol-head then this is a great option for you. Scuba diving is one of the most awe-inspiring things you can do under water, there’s nothing else like it, I mean really were not supposed to be able to go under-water were just not built for that purpose; but going under and visiting a shipwreck or diving with sharks is just incredible. Can you imagine how wonderful and vibrant the colors are down in the deep blue? It really is like going to another planet. Be warned though, you will need some training because it can be a dangerous sport if you do not know the correct procedures, but don’t worry, the training is pretty easy and you will love it.

Photo credit: Ilse Reijs and Jan-Noud Hutten

Dive Off A Waterfall

Find a secluded spot somewhere with a lake and a waterfall, take a little dip and go for a dive – the perfect place to get away from it all. Go for a swim before you go for the jump so that you can check out whether there’s any nasty rocks that you’re going to want to avoid. Avoid flip flops if you’re going to be climbing up any rocks (they have a tendency to slip underfoot), either go barefoot and be careful or wear sandals. If you’re planning on doing this on your own, make sure you tell someone where you’re going so that they know where to look if you go missing. There’s no reason why anyone who’s fit enough wouldn’t do this at least once in their lifetime.

Photo credit: Felipe Skroski

Snorkle The Great Barrier Reef

I’m a big fan of snorkeling because it’s effortless, relatively cheap, and a great way to see coral life. All you need is a snorkel and some flippers and you can spend hours swimming around the sea, looking at all the marine wildlife. Because the fish are so used to people being around them in the sea, they don’t tend to swim away and will actually come up to you and eat out of your hand if you’re holding an open banana. Bring an underwater camera for added fun.