--join the Stand Up Paddle Board trend on your next holiday--
On your next beach vacation, you may see people passing by off-shore on what looks like a surf-board -- and they're standing upright, using a long paddle to move through the water.
Stand Up Paddleboarding is taking off as a novelty sport, on beaches and on lakes and calm rivers too.
And while stand up paddleboards may be a novelty to most, reportedly they date back to Hawaii's early surfing history (which goes back centuries), or at least to the glory "beach boy" days of Waikiki Beach, when an instructor would stand up on his surfboard to watch students, and paddle over to give them tips.
Most people on a stand up paddleboard will just paddle along on quiet waters, enjoying the sensation of walking on water (meanwhile getting a good core body workout.)
But some surfers take their paddle boards into the waves for Standup Paddle Surfing, where their upright posture gives a better view of incoming waves, and paddling gets surfers back out to sea faster to catch more waves. Some say that Stand Up Paddle Surfing is easier too, as newbies don't have to master the jump-up from prone position to upright.
Kids and Stand Up Paddleboarding
So if your family's at a beach or a resort that has stand up paddle boards available, can your kids participate? One Stand Up Paddle Board school in Hawaii offers lessons for kids as young as six. Youtube, meanwhile, has a video of a mere 3-year-old having a try.
The photo above comes from Kona Village Resort, a family-friendly luxury resort on Hawaii's Big Island. Another fun place to try stand up paddleboarding in Hawaii is in the sheltered Duke Paoa Kahanamoku Lagoon, by the Hilton Hawaiian Village resort on Waikiki Beach.
Expect many resorts to add stand up paddleboards to their watersports.
If you've tried it, post a comment about Stand Up Paddleboards and share your experience.
More Fun Things To Do
It's always great to try something new on a family getaway! Like dog sledding, or white water rafting, or scuba, or flying in indoor wind tunnels...
*Always check resort web sites for updates.
