SUP, aka stand-up paddleboarding, combines enjoying the outdoors with a great workout – all that balance and rowing are great for the core. But where to start?
We’ve found some of the best places to stay with great paddle boarding on your doorstep. All but one offer tuition and the water is usually warmest in late summer (not that you’ll fall for that, of course).
The best sailing destination hotels are:
- Best for self-catering: Bank Ground Farm, Cumbria, Booking.com
- Best to bring your pets: Watersedge, Hickling Broad, Norfolk
- Best for the budget: Signal Rocks Cottages, Glencoe, Scottish Highlands
- Best for family-friendly fun: Taymouth Marina, Loch Tay, Perthshire, Booking.com
- Best for boat lovers: Bath’s Boutique Boatel, Bath, Somerset
- Best for adventures at night: Phyched Paddleboarding, Anglesey, Wales
- Best for detecting marine life: Landmark Trust, Lundy Island, Devon
- Best for a stylish stay: Selina, Brighton, East Sussex, Booking.com
- Best for an eco-friendly stay: SUP in a pocket, St Agnes, Cornwall
The view from Bank Ground Farm is unparalleled
(Bank ground farm)
Sailing back in time to the innocence of Swallows and Amazons on the remote but sheltered northeast coast of the five-mile-long Coniston Water, the inspiration of Arthur Ransome.
Bank Ground Farm offers beautiful B&Bs and self-catering cottages on a working farm where the original Swallows and Amazons movie was shot. It has a kilometer of lake frontage and a funky little cafe serving their own produce. Tuition and SUP tours are available from Stand up paddle boarding in the Lake District and you can rent the board by the day or by the week.
Price: Prices from £182
Paddleboarding from £50 for three hours
Norfolk Broads’ largest, Hickling, surrounded by vast reed beds and dotted with cottages and houseboats, is not only picturesque but also a hotspot for wildlife including swallowtail butterflies and dragonflies hawking in Norfolk.
Outdoor adventures in Norfolk offers professional SUP teachers who even guide instructors. They offer tailored tuition, including beginner lessons on how to paddle with your dog. Stay nearby at water sedgea newly re-roofed cottage with a houseboat and rowboat.
Price: Seven nights self-catering for nine from £1,100
In addition to exercise, at Signal Rock Glencoe, windsurfing is a great way to see the sights
(Signal Rock Glencoe)
Boating on a small lake that is green with reflections of conifers and reeds, beneath towering 3,000-foot peaks, will be your first step in getting a taste of SUP while staying at This. Signal stone cottage in Glencoe, owned by certified rowing instructors Rob and Keren.
At 250 meters long, Torren Lochan is just a minute’s walk from your cottage. Here you can practice your balance and twists before embarking on a half- or full-day guided tour of the 9-mile Loch Leven, a 5-minute drive away.
Price: Prices from £100
Two hour paddleboard rental, £35
Come back and relax with the whole family
(Taymouth Marina)
The whole family will happily paddle a giant paddle board for five on Loch Tay, against a backdrop of wooded hills. Although there is no tuition fee, intermediate and professional rowers can sail with peace of mind. Afterwards, warm up in the wood-burning sauna and hydrotherapy pool in the Hot Box spa at Taymouth Marina, where you can slide down a seven-meter slide into the frigid lake waters to cool off. Rest for the night and enjoy the splendid lake view.
Price: Prices from £252
Paddleboard rental from £25 per hour
Learn about Georgian history in Bath, where you can stay on a narrow boat ten minutes walk from the monastery. Besides, the company operates Wild swimming bike riding leads two-hour guided SUP excursions. Learn about waterborne cargo as you admire views of the Cotswolds before paddling through the 53-meter dark tunnel beneath the magnificent 19th-century former headquarters of the Kennet & Avon Canal. Longer round paddling routes pass through the River Avon and a 7-mile stretch of unlocked canal between Bath and Bradford on Avon.
Price: Prices from £120
City guided for two hours SUP £39
Paddle along the calm waters day and night
(Psyched Paddleboarding)
If you’re not lucky enough to see the plankton light show, you might see a starry sky. At the very least, you’re sure to enjoy the hot chocolate and eerie peace of a night out. Bring your own tent and sleeping bag and a Phyched Paddleboarding guide can take you on an overnight SUP wilderness camping trip. If sea conditions are not suitable, night trips take place in Snowdonia, the Dark Skies reserve. Experience required.
Seeing the sea glowing blue with phosphorescence is said to be more magical than witnessing the Aurora Borealis. Boating psychology offers guided night trips with all necessary gear.
Price: Prices for an overnight wild camping expedition from £250pp
Guided Night SUP for two hours, £53
Pink sea fan-like cold-water coral thrives in Lundy’s clear waters, where kelp forests and nearly 200 Atlantic gray seals reside. This island located 12 miles off the north Devon coast has been a pioneer in marine conservation for over 40 years. The paddle boarding experience will bring you up close to this aquatic wildlife. Stay in one of the 23 Milestone of faith property and you can arrange a SUP session with award-winning lifeguards and surf instructors Nick Thorn (or one of his employees) who will come to you with all the equipment.
Price: £44pp for camping, prices from £133
Two hour paddleboard rental, £26
Pink Millennium Hotel designed by interior designer, Tola Ojuoape
(Selina Brighton)
For a stylish facility where you can try your hand at the sport or improve your canal-based beginner endeavors, head to Brighton’s waves for a fun hotel stay seaside fun, Selinaa fledgling brand that originated on a surf beach in Panama, designed by Tola Ojuoape.
After 90 minutes of paddle boarding with a local company Flow + Paddle, back to the hotel for cocktails and vegan sourdough pizza. Your Instagram followers will love you.
Price: Prices from £50
Boating lesson 90 minutes, £50
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With canoeing and scavenging, wildlife observation, citizen science, and oceanfront camping a five-minute walk from the beach, you couldn’t ask for a less impactful, eco-friendly vacation. environment, making a positive difference. SUP in the pocket recognized as a “wildlife safety operator” and Amanda Leonard, founder, is a marine life rescue physician.
This part of northern Cornwall – Poldark country – blessed with remote sandy bays, high cliffs, crystal clear seas and historic tin mining sites. It’s all pretty wild and romantic, and you’ll be lucky enough to spot seals and possibly dolphins.
Price: Long weekend getaway plus sailing experience from £245
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