How to get Started kayaking

So you want to get started kayaking, because lets face it - kayaking is awesome. Kayaking lets you get out on the water and experience nature. No loud motors. Paddling invigorates your body. Its cooler than canoeing - which is for old people and boy scouts. With kayaking there is a greater sense of adventure and excitement. Its hip and cool. You can do whitewater kayaking and extreme kayaking. This is exciting stuff. Not old men fishing or kids trying to get merit badges. So kayaking rocks. Now how do you get started?

The way I got started was by finding fellow kayakers in my area and meeting up with them. So how do you do that? How do you just meet kayakers in your area? I did this through an awesome website called meetup.com which lets you find people with similar interests in your area. You can then start meeting up with them and going kayaking with them. Pretty cool huh?

If you live in a more rural or isolated area without meetups then you are simply going to have to just go for it. A great way to do this is to find a simple cheap kayak to start practicing the strokes and getting the hang of things to see if its something you really want to do. Inflatable kayaks and folding kayaks are a great way to do this. Mobilekayak.com has a great cheap starter inflatable kayak for only around 125 bucks. Throw in a life jacket, a paddle and a pump and you can start out kayaking for a little less than 250 bucks. If you already have a life jacket, pump or kayak paddle its just that much cheaper and easier to get started. Comeback again and I will talk a bit about the basic kayak strokes.