Workout Vacations: Kayaking in South Carolina
Where: Awendaw, S.C.
Duration:2 to 9 days
Distance: 8 to 14 miles a day
Cost: 3 days, $250 or $164 under age 14; $125 and $75 per extra day
Operator:Nature Adventures Outfitters (www.natureadventuresoutfitters.com; 800-673-0679)
Difficulty: Easy to moderate
These kayaking tours of the region near historic Charleston offer up an education, too: Guides are professional naturalists, so you learn all about the flora and fauna-dolphins, loggerhead sea turtles, more than 277 species of birds-while you paddle. The coastal expeditions head out in sea kayaks to the barrier islands and saltwater marshes of the Cape Romain Wildlife Refuge, while the inland tours explore the rice canals, black-water swamps, and freshwater islands once paddled by the Santee Indians and populated by bald eagles, alligators, river otter, and wild boar. Time is built in for hiking, and the coastal tours include some open water paddling with full sun, wind, and currents; bring plenty of sunscreen.
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