Operator: Quest Fitness and Kayak
Description: With an emphasis on outdoor fitness, Mark Cater, his brother Matt, and friend Rob Rector run kayaking trips at the Prime Hook National Wildlife Refuge and Broadkill Beach, as well as surfing and kayaking outings at Cape Henlopen State Park.
Cost: $50 for an all-inclusive three-hour tour; $65 for day trips
Don’t Miss: The dolphin tour off of Cape Henlopen State Park regularly gets kayakers close enough to interact with pods of up to seventy-five dolphins. “It’s always impressive when you come upon a large pod of dolphins,” says Mark Carter. “Often the dolphins will play and frolic with the boats.” $50; children, $35. The “Pints and Paddle” tour explores wildlife of a different variety, that of the microbrewery (with a free pint glass souvenir), $50.
Season: April-October
Special Amenities: Wine and cheese sunset tours. Lunch on day trips.
Sign me up!: 17252 North Village Main Blvd., Lewes, Del. 302-644-7020 or http://www.questfitnesskayak.com
Operator: Southeast Expeditions
Description: Sea kayaking programs led by trained naturalists are open to everyone from beginners to experts. The variety of tours range from a two-hour jaunt to multi-day camping expeditions on the salt marshes and Virginia’s barrier islands, where you’ll see osprey, heron, and egrets on the prowl for meals along the water’s edge.
Cost: Two hours, $35; half day, $65; full day, $95; overnight trips, $195
Don’t miss: The Wild Clam Wrangling adventure ($45), a three-hour kayak tour to the clam flats; learn about their life cycle, and eat as many clams as you can find.
Season: March-December
Special Amenities: Snack and drinks for half day; lunch and drinks for full-day tours
Sign me up!: 32218 Lankford Hwy., Cape Charles, Va. 757-331-2660 or http://www.seakayak.com
Operator: Amphibious Horizons II
Description: Kayak trips through the marshes of Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge, well-known as a habitat for more than 250 species of birds, including bald eagles, ducks, loons, cormorants, and Canada geese. Tours also light from thirty other spots, including the Tuckahoe River, Janes Island, Chestertown, and Annapolis.
Cost: Half-day trip, $60. Full day, $80
Don’t Miss: The three-day bed and breakfast tour of the Pocomoke River and the Nassawango Creek, and Chincoteague Bay, which includes two nights at the Mansion House B&B near Snow Hill, plus breakfast, lunch, and dinner each day. $595 per person. They also do evening paddles every Friday from 6-9 p.m. ($25).
Season: April-October
Special Amenities: Snacks provided
Sign me up!: 600 Quiet Waters Park Rd., Annapolis. 410-267-8742 or http://www.amphibioushorizons.com
Operator: Coastal Kayak
Description: Guided trips to the salt marshes of Assateague Island’s back bays, such as Little Assawoman Bay, as well as Rehoboth Bay, small woodland creeks near Millsboro, Del., and a cypress tour near Laurel, Del. There’s also a trip through the many ecozones of Prime Hook National Wildlife Refuge, and an ocean paddle, which launches through the surf and often encounters dolphins along the shore. Cost: $35-$45 per person
Don’t Miss: The bald cypress paddling trip on Trap Pond is like a journey to the Louisiana Bayou for ten people with two guides. Home to the northernmost stand of bald cypress trees in the United States, the ninety-acre pond is alive with coastal and inland birds that nest in the tree canopies and turtles who relax on the exposed roots of the trees. Adults, $40; children 7-11, $30
Season: May through mid-October
Special Amenities: Offers a new kayaking camp for children seven through twelve Sign me up!: Route 1, Fenwick Island, Del. 302-539-7999 or http://www.coastalkayak.com
Operator: Wildlife Expeditions
Description: The sunrise and sunset guided sea kayak tours between Chincoteague and Assateague islands include encounters with myriad birds and aquatic life and narration on local history.
Cost: $55 double kayak; $35 single
Don’t Miss: The front row seat in the water for the annual wild pony swim from Assateague to Chincoteague islands each July. $95 guided double; $65 single
Season: Year-round
Special Amenities: Expert information from the owner and only native kayak guide in the area, Jay Cherrix, also president and founder of the Citizens for the Preservation of Assateague.
Sign me up!: 7729 East Side Dr., Chincoteague Island, Va. 757-336-6811 or http://www.wildlifexpeditions.com
Operator: Adrenaline High
Description: Owner Stan Shedaker, one of the founders of the Seagull Century bike race, specializes in customized bike trips through some of the Eastern Shore’s most pristine and secluded locations, such as Rumbley, Princess Anne, Mount Vernon, Federalsburg, Assateague, and Janes Island State Park. “We can go for miles and miles by bicycle and never see a car,” says Shedaker. The three-year-old company also offers single- and multi-day birding ecotours in numerous locations near Salisbury, Md., and will be adding Denton area tours this season. They also offer kayaking tours.
Cost: Single-day bike trip, $50
Don’t Miss: Combine biking and kayaking on a three-day tour: two days in the saddle and one day with the paddle, including all meals and lodging in a RV camper. $75 per person per day. A clam and crab feast bike ride runs $50 per person.
Season: April-November
Special Amenities: Some tours include accommodations on a thirty-three-foot houseboat and/or four-berth cabin cruiser. b 107 Morris Mill Rd., Salisbury, Md. 410-749-2886 or http://www.adrenalinehigh.com
Operator: Broadwater Bay Ecotours
Description: This operation runs 363 days a year (except Christmas and Thanksgiving) and offers tours to all twenty-three of the Eastern Shore of Virginia’s barrier islands. Trips, on a twenty-four-foot open cockpit Carolina skiff, are limited to groups of up to six. (They also run land-based tours.) “Late fall and winter are great for birding,” says owner Rick Kellam, noting that the islands lie on the migratory flyway of geese and numerous shorebirds, such as marbled godwits and black-bellied plovers. During the winter, flocks of Atlantic brant darken the skies, and snow geese fill the shores in a blanket of white. Bald eagles and osprey are regular sightings.
Cost: Three-hour tour, $85; six-hour tour, $150
Don’t Miss: The crab and clam aquaculture tour, which explores the harvest areas of two of the region’s prized seafoods. Stops include aquatic farms with presentations of how technology can work with traditional processing methods to boost production while safeguarding the environment. There are also gallery tours, visiting works of noted carvers and wildlife artists.
Season: Year-round
Special Amenities: Island lunch stops on six-hour tours; wine and cheese on sunset cruises
Sign me up!: 6035 Killmon Point Rd., Exmore, Va. 757-442-4363 or http://www.broadwaterbayecotours.com
Operator: Dockside Express Cruises & Tours
Description: Circumnavigate scenic Tilghman Island on the fifty-four-foot, forty-nine-passenger powerboat Express Royale. Haul up horseshoe crabs, eels, oysters, and toadfish to put into an on-board aquarium. Tour-goers can also drop a net and tow for plankton while learning about the Bay’s life cycle. Captain and biologist Kelley Cox has led nature tours with her husband, Jerry (also a captain), for thirteen years. Special half-day crabbing parties are also available (and you get to keep the crabs!)
Cost: Adults, $30; children, $15; crabbing parties, $85
Don’t miss: The “It’s a Crab’s Life” cruise and tour, which covers the history of crabbing, a visit to a crab wholesaler, a soft-crab shedding operation, and a crab-picking demonstration. And, of course, crabs for lunch. Adults, $40; children, $20
Season: March-November
Special Amenities: Accommodations available at a waterside cottage on Tilghman Island.
Sign me up!: 21604 Chicken Point Rd., Tilghman Island, Md. 410-886-2643 or http://www.cruisinthebay.com
Operator: Cambridge Lady
Description: All tours on the forty-seven-foot, custom-designed wooden powerboat originate from Cambridge Creek, a body of water well known for its diverse and abundant wildlife, which includes otters, mute swans, ducks, and other waterfowl. The ninety-minute waterfront cruise covers the natural history of this former agricultural community. The two-hour Trappe Creek tour explores this narrow and scenic creek. On the Crab Daze trip, visit watermen villages dating back to the 1600s, travel through pristine and endangered wetlands, and learn about the laws governing the crabbing industry. Then finish the trip with a crab feast.
Cost: Ninety-minute and two-hour trips, $15; four-hour cruise, $40. Crab Daze is subject to market price of crabs.
Don’t miss: The four-hour Choptank River Cruise ($40), which runs one way from Cambridge to Denton with a return shuttle on an air-conditioned bus. “People are always amazed at how undeveloped the area is,” says owner Sheri Herbert.
Season: May-October
Special Amenities: Lunch on the three-plus-hour trips
Sign me up!: High Street, Cambridge, Md. 410-221-0776 or http://www.cambridgelady.com
Operator: Chesapeake Audubon Society
Description: CAS leads field trips with experts and fellow enthusiasts to numerous locations. See hawks migrating at Fort Smallwood or scope out rare birds at Bombay Hook, Del.
Cost: Field trips, $5 for non-members; members, free
Don’t Miss: Sunday tours at the Pickering Creek Audubon Center (owned by CAS), which explore wildlife on a 400-acre farm with 100 acres of forests and a mile of shoreline. “We are blessed in that we always have wildlife, such as foxes and eagles,” says Pickering Creek Director Mark Scallion. The Tiny Tot Safaris for kids are a crowd favorite.
Season: Open year-round
Special Amenities: A science education center at Pickering Creek has a lab classroom with live reptiles and amphibians; field guides and binoculars available for all self-guided tours.
Sign me up!: 410-203-1819 or http://www.chesapeakeaudubon.org; 410-822-7668 or http://www.pickeringcreek.org
Operator: Assateague Explorer
Description: Captain Mark, a native of Chincoteague, leads this tour through the coves, creeks, and salt marshes of Assateague, in search of nesting peregrine falcons, bald eagles and shorebirds galore. Cost: Adults, $30; children, $21
Dont Miss: The Pony Express Nature Tour, a boat trip to the island’s most secluded coves.
Special Amenities: Also offers sunset/lighthouse cruises and fishing charters.
Season: April-November
Sign me up!: 6370 Burton Ave., Chincoteague, Va. 757-336-5956 or http://www.assateagueisland.com/explorer.htm
