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Tags: Adventure Travel / Hawaii Travel / Quirky Travel / Water Sports / Ecotourism / Submarines / Boats / → All Tags

'Fly' Beneath The Hawaiian Waves On A Winged Submarine Jet

Adventure travel company Incredible Adventures has been letting customers pilot high-altitude fighter jets for years. Now the Florida-based company is going from soaring through the air to "flying" under the sea, teaming up with California's Sub Aviator Systems to let people navigate the oceans in company's winged submarine. The Super Aviator looks much more like a jet than it does a sub, and apparently it feels that way too. Per the website blurb, it's a "totally new dimension of flight."

To handle the unique sub you'll need to go to Hawaii this February and be able to hand over between $3,350 and $8,650. But if you're willing to do that they're willing to train you and take you beneath the waves. The Super Aviator runs on battery power but it runs fast—in contrast to a normal submersible where you can stand up and walk, zooming around in this jet requires Indy-500 style seat belts.

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Tags: Around the World Travel / Yachting / Boats / World Records / → All Tags

Aussie Gal Off To Sail The Seven Seas, Solo

Headlines down in Australia these past few weeks have been heavily littered with opinions on how 16-year-old Jessica Watson will fair with her attempt to become the youngest person ever to sail around the world solo. While there were plenty of experts saying she shouldn't even try—not a good omen that she crashed into a huge ship on her way down to Sydney to start the voyage—she finally set sail on Sunday.

Jessica's journey should take her around 240 days, following the recognized southern hemisphere "round the world" route which includes some mighty difficult sea conditions. But she's not as alone as past solo sailors have been; she's got plenty of communications and she's even keeping a blog, which is now getting hundreds of comments per post.

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Tags: Jaunted Tested / Cruises / San Diego Travel / Boats / → All Tags

San Diego's Harbor Cruises Cater to Couples and Sea Lion Lovers

Hitting the beach isn't the only way to enjoy San Diego's waters. Take a harbor cruise around San Diego Bay to get a different perspective of the city's seas. We tried out two different options through Hornblower Cruises, the romantic dinner cruise and the kid-friendly harbor cruise, to see if they floated our boat.

Dinner Cruise
The Lord Hornblower, a replica of a turn-of-the-century steamship, is usually the vessel that handles the dinner cruises. Unfortunately, it's the most worn-looking member of Hornblower's fleet, with paint chipping in places and dated decor. About 150 people—mostly couples—boarded our cruise, which leisurely circled the North and South Bays. It's best for lovebirds, as the best thing to do is to cuddle out on deck with your sweetie pie to keep warm.

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Tags: Sailing / Boats / Active Travel / Los Angeles Travel / Marina del Rey Travel / Yacht Charters / Zac Efron / → All Tags

Sailing Around California's Marina del Rey In A Myriad Of Ways

Not far from the hustle, bustle, and general madness that is Los Angeles lies Marina del Rey, a refreshingly laid back waterfront city. Idyllic weather and beautiful scenery provide the backdrop for sailing its surrounding waters, we're hard-pressed to find reasons why you wouldn't want to hit the high seas yourself.

Sailing lessons in Marina del Rey attract both out-of-towners and high-profile celebrities, such as Zac Efron, who's also an occasional thrill-seeker.

In addition to sailing, there is a myriad of options for seagoing adventures depending on your taste. Get in touch with your inner sea captain this summer with Marina de Rey's top activities:

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Tags: Events / Sydney Travel / Chicago Travel / Boats / San Francisco / → All Tags

This Weekend In The World: Retro Cars, Shiny Boats and Polynesian Hip Shaking

· Chicago
Now that we've been talking up Chicago all week, we might as well mention that the city is king when it comes to neighborhood festivals. This weekend brings "Retro On Roscoe," an excuse for classic car owners to buff up their beauties and take them for a cruise. There'll be over 50 clasic vehicles, lots of live entertainment, antique vendors, and the Windy City Chili Cook Off happening both days in the Roscoe Village neighborhood. It's free to attend but those chili samples will costs a few bucks, so bring cash.

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Tags: Boat Tours / New York City / Boating / Statue of Liberty / Boats / → All Tags

Hop An NYC Schooner For An Iron Chef's Harbor Cruise Dinner

Living in New York City is hard to do for many reasons; it's expensive, it's crowded, and it hurts to the core to leave near so much awesome water and not be able to take a boat out on it because you don't have a boat.

It's true; boating around Manhattan is a rich man's pastime, what with the cost of docking and maintenance. So instead those hankering to get out on the harbor turn to boat tours, but we're not talking about the Circle Line here. Instead, climb aboard one of two Schooners plying the NY waters: The Adirondack and the Imagine. they'll take you out for a true harbor sailing experience in very small groups for around $50 per person for the 2-hour trip—and you can chose between daytime, sunset, or nighttime city lights.

Kick up a notch however by opting for the Morimoto Sushi and Sake Sail, which for $105 per person, includes the 2-hour sunset cruise plus a dinner of sushi and sake from iron chef Masaharu Morimoto. The sushi boat leaves on Monday nights through August from Chelsea Piers; pack your to-go chopsticks and buy tickets at their website.

Related Stories:
· Morimoto Sushi & Sake Sunset Sail of NY Harbor [Zerve]
· The Schooners Adirondack and Imagine [NYC-Sail]
· Boating Coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: Sail-NYC]

Tags: Kayaking / Boats / Active Travel / Monuments / Washington DC / → All Tags

The Kayaking Craze Means Prime Seats For Washington's Monuments

New York’s Hudson River isn’t the only scenic-but-questionably-sanitary urban waterway getting in on the kayak craze. Boating down DC’s Potomac River yields an inexpensive and crowd-free way to see the Washington tourist sites.

The Thompson Boat Center in Rock Creek Park offers kayak rentals, from $8 an hour/$24 a day for single boats and $10 an hour/$30 a day for doubles. The Boat Center is right in the middle of the city, and with just a few paddles in either direction you’ll sail past the Lincoln Memorial, Washington Monument, and the Kennedy Center, as well as the picturesque Georgetown waterfront. For a more adventurous day, pack a picnic lunch and stop off for a hike at Theodore Roosevelt Island National Memorial, the relatively un-traveled, car-free park set on the DC-Virginia border.

The boat center opens at 8 am and in our experience, it’s best to get there before noon—kayaks can’t be reserved and are often rented out by early afternoon.

Oh, and as in the Hudson, try to keep your hands out of that water.

Related Stories:
· The Thompson Boat Center [Official Site]
· Kayaking Trend Going Strong Into 2009 a> [Jaunted]
· NPR Confirms Kayaks Are the Hotness for 2008 [Jaunted]

[Photo: Marciela]

Tags: Lazy Travel / Brunch / San Francisco / Boats / Champagne / → All Tags

A San Francisco Sunday Our Stomach Can Handle

Obviously, we love doing weekend jet-set trips across country, but there’s one aspect that’s consistently disappointing: Sundays—they’re so perfect when you’re at home, but so frustrating when you’re on the road.

No matter how good Friday and Saturday are, the Sunday portion of our trip inevitably goes something like this: we wake up tired and hungover from too much Fri/Sat fun, but feel guilty about wasting a day of such a short vacation, so we end up leaving the hotel hottub, begrudgingly fitting in some last tourist sites when we’d much rather be back at the bar eating a second brunch, mentally preparing ourselves for what is surely going to be a too-crowded flight home.

So we’re always on the lookouts for simple Sundays—vacation activities that make us feel active but require the very least amount of effort.

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Tags: Hawaii Travel / Scuba / Islands / Boats / → All Tags

A New Island Off Waikiki Beach Hopes To Lure Us Out To Sea

If you somehow get tired of all the natural beauty that Hawaii has to offer, there’s soon going to be a new fake paradise for visitors to check out. A company called KanDoo is almost finished creating their own artificial island about 200 yards off Waikiki Beach.

KanDoo Island is really just a humongous catamaran that will serve as a water sports entertainment paradise for visitors and locals alike. The 98-ton boat will offer snorkeling, scuba diving, sailing lessons, and even jet ski trips off its “shoreline.” After a long day on and in the water, come back to the catamaran for some evening entertainment. There will be live music, nightclubs, and probably a fair share of Mai Tais. The company’s CEO wants KanDoo to be a 24/7 destination, but we’re a little skeptical that people will be swarming the place throughout the night.

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Tags: Venice Travel / Italy Travel / Women / Boats / → All Tags

After 900 Years, Venice's Canals Become Equal Opportunity Employer

It's a familiar site on the water street of Venice, the striped shirts and flat hats of the gondoliers swaying as they expertly steer their black boats underneath bridge after bridge, but now there'll be some long blonde hair joining the club.

After 900 years of the profession of Venetian gondolier belonging totally to men, La Serenissima has her first woman plying the waters: Giorgia Boscolo, a 23-year-old wife and mother of two, who also happens to be the daughter of a gondolier. She passed the gondolier test back in 2007, but had to endure an apprenticeship up until recently when she took the oar of her own boat.

In order to become a gondolier, no matter your sex, you must "learn how to steer the banana-shaped boats from the back and the front ... take English courses, study sailing law and demonstrate perfect knowledge of Venice's canals and landmarks." This isn't like scuba diving, which you can get certified in during a week-long vacation. What we now want to know is if she'll be operating some kind of reservations service, now that she's the freshest addition to Venice's canals in centuries.

Related Stories:
· Venice Hails First Woman Gondolier [Life In Italy]
· Tutti in godola, vi porta Giorgia [la Repubblica]
· Venice Travel Coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: La Repubblica]

Tags: Boats / Circle Line / Queens / Brooklyn / New York City / Cheap NYC / → All Tags

Circle Line Shouts Out Queens and Brooklyn

As far as New York City tourism goes, we're starting to think this whole outer-boroughs-are-the-new-inner-borough thing might be for real, because even one of Manhattan's stodgiest tourist attractions is getting in on the Brooklyn and Queens love.

Circle Line, the iconic green-white-and-red cruise line that has been shuttling visitors on circumnavigations of Manhattan since 1945, is adding two new ships to their fleet this week: Circle Line Brooklyn and Circle Line Queens. The ships will still take the same route—no full circles of Long Island or anything—but the company is acknowledging that visitors are now just as excited about seeing Brooklyn and Queens from the outdoor deck as they are for the Manhattan skyline.

On Saturday, June 20, Circle Line is welcoming the new ships by throwing a block party on the river. Starting at 10:30am, Circle Line will transform Pier 81 (at West 41st street) into a 1940s-style carnival, complete with jugglers, stilt-walkers, a dunk tank, and—most enticing to us—free cruises to the Statue of Liberty.

When they launch a Circle Line Staten Island, then we'll know Manhattan is really in trouble.

Related Stories:
· Circle Line [Official Site]
· Race You To The Top: Statue of Liberty's Crown Tickets Available Saturday [Jaunted]
· The Simple Pleasures of Life: Pedal Boating in Prospect Park [Jaunted]

[Photo: lemoncat1]

Tags: Boating / Boats / Active Travel / Prospect Park / Pedal Boats / Megayachts / → All Tags

The Simple Pleasures of Life: Pedal Boating in Prospect Park

So it looks like this won't be the year I buy a superyacht, but the recession can't keep me off the water entirely. In fact, we took our first boat excursion of the season last weekend - a lovely cruise on Brooklyn's Prospect Park Lake - and it only cost us $16.25, plus two bucks for ice cream. It had been years since I rented a pedal-boat, but the weather was beautiful and we were looking for a cheap way to float, so we took the Q train to the Prospect Park station and made our way to Wollman Rink, where we climbed into a yellow plastic pedal boat and hit the water.

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