LOVE Paddle boarding. Figured I had to try while I was out in the Hamptons for the weekend…read more Figured the water would cold I would fall in a million times and would have a hard time learning. Thankfully they made it pretty easy. Except its a really sick workout. Sore but in a really good way, I forgot to bring water but they gave it to me. I was a little scared at first but it's actually not too bad if you pay attention to the trainer. Very cool. Next I'm learning to kite surf. Wish they taught that too.

Great place with welcoming people. They're teaching you how to row and handle boats. They also…read moreinvite people to build boats. I enjoyed rowing here. Looking forward to came again and bring my friends.

Our family needed a refreshing experience a few weekends back and thought we'd do some free…read morekayaking but ended up at the Village Community Boathouse for a 2 1/2 hour row. Wow! That was great! You get to go out in traditional rowboats up or down and across the Hudson River. We made it all the way to a little beach on the NJ side. Who would have known there was a beach? The whole experience on a Sunday afternoon was just so unusual and full of interesting surprises. And we (ages 17 to 69) felt very safe with our very experienced coxswain lady. Oh, and best thing is ....it's free. Apparently it is an entirely volunteer run non profit organization and the rely on donations. Which we happily did (by check for a tax deduction) BTW - they were super nice and let us park our bikes inside the boathouse.

Best surfboard rental experience I ever had. After calling the local shops at 3:30 PM, I realized…read moreno one was going to rent me for an evening session. Walla, these guys hooked me up with a dope 6 foot fish hard top And a chesty suit all for like $10 a hour! They even let me keep my valuables in their van. Only thing, they required as collateral is my ID, which I was totally fine with. Happy they did not require a credit card like many others..... 10/10 recommend for a NYC bad surfer w no board like myself....Williamsburg to their Van is 1 hour 15 minutes 1 way, can't beat it. Yo Maui, I'm coming for that green snapback next time! Thank you guys so much. - Ryan

These peeps on 67th St Rockaways are so my vibe. Tony, Oliver, Ala + fluffy Maui are so awesome…read more Super lovely, professional, fun + engaging. Plus they have all the gear you could ever need - boards of all shapes + sizes, suits for all types of weather, + cool merch. I've only met with them twice but they have a way of making you feel like an old friend. Super happy to support them!! They will be my go-to for sure!! ‍

They do gear servicing! I recently got both my BCD and regulator serviced here right before…read moreThanksgiving. It only took them a week and the total came out to less than $200.

Danny Rivera, owner/operator of Good Life Divers, is an Outstanding diver, instructor and resource…read morefor the dive community. He is the author of an excellent dive site guide entitled Scuba Dive Long Island, which is available for purchase at his dive shop in Lindenhurst, NY and at the prestigious scuba convention Beneath the Sea. New and experienced divers alike are wise to take advantage of Danny's first hand knowledge of diving at all levels, as well as specialty courses. In addition, you would be fortunate to purchase your dive gear from Good Life Divers. Danny's familiarly with gear and the appropriateness, fit, function and necessity for the individual needs of every diver is unsurpassed. Bring in all your gear for Impeccable servicing, maintain and repair. I highly recommend Good Life Divers, Danny Rivera.

This is a space shared by Row New York and TASCA (the American Small Craft Association) I was there…read morefor the beginner sailing lessons offered by TASCA. It has space for equipment, bathrooms and a fridge, everything you need.

The renovated boathouse is host to all manner of floating craft on Flushing Meadows Lake. You'll…read morefind sailboats, rowing sculls, pedal boats, outboard motor dinghys out on the water. And then there are my favorites, the dragon boats. Each type is owned by different groups and share the use of the boathouse and the lake. TASCA offers sailing lessons, ROW New York practices on their sculls and HK Dragon Boat Festival has their weekly practices & annual festival around the lake. The boardwalk, docks and boat launches are in very well-kept renovated condition to service all the boat types. The large parking lot adjoining the boathouse provides ample parking most of the year except during the weekend of the HK Dragon Boat Festival when it fills up in the pre-dawn hours. The lake might seem stagnant but is actually flowing from north to south with plenty of wildlife such as ducks, geese, seagulls and the occasional cormorant. There are certainly fish in the lake due to the many marine birds diving for them in the water and the fish that was hiding from them in the bottom of our dragon boat.

This review is for the Plumb Beach location and the instructors names are Nina, Olga and Natasha. I…read morehave taken 7 lessons so far over the course of two months. Warning, kiteboarding is addicting. I have tried to get kiteboarding instructions with other (lol..companies) previously either while on vacation or while living abroad to no avail. One time in Hong Kong I showed up and there was no wind. I was still charged. The other two times while in Bali and while in Maui. Either they didn't answer my phone calls or they flaked out. I have literally called them and asked, "Don't you like making money? Aren't you a business?" I bring this up because for some reason unbeknownst to me, it is very difficult to find a reliable, qualified, motivated, and (dare I require) passionate instructor in this sport. So, you can imagine how surprised and elated I was when I found three great instructors. My initial and primary instructor is Nina, but they always come together and I have seen the other two doing tricks and coaching other riders. They also ride by and grab your board when it floats away or they will give you pointers whenever they are in ear shot distance. They are really nice and really know how to kite. What my experience has taught me/ why I still take lessons. - Kiteboarding is completely dependent on wind and weather conditions, So, planning ahead is almost impossible. To help with this reality, I give Nina my available days and she txts me the day before or sometimes day of to meet on the beach. - A simple google search will tell you just how expensive this sport can be. The harness, the bar with lines, the board, the kites; They all cost a lot of money. Never mind the fact that you need multiple kites and boards for different wind conditions. Nina brings all this! The only thing you need to bring is a wet suit and some booties. - The kiteboarding community as a whole is really inviting, helpful and the kiters come from a very wide range of professions and cultures. They seem to have a respect for the other kiters who are just learning and are generally polite. I have fallen in love with the sport and the types of people who practice it. I mention this, again because I cant say the same for golf, tennis, surfing, wake boarding, or skiing. It's hit or miss with those. -The instruction is top notch. I have nothing to compare it to...but I'm riding...so, I'm happy. - Finally, Nina and her crew did the little things that made me learn faster and more importantly enjoyed my time while learning. The first day I forgot water, they brought some. The second time I forgot my wet suit, somehow they had one for me. And on several occasions I was helped by Natasha and Olga who were not even my instructors. WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW -Be patient -Buy surfer booties, specifically those types. Not the cheap water shoes you see in stores. They get filled with shells and sand and it sucks -You are strapped to a thin board and harnessed to a powerful kite. You will attempt to hydroplane on an uneven surface (waves, swells) while controlling lol...this giant kite. It sounds crazy and in many ways it is. The reality is you will fall on your face and get dragged through the water over and over. You have to get back up and try again.... -Eventually you will learn. Like riding a bike. **********RANTS************* --This is a highly niche, very technical sport. You want fun without thought, go ride a roller-coaster. --A LOT CAN GO WRONG. You want safe, go play video games. --For some reason, there aren't a lot of instructors, it's really hard to teach. Education is expensive. For these reasons it's expensive. If you want a cheap sport,....go play basketball. Lawyers are more expensive per hour than hiring an instructor for this sport and I can name 20 of them I know personally. Name some kite boarders. Exactly. It's relatively expensive to other sport lessons, but most sports are boring as hell compared to this. The closest one I have done with many hours is wakeboarding and you need a boat. It has to come back to get you when you fall. It's exhausting. Thats life. You want to learn something really awesome, it costs money. Honestly, I would pay twice as much to learn what I can do now. In closing, it's really fun. It's seasonal. It's worth it.

Total ripoff that left me with a bitter taste. After an…read moreOK-ish lesson (they don't have jetskis or any other motorized equipment - neither on land nor water - so you'll spend quite some time walking with your kite), I ended up having to bargain for an hour about the price... they were actually trying to charge me more hours than the total time that we had spend together. I ended up paying the $200/hr rate for every single minute spend with the instructor, be it me carrying the gear on the way to the spot or waiting on the parking lot... Hopefully my mistake will save you some time... and money.

My kite surfing experience with slimkiteschool was incredible, especially for a beginner. I had…read moretaken only two lessons before and had stood on the board for just a brief moment, but Xico speaking French and Portuguese while I spoke English still made everything feel clear, safe, and easy to follow. By the end of my third lesson, he had me confidently riding back and forth. He is such a warm and kind person. I'm so grateful we met. I know I'll always have a friend in Brazil!!

Well, I am 50! I didn't even think that I'll do any sport at…read moreall, especially such extreme one as Kitesurfing! Just incidentally being ones at Brooklyn's shore me and my son have met Glenn. I've got 7 classes and I feel already more confident then dudes somewhere else with much longer experience. That all about a teacher! Glenn was really glad how fast I got changing directions, and let me tell you something, Glenn is an amazing guy! Things what he explains, easy to understand and keep up in a way what he knows will do work for me, and I am pretty sure will work for you with the best results ! As I said he is an excellent teacher with I'm sure enough experience. I am just lucky to meet him. I am already in love with Kitesurfing, and I'm very thankful to him for that! His obsession to the sky, ocean and the wind simply passes to you, and you just wanna be a force nature rider)) My son and me already bought the whole equipment. Well! Not a cheap hobby!))

I love swimming. And I've been doing it for years. So when I heard I could swim in the Hudson,…read moreyes its safe enough, I just had to do it. In order to do it, I had to do the NYC Tri. Which I promptly started training for. I was lucky enough to have a pool in my building in NYC. Not all have it. And ours was a real pool, some 25 meters. You could train in it. We did. We formed a team. Had a coach and everything. It was awesome. So event day came and we started the race in the Hudson, on a pier on the West side, swam down to another pier, nice fast current helped a lot, and jumped out onto the bikes. It was well organized and staged, so the transfer was easy. Once the bike part was done, a nice ride up the Westside Highway closed to traffic that day, the run was in Central Park. The race finished there too. With a huge party. It was awesome. Well organized event and tons of fun. Its not a cheap one, and as far as I know not for charity, so that's too bad. But well worth it, its that fun. I did it a few years, and would love to do it again. But then Id have to train a lot more...