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Stand up paddle surfing

Stand up paddle surfing on the Ocoee River in Tennessee

Stand up paddle surfing or stand up paddleboarding (SUP) is a new form of adventure travel in the recess peanut butter cup tradition. Remember those old commercials where one person ran into another and one had chocolate and one had peanut butter? The collision made candy bar history.

Somewhere along the line the same thing happened in adventure travel. Most likely it happened in California. Along a beach just north of San Diego a surfer was riding an epic wave. At the same time a canoeist was mellifluously paddling along the shore. WHAM!

The wave brought the surfer crashing into the canoe and in the collision the surfer remained standing on his board, but somehow managed to grab the canoe paddle. The surfer paddled away and a light went on in his head and stand up paddle surfing was born.

Stand up paddle surfing

Since the sport can be done on any body of water it does not have to always be an extreme sport – Photo courtesy of Legends SUP

Years later, the sport is thriving. In fact it has even specialized just like other adventure travel sports. No longer do you have to canoe or surf and wait for a collision. You can now buy a paddle board that meets your interest. There are SUP race boards, SUP surf boards, flat water SUPS, SUP river boards, and even an inflatable SUP. Once you pick your board of choice, then you will need to pick out a SUP paddle.

The great thing about stand up paddle surfing or stand up paddling is you can do it wherever there is a body of water. Surfing is a sport very limited to certain coastal areas around the world which produce big waves, but one who SUPs can enjoy the sport in any lake, ocean, or river. This means the sport is not always an extreme sport. It can be if you surf rapids or a huge wave, but it can also be a leisurely activity as seen above with the photo of the guy and his dogs.

One can only wonder what the next imaginative trend in adventure travel will be. What accident will create the next adventure travel sport? Hey, check it out! There is a guy on a SUP heading towards shore really fast. Hey dude on the shore in the bicycle, look out. CRASH!

Stand up paddle board biking

Is stand up paddle board biking the next craze?



Stay tuned,

