• Kayaking tours are designed for both fitness and sightseeing.kayak image by Greg Pickens from Fotolia.com
  
  With more than 1,500 miles of coastline, Massachusetts offers a variety of kayaking destinations. Kayaking is travel across water, using a small boat or canoe and paddles. In Massachusetts, tours are held within rivers and marshes and along the Atlantic Ocean coastline. They are often guided tours, meant to experience skyline views and marine wildlife.
  
  

Discovery Adventures

• Located in Gloucester, Discovery Adventures offers snorkeling, summer programs for children and sea kayaking tours on the Ipswich Bay. It is female owned and operated, with an emphasis on coastal and ocean environment exploration. There are five guided tour options, including a two-hour introductory paddle tour, a full moon tour and a sunset tour. The Ipswich Bay Tour is three hours long, and the Kayak-Snorkel Tour is four hours of kayaking and snorkeling on rocky Northern Shore. In addition to guided tours, Discovery Adventures offers private tours for multiday paddle trips, catered lunches and family snorkel-paddle packages.
  
  Discovery Adventures
  
  P.O. Box 31
  
  Gloucester, MA 01930
  
  978-283-3320
  
  discoadventures.com
  
  

Charles River Canoe and Kayak

• Charles River Canoe and Kayak provides guided river tours and sea kayaking trips in several locations. Boston Harbor guided tours include kayaking tours from Charles River Locks to Boston Harbor and the Barking Crab Tour from Kendall Square through the Fort Point Channel, ending at Boston's waterfront clam shack the Barking Crab. The Charles River guided tours consist of five options out of Boston Harbor or Newton. Shuttled river trips include a 10-mile trip from Charles River Park in Needham or a 13-mile trip from Cochrane Dam in Dover. Sea kayaking trips depart from Newton, with tours offered on the weekends. Each month includes specialized trips at beginner and advanced levels.
  
  Charles River Canoe and Kayak
  
  Newton Boathouse
  
  2401 Commonwealth Ave.
  
  Newton, MA 02466
  
  617-965-5110
  
  paddleboston.com
  
  

Explore Cape Cod

• Explore Cad Cod in South Orleans offers ecotours, seal tours and specialty tours for families, scout troops, students and corporations. Eco kayak tours are located on Nauset Marsh and Pleasant Bay in the Lower Cape. They are designed to explore marsh channels, marine life and shorebirds. Seal-watching kayak tours begin at Nauset Marsh and head toward the outer beach, where harbor seals, gray seals and shorebirds gather. Students may participate in the Explore Cape Cod Educational Program, which includes kayaking to barrier beach environments and lesson plans developed according to National Standards of Science and Technology guidelines. The corporate group program is custom designed for each outing, with the participation of hundreds of companies. Previous clients include Mercier Co. and Intuit Software. Explore Cape Cod also offers the Sunrise Tour, which is an early-morning paddle "to nourish the mind, body and spirit," according to the Explore Cape Cod website.
  
  Explore Cape Cod
  
  P.O. Box 651
  
  South Orleans, MA 02662
  
  508-240-1211
  
  explorecapcod.com