Date achieved:
Sunday 9th September 2018 & Saturday 27th April 2019
Where?
Hamilton Island, Queensland & Byron Bay, New South Wales, Australia
Why is this experience on the Challenge List?
This particular experience is on the list after I saw some people stand up paddle boarding fully clothed and they WEREN’T wet. After discovering what they were doing I realised that I probably wont be able to surf but stand up paddle boarding is definitely more achievable and it looks like fun too!
Description:
Hamilton Island:
The first time I ever went paddle boarding was on Hamilton Island, where part of the accommodation covered the hire of the board. Now to give you a bit of a perspective, I am super clumsy and my suitcase was all packed and ready to go for me to be on a flight three hours later, so I was already in my clothes and couldn’t get changed.
So I had the board hired for 30 minutes and I took off towards the ocean… I almost fell off a few times after mucking around with getting my GoPro in the right position. I would say that it probably took me 10 minutes before I was able to confidently stand up, the only issue was that I was in the ocean and the waves had other ideas so it started pushing me towards the rocks. It’s kinda that it did because I got to see a sea turtle bopping in the water.
After my time was up, I returned the board and went off to catch my plane. Considering what I was saying before about being clumsy, this was one of the easiest things that I had done (once I got the hang of it) and without lessons it wasn’t even that hard after all.
Byron Bay:
When I was in Byron Bay for three days, I made some new friends and they conviced me to go paddle boarding with them on a tour in the Cape Byron Marine Park, I am so glad that I had the opportunity to go on this tour!
We got picked up from the hostel where I was staying in Byron Bay and taken out to the meeting point where we went through safety and how to use a paddle board. After all the necessary steps to start, the group headed out into the water.
One thing you notice as soon as you are out there is, it looks nothing like what I imagined. It almost feels like your in Queensland with all the Mangrove trees and to think this is less than 10 minutes away from Byron Bay, its almost unbelievable!
We all stay in a single file as we paddle our way down the river, its very peaceful and we make good time as we head towards our first stop on an island. Where we get refreshments and we see plenty of mud crabs around.
After taking off again, we start to head down a smaller part of the river, which leads us to where we have to duck in some areas because there are low hanging branches (this just makes it more fun).
After that section we got to head back the way that we came and when everyone eventually landed safely (somehow everyone managed to stay dry) we got to eat the home made lunch, yum!!
Then we were transferred back to the hostel.
Would I do it again?
If I could go back on that tour I definitely would, it was the best!
Also I have loved paddle boarding both times that I have done it, that now I would like to purchase my own board so that I can explore my local areas on weekend trips during the summer.
Highlight:
Ricky and Krystal have a dog named Bobby that goes on all of their tours and just sits on the front of one of their boards. He’s one of the best behaved dogs and just loves to go paddle boarding, he’s great entertainment for the trip.
Oh and the home cooked snacks and lunch are the best, I would pay again just to eat them!
Cost:
In Byron Bay I went through, Byron Stand Up Paddle and it cost $75 per person.
Further information:
Check out the Byron Stand Up Paddle website, for further information.
Ricky and Krystal, run the tours and I cant say one bad thing about the tour, it was everything I hoped for and more. They were so friendly, made sure everyone was safe and confident, they even take photos of you and send them to you. We were able to go at our own pace and they even prepared fresh homemade goodies along the way, I cannot recommend them highly enough!!