🧭 Choose Your Adventure
Use our guide service to explore the Hudson River Water Trail with a 1-to-30 mile skill-based progression.
Casual & Scenic
Enjoy a light scenic trip past the Intrepid, Midtown, and Hudson Yards.
Connect at the boathouse for a pre-trip icebreaker on the patio.
No experience required (ages 10+).
Build Your Instinct
Engage in a full-body workout from Midtown down to the West Village.
Socialize during lunch breaks at hidden beaches or local eateries.
Requires completion of Basics 1-3 to arrive with open-water skills.
Hone Your Endurance
Challenge your stamina on 3–5 hour trips to the Statue of Liberty.
Bond with the group during remote landings and mid-trip breaks.
Requires 4 intermediate trips this season to qualify.
Take the Challenge
Navigate bold voyages through the Battery and Hell Gate.
Join your squad at the boathouse communal table to recount the day.
Requires 3 advanced trips this season
What to Expect
The paddling season for Beginners runs May 1 – Oct 31. Intermediate to Expert trips run every weekend, all year long–including the winter.
Gear & facility access is included: indoor lockers, changing rooms, waterfront patio, and more. Just bring yourself and water-friendly clothes.
The 6:1 safety standard with professional guides ensures every trip starts with a safety briefing and continues with attentive expert oversight.
The unplug begins when you hold a paddle. These trips offer a gimmick-free way to disconnect from digital life.
Iconic perspectives abound from Times Square on beginner trips to the Battery and Hell Gate for experts. Behold views most locals never witness.
Quick Jump to Trip
Trip Calendar
🟢 Beginner Trips: Casual Fun
Enjoy big skyline views from a stable sit-on-top kayak. No skills or classes needed.
🟦 Intermediate Trips: Build Your Instinct
Ride sea kayaks and paddleboards in real conditions, like wind and wakes. Even on routes like Sushi or Secret Beach, the Hudson will test your new skills. Many of our veterans stick to these enjoyable social workouts for years.
Requirement: Completion of Sea Kayak or Paddleboard Classes 1–2–3 or pass our screening. Sit-on-top kayaking, including our beginner trips, does not qualify anyone for these trips.
Can’t pass the screening yet? Take a class →
◆ Advanced Trips: Hone Your Endurance
One good brace is worth a hundred Eskimo rolls. These trips are for paddlers who have moved beyond the basics to master torso rotation and stability, allowing for exploration far from the shore. Go across open water, around islands, under bridges. Expect a real chance to test what you’ve learned.
Requirement: Minimum of 4 intermediate trips this season or pass our screening. Prior experience from previous years does not qualify on its own. These trips are designed for active paddlers in paddle shape and confident in sea kayaks or touring paddle boards.
Listed in order of difficulty, starting with Surf City.
◆◆ Expert Trips: Take on the Challenge
Breeze through the washing machine chop to Red Hook and the 30-mile Manhattan Circumnavigation. Success unlocks personal boat storage with 80+ independent paddlers.
Requirement: Minimum of 3 advanced trips this season or pass our screening. Prior experience from previous years does not qualify on its own. Like marathon training, endurance and reflexes must be built fresh each year; past-season experience does not substitute for current, active time on the water.
Listed in order of difficulty, starting with Red Hook.
Still not sure which trip is right for you?
Text or call us at 212-924-1788, email us at [email protected], or ask here.