Get on the Bay in Traverse City
Kiteboard, parasail or cruise on Grand Traverse Bay.
Leave the lounge chairs at home and reinvent your beach day with three sun-soaked adventures. Survey the city from five stories high, fly across the water on wind power, master the waves from the deck of a massive ship - whatever your pleasure, we guarantee you'll never look at Grand Traverse Bay the same way again.
A good way to start? Spend a wild weekend on the water with Broneah Kiteboarding's "Northern Exposure" kiteboarding camp. Brothers and co-owners Matt and Keegan Myers keep class sizes to a minimum - no more than six students per weekend - allowing for one-on-one training time. Kiteboarding is a fast-growing sport, popular in places like Hawaii and Western Europe; it involves a rider strapping his or her feet to a board and holding onto a bar connected to a large kite. By maneuvering the bar, the rider is dragged across the water on the board and can lift into the air to pull stunts - a seasoned kiter can jump as high as 30 feet in the air. Not sure if you're cut out for kiting? The Myers claim anyone at any age can learn; it's just a matter of determination and a willingness to respect nature's elements. By the end of the weekend you'll walk away with a new hobby, new friends and a deeper appreciation for two of Michigan's best natural resources - wind and water. (231-392-2212, broneah.com)
Looking for even bigger air? Get high with a sky-scraping ride courtesy of Traverse Bay Parasail. For 15 minutes - a very long 15 minutes at that - brave souls can dangle from a parasail up to 500 feet in the air. Several hundred feet of line is fed out from a boat, allowing those in the parasail to experience a rare bird's-eye view that stretches from both bays all the way to the city's limits. If the thought of going it alone gives you the willies, consider sharing the experience with a friend for a tandem flight. Holding hands is optional. Reservations are recommended; no penalties if the weather does not cooperate. Expect to spend about a half hour on the total excursion, from dock to water to dock again. (231-929-7272, traversebayparasail.com)
Balance out all that airtime by planting your feet on the deck of the Tall Ship Manitou, a sturdy and stately replica of a 19th-century cargo schooner. Call ahead to reserve a two-hour midday, afternoon or evening cruise; prices include boxed meals on some excursions. The midday and afternoon cruises are perfect for families - kids can look up at the giant billowing sails and pretend to be a pirate cruising the high seas. If your family is strictly a party of two, sign up for the more subdued evening cruise. Stand with your sweetie at the helm and let the breeze tangle your hair, give the crew a hand, or simply lean into the wind and consider the feeling of freedom that comes with cruising open water. (231-941-2000, tallshipsailing.com)
Finally, rest those sea legs at Boathouse Restaurant (14039 Peninsula Dr., 231-223-4030, boathouseonwestbay.com) for fantastic food and a decidedly delicious view of the bay. Grab a table on the patio out back in the evening, and you're guaranteed a sweet sunset over West Bay. Your time on the water might be done for now, but with dishes like fried tempura asparagus and crab-topped whitefish on the menu, you'll be glad you returned to the dry land.
More Ways to Get on the Water!
- Charter Fishing the Big Lake from Frankfort
- Cruise on the Manitou
- Rent a Pontoon and Cruise the Chain of Lakes
- Pick Your Summer Day on Traverse City's Inland Seas Schooner
- 7 Ways to the Water
- Sleeping Bear Dunes Cruise
- Best Places to Boat to Dinner
- Cruise Lewiston's Twin Lakes
- Cruise the Mackinac Straits
- Float Away on the Manistee
- Kayak Les Cheneaux
- Canoe Traverse City's Boardman River
Quick Links to More Fun in Traverse City!
- The Traverse City Vacation Directory: Listings to lodging, galleries, restaurants and more along with an interactive map.
- Traverse City Digital Vacation Guide: Browse the pages of the complete digital Guide and click to hundreds of websites.
- Video: Traverse City's Guide to Fun!
- The Complete Traverse City Restaurant Guide
- Flying in or out of Traverse City? Take a video tour of the Cherry Capital Airport to learn all you need to know.
- Plot your day in Traverse City using this Interactive Map: Choose an activity in "I'd like to find" and choose Traverse City for "in a town near." Then click away!
- Rent a Cottage in Traverse City
- Traverse City music, festivals, arts and hundreds of events
- Beaches near Traverse City
Emily Bingham is assistant editor at Traverse, Northern Michigan's Magazine.
ebingham@traversemagazine.com
Note: This article was first published in April 2007 and was updated for the web February 2008.
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I spent 3 cold stormy days on the Manitou--it was one of the vacations of a lifetime. It was Labor Day weekend and I was wrung out from being behind a computer all summer. I wanted something different, but I really had no time to plan anything rugged. It did get cold on one day--I think at one point I had everything I brought with me, on. And while I make it sound like an adventure, it was pretty cushy. I always felt safe, the food was gourmet and you could just sit and cruise. I decided to participate in sailing the ship, well-supervised by the crew. I remember the sun setting into a bath of plum and peach on one side of ship while a ghost white full moon rose on the other. That same night while sipping a nice Chardonnay, named after the ship, we almost saw the northern lights ... went to bed to early. I'll have to go again.