Kayak / Paddleboard Alamedas Bay and Naples Island Canals
Long Beach, CA
By: Paul Benevich
An afternoon kayaking or Paddleboarding on Alamitos Bay in Long Beach and then rewarding your exercise with lunch or dinner and drinks on 2nd street makes for a great day. This is a fun excursion for your more active visitors. The Bay has more than six miles of navigable water and is a large harbor with 1,624 slips for recreational boaters and plenty to view.
When we decide to go Kayaking we rent our kayaks from Kayakrentals.net which is conveniently located one block away from 2nd street, one of the more social areas of Long Beach with great restaurants and bars within walking distance.
Kayakrentals.net makes it extremely easy to rent Kayaks or Paddleboards and can be reserved online so one can be on the water having fun within five minutes after arrival.
Naples Island Canals
When either Kayaking or Paddleboarding, don’t forget to visit
Naples Island Canals. This is always one of the highlights of this adventure. It was originally built to replicate a village in Italy with most of the streets having Italian names. The canals are lined with both Duffy boats and sailboats and the homes on both sides of the canal are beautiful and unique. Along the way, you may also spot Gondola Boats with Gondoliers singing to their passengers floating under the four bridges of the canals. In December, it is tradition for the homes that surround the Naples Island Canals to go to great lengths to lavishly decorate their properties. If you are around in December make sure you either walk the canals or rent a Gondola to explore this area.
Moon Jellies
During your excursion, head over to Jellyfish cove where you can see bunches of Moon Jellies. Ask one of the workers at kayakrentals.net to show you a map of how to get there. Moon Jellies like warmer water and are more prevalent between July and September.
Take a Swim
There are numerous nice sandy beaches scattered around the bay. If you are kayaking or paddleboarding pull up to one of the beaches, secure your kayak, take a swim and cool off. We were warned that if you jump out in the middle of the bay to swim you could get a $250 ticket. So if you want to swim make sure you enter from a beach.
Floating Park
Adjacent to where you rent Kayaks one will discover a floating park designed for kids that looks like pure fun. If you have children, then this is an activity that will certainly catch their attention. Kids just queue on the beach and lifeguards manage the traffic at the floating park. There is no fee to participate.
2nd Street for Lunch or Dinner
After a couple of hours of water fun on the bay, jaunt over to 2nd Street just one block away. If you found parking close to the Kayak Rental location then no need to change parking spaces. On 2nd Street, you will find plenty of places to dine and have a drink. A few of my favorite places include Georges Greek Café; Legends Long Beach; Panama Joes; Simmzy’s Long Beach; Nick’s on second; Open Sesame Long Beach; and others.
Click
here for a list of restaurants on 2nd street.
Parking
Parking can be a bit unpredictable. Depending on when you arrive at the Bay, there can either be a lot of free street and metered parking or not. Obviously, summertime and weekends can be a bit more challenging, but even when it is busy, there is generally enough car turnover to find something relatively quickly.
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