Looking for a less conventional way to explore Maine during your summer vacation?  Try a kayak.

Maine Kayak, based in nearby New Harbor, offers half- and full-day lake and sea kayaking adventures as well as kayak rentals. Lake kayaking is easy and fun for the whole family, and two of Maine’s most picturesque lakes are nearby. Maine Kayak runs excursions on both Pemaquid Lake and Biscay Pond.

Sea kayaking trips take place either in Johns Bay or Muscongus Bay.  You can enjoy a day of sun and fun sea kayaking along Maine’s rocky, scenic coast. Maine’s coast has a rich history that is best experienced from the water in a sea kayak. Watch lobsterman setting traps, paddle among old shipwrecks, or enjoy a stop at one of Maine’s many charming, uninhabited islands – truly jewels of the sea. You may even make friends with seals, ospreys, puffins and whales.

Johns Bay includes the Pemaquid and Johns rivers and is surrounded by granite ledges and lush evergreens. The bay is home to ospreys, guillemots and gulls. Maine Kayak offers half-day, full-day and naturalist tours in Johns Bay. Muscongus Bay offers a nearly perfect sea kayaking getaway because it is well-protected by the islands of the Maine Island Trail. Kayakers will see cormorants, gulls, ospreys and loons along the rocky outcroppings along the bay. The 100-year-old shipwreck of the Cora Cressy, a former five-masted schooner, is in Muscongus Bay.

All trips begin with conversations about safety and basic kayaking skills, and certified guides lead the trips.