The 100 Best Affordable Vacations (28 page)

Once the tour party makes landfall, it’s time to set up camp in a cove rimmed with white-sand beaches. Participants help pitch the tents, but everything’s provided, including sleeping pads, sleeping bags, linens, and camp seats. The bathroom is a unique kayak potty, a pit toilet of sorts that sits in a boat discreetly placed away from camp. When the tour group leaves the island, it takes the waste with them. This is camping—the islands are home to scorpions and tarantulas and you’re likely to encounter a few during your stay—but, it’s hardly roughing it. Cocktails are always served before dinner, which might be Mexican-style fish, chicken mole, or tortilla soup; dessert might be chocolate cake or mango cobbler. All equipment, food, and gear are carried in the kayaks.

GREAT SEA KAYAKING TRIPS

Here are a few more favorite trips in which to see the sea from eye level:

 
Channel Islands, California
. These isolated islands off Santa Barbara and Ventura are sometimes called America’s Galápagos. They make for an incredible kayaking adventure. You’ll paddle through sea caves and camp in one of the least-visited national parks. Two-day trips cost $290.
Aqua Sports, 111 Verona Ave., Goleta, CA 93117, 800-773-2309 or 805-968-7231,
www.islandkayaking.com
.

 
San Juan Islands, Washington
. The rocky, forested San Juans are perfect for a kayaker: They’re ringed with coves, and many are separated by just a few miles of paddling. Try a three-day tour from San Juan Island on which you’ll camp on uninhabited islands and be sure to see orcas and bald eagles. The trip runs $549.
Outdoor Odysseys, 86 Cedar St., Friday Harbor, WA 98250, 800-647-4621 or 360-378-3533,
www.outdoorodysseys.com
.

 
Penobscot Bay, Maine
. You can camp or check into inns as you paddle your way up this beautiful Maine coast. Although the scenery is rugged, you’re never far from a lobster pound where you can order an incredible meal at a bargain price. A two-day overnight trip runs about $300.
Maine Kayak, 113 Huddle Rd., New Harbor, ME 04554, 866-624-6352 or 207-948-5194,
www.mainekayak.com
.

Over the next couple days, depending on the weather, the tour group may switch between the two principal islands, Isla Danzante and Isla Carmen. When you’re not paddling, guides often lead island hikes or snorkeling expeditions, taking in views of the nearly 900 species of fish that live in the park. “You just go in the water, you put your head under, and there are fish,” Stickle says. It’s not unusual to see octopus, pufferfish, sea stars, sea horses, angelfish, or thick schools of sardines.

Back in camp, you can relive your adventure while flipping through a field guide. Along with everything else, the guides bring along a portable library.

HOW TO GET IN TOUCH

Sea Kayak Adventures, Inc.,
P.O. Box 3862, Coeur d’Alene, ID 83816, 800-616-1943,
www.seakayakadventures.com
.

go underground

SEQUOIA & KINGS CANYON NATIONAL PARKS, CALIFORNIA

I looked on, I thought, I reflected, I admired, in a state of stupefaction not altogether unmingled with fear!

—
AUTHOR JULES VERNE,
JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH
(1864)

31 |
For the claustrophobic or even vaguely timid, clambering up a rock face and along a narrow ledge tucked beneath the earth with only a headlamp for light can be downright nerve-racking. It can also be exhilarating.

In Sequoia National Park’s
Crystal Cave,
a six-hour-plus
Journey to the Center of the Earth
–type wild cave tour leads you through hip-hugging crevices and along crags dozens of feet above needle-sharp stalagmites. Yet the views surrounding Solstice Lake, a glassy 40-foot-deep underground pond surrounded by knobby crystal formations, make the wriggling, clawing, and near hyperventilating moments worth the effort.

The association offers gentle 45-minute tours ($13) suitable for children several times daily; two 90-minute tours are also offered on specified days in summer and cost $20.
[$
PLURGE
: Crystal Cave’s wild cave tour is the most rugged way to see what lies beneath this majestic forest in the California highlands—and at $135, a splurge. The tours are offered only a few times per year and must be booked well in advance through the Sequoia Natural History Association; the minimum age is 16.] Purchase all cave tour tickets at the Foothills or Lodgepole Visitor Centers in Sequoia National Park.

Sequoia and adjacent Kings Canyon National Parks ($20 per car, pass good for both parks) are located about a four-hour drive east from San Francisco. Even California residents will want to make this a multiday trip in order to drive the majestic Generals Highway through the towering trees and catch a guided ranger walk through the giant redwoods. Allow at least an extra overnight for Kings Canyon’s Zumwalt Meadow, flanked by granite domes that naturalist John Muir called “a rival to Yosemite.”

The two parks boast a wide selection of campgrounds with sites starting at $12 a night; some are available only in summer. Only
Dorset Creek
and
Lodgepole
accept reservations (877-444-6777,
www.recreation.gov
); the others are first come, first served.

Lodgingwise, affordable options can be found in Kings Canyon: At the
John Muir Lodge,
winter rates start at $69; at the historic
Grant Grove Cabins,
a collection of rustic cabins and permanent tents, summer rates start at $62 (book both at 866-522-6966,
www.sequoia-kingscanyon
.com). Just on the edge of Kings Canyon, located in Sequoia National Forest and accessed via the Generals Highway,
Montecito Lake Resort
(800-843-8677,
www.montecitosequoia.com
) has rooms starting at $49 in winter, $89 in spring; it offers weeklong summer family camps.

HOW TO GET IN TOUCH

Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks,
559-565-3341,
www.nps.gov/seki
.

Sequoia Natural History Association,
559-565-3759,
www.sequoiahistory.org
.

$PLURGE

MORE WILD CAVE TOURS

Turns out plenty of people are into the Jules Verne act—so many that such wild cave tours are now offered at multiple locations around the country and book up well in advance.

Wild cave tours generally qualify as a splurge. The price includes experienced guides and equipment unless otherwise noted. Unless you yourself are fully trained, you don’t want to do this on your own, and even then, you should take an experienced buddy. Young participants generally must be at least 14 or 16; all participants need to be fit. The following caves have wild cave tours:

 
Carlsbad Caverns National Park, Carlsbad, New Mexico
. Four-hour Spider Cave tour, $20.
Carlsbad Caverns National Park, 877-444-6777,
www.nps.gov/cave
.

 
Longhorn Cavern State Park, Burnet, Texas
. 1.5-hour tours, $40; equipment rental an additional $20.
Longhorn Cavern State Park, 830-958-2283,
www.longhorncaverns.com
.

 
Mammoth Cave National Park, Mammoth Cave, Kentucky
. Six-hour tour, $48.
Mammoth Cave National Park, 270-758-2180,
www.nps.gov/maca
.