Holland, MI Outdoor Activities

Surfari Joe's—a safety-focused, safari-themed water park under new management—helps families to splash to their hearts' content with 18,000 square feet of indoor opportunities to get wet. A pair of extreme slides flings riders out of the building before funneling them back inside, where colorful runs for tykes share space with low-speed attractions such as Lino's Lagoon, a plesiosaur-free pond that warms guests with an 84-degree embrace. Between thrills, visitors can explore a video arcade or refuel at The Water Hole Bar & Restaurant, which teems with hearty sandwiches, housemade pizzas, and fiber-rich faux palm trees. Surfari Joe's happily handles parties and special events, and its onsite hotel reaches out to dedicated water sliders with cozy suites featuring flat-screen TVs, free WiFi, and access to a fitness center for burning off any steam remaining after a day on the slides.

From its beginnings as a plain dirt track in 1950, the Berlin Raceway has transformed in the intervening decades into one of the country’s most challenging and esteemed short tracks. A 7/16-mile paved oval, with 13-degree banking in the turns and 9-degree banking on the straightaways, the track regularly hosts races for various types of autos, ranging from four-cylinder vehicles to super and outlaw late models to Big Wheels with rocket engines attached. Drivers follow in the tire marks of renowned racers, including Tim Steele and Jack Sprague, some of who are chronicled in the track’s hall of fame.

West Michigan Academy of Environmental Science promotes creativity, responsibility, and academic achievement through the comprehensive study of science. Lessons are tailored for students in preschool through 12th grade, grounded in the hard sciences, and supported by a hands-on learning environment. The 62-acre campus maintains farmland, nature trails, wetlands, and forests as outdoor classrooms where students can explore during weekly environmental-science labs. Differentiated instruction allows students to grow in a diverse setting; one lesson asks that they build arbors from spare branches, and the next dictates that they write reports on handmade paper from the previous week’s lab. All the while, the school’s character-education programs build self-awareness and self-esteem. In addition to regular lessons, the academy offers science fairs to showcase kids' skills and summer camps to keep the fires of learning ablaze—like the traditional end-of-year burning of the times-table tests—in the off season.

With three Michigan locations, Action Water Sports carries boats, water-sports equipment, and apparel to help customers fully enjoy the state's aquatic playgrounds. Their staff of authorized boat dealers educates customers on watercraft, and was recently ranked No. 25 on BoatingIndustry.com’s Top 100 Dealers list. In addition, their factory-trained technicians provide customers with regular boat maintenance, receiving annual training to learn more about boating innovations and techniques to keep boats afloat while changing their tires.

Action Water Sports’ pro shop outfits adventurers with Radar Skis and Ronix Wakeboards along with wetsuits, lifejackets, towable tubes and apparel and accessories by Oakley, Roxy, and O'Neill. While browsing shelves, shoppers may inquire about Action Water Sports’ lineup of summer events and clinics to improve their wakeboarding, surfing, and skiing skills.

According to an interview with mLive, Placid Wake Park's owner Scott Ferwerda can easily pinpoint the crown jewel of his wakeboarding park: a Sesitec System 2.0 cable that spans a 700-foot manmade lake.

"When you hit a rail and fall," Scott explains, the boat "has to come back and get you." Not so with cables. "With this, the operator sees you fall, stops the cable immediately, you swim 5 feet over to get a rope, and 10 seconds later, you are back up hitting the same things you just tried."

Riddled with optional obstacles, such as a pyramid playfully named the Ninja Turtle and a hydraulic rail on which to hide from creepy dragonflies, the cable lake is only one of Placid's two aquatic bodies. The boating lake branches out into three prongs, where wakeboarders, surfers, and waterskiers have the option to conquer currents the old-fashioned way—pulled by a boat and whistling the song from Steamboat Willie.

The park welcomes athletes of all ages and abilities, offering rental equipment and lessons with pro wakeboarders to individuals as well as families. On the shore, spectators can lounge on at picnic tables shaded by umbrellas or snag a front seat to the action atop an observation deck, and landlubbers can stay active by digging for seashells at the sand volleyball court.

Founded five years ago, the Battle Creek Bombers have already shown their mettle, earning the title of 2011 Northwoods League Champions in 2011. The Northwoods League, one of the nation’s most competitive collegiate summer leagues, offers its top-caliber players minor league internships without jeopardizing their college careers. This season, the Bombers hope to conquer their league again and send more of its players to the MLB, having already done so for alumnus Tony Sanchez, who was the fourth pick in the 2009 draft. Led by Daniel Rockett, their top 2011 scorer with 46 runs and 43 RBIs, the team will surely spend this season launching home runs without the help of covert trebuchets.

While the players focus on the game, their mosquito mascot, Mo-Skeeter, mingles with roaring crowds in the Bomber’s home venue, C.O. Brown Stadium. Patrons can look on from general seating or opt for the more luxurious HBC fan-deck seats, where panoramic views complement an included all-you-can-eat feast with draft beer and hot dogs.