North Kingstown, RI Outdoor Activities

Bobby Drought and the crew behind Rhody Surf spent 10 years teaching surf lessons for fun in and around Aquidneck Island before coming together to form a business. Today, this group of certified instructors spreads an infectious love of surfing to as many people as possible, not even bothering to establish a traditional brick-and-mortar shop—lessons are either online or at the beach. Their students learn through private or group lessons, mastering simple movements on dry land before hitting the Atlantic's fully customizable waves. Rhody Surf also offers surf camps for children, as well as surfing excursions for individuals visiting on cruise ships.

Before helming Paddle Board RI, John Andel was working as an IT consultant, itching to hop onto his board as the hours crept by each day. An erstwhile surfer, scuba diver, and spear fisher, John had encountered standup paddleboarding while visiting Costa Rica and fell in love with the aquatic pastime faster than two cupids in an archer's duel. "You get a whole different perspective,” he says of standing up on the board. “Sometimes you can see 20 feet down into the water.”

Drawn to the sport’s flexibility, John has engineered a diverse selection of tours, including the full-moon paddle, the business’s most popular tour, which takes groups out on quiet waters to gaze up at the glowing orb and stake out real estate for the moon colonies of the future. Another tour, the Tuckered Dog, invites pooches to hop on board with their owners at a dog-friendly pond. Paddle Board RI also offers classes from introductory lessons to less traditional options, such as paddleboard yoga taught by a certified yoga instructor, meditative sunrise sessions, and muscle-sculpting workout classes.

Although his business has taken off, Andel still leads the vast majority of the tours: at the heart of the venture still beats his own passion for being out on the water and sharing his love of paddleboarding with others. “We’re not just a rental company,” he says. “We’re about enjoying the water.”