Okanagan Outdoor Activities

As the sun’s rays reach across British Columbia, breakfast is being served, coffee and all, in the middle of Shuswap Lake. Though it's been cooked aboard one of Waterway Houseboat Vacations’ watercrafts, the diners devouring their morning meal still have the overwhelming sense that this is what it feels like to spend quality time in the wild. That combination of coming together as a group while communing with nature is Waterway Houseboat Vacations’ raison d'être and has been since its founding in 1968.

Dedicated to outfitting aquatic sojourners with the most lavish, well-equipped vessels possible, the company's proprietors had their own fleet of houseboats built up in their Sicamous-based boat yard. Each masterpiece of engineering is embellished with luxurious amenities such as hot tubs, fireplaces, and gold-plated shoulder parrots, each of which fight for boater attention with lake-adjacent activities such as swimming, hiking, water-skiing, and fishing. While eager to introduce visitors to the scenic beauty of the Shuswaps, the company simultaneously aims to uphold a dedication to environmental stewardship, preserving their beloved home with initiatives that include stocking boats with biodegradable soap and spearheading a comprehensive recycling program.

Even as it soars across the deep, clear blue waters of Lake Okanagan, the Lake Lounge keeps its passengers, crew, and cooperative stowaways connected to a bevy of land-based pleasures. A comprehensive sound system blasts pleasurable beats throughout its two decks, and three flat-screen TVs reaching widths up to 50 inches broadcast the passengers' choice of entertainment. On the lower deck, vaulted ceilings soar over dinner tables and a gas fireplace keeps the room warm in colder weather, and on the open top deck passengers bask in lake breezes and take in panoramic views of the water and evergreen-coated shoreline. When not focused on the scenery, they step across an elevated dance floor lit by multicoloured lights, soak inside an eight-person hot tub, or discuss their favourite childhood pet fish over tipples from a fully stocked bar.

Dinner-cruise passengers sup on a daily-changing menu that cycles through regular entrees such as cedar-plank salmon, peach barbecue chicken, and barbecue steak and chew in time with duelling pianists or rhythms spun by DJs. As the Lake Lounge sails past opulent lakeside homes and the city skyline, the sun colours the sky as it sets and the stars sleepily stumble into place to form their constellations. The ship's crews also host wedding receptions, family reunions, and birthday parties on the dual decks.

Wind rushes across wings. Hills and valleys roll by thousands of feet below. The clouds seem close enough to touch. But these wings don’t belong to a bird—instead, they’re attached to a motorized tandem glider from Raven Aviation, whose ground-level headquarters nestles in the valley below. Located inside Freedom Flight Park—a preserve established expressly for hang-gliding in 1976—Raven Aviation offers instruction and equipment to those who wish to take to the skies as the birds do, either in hang-gliders or motorized ultralight aircraft. Patrons can cruise the clouds in tandem flights piloted by experienced staff or take a beginner’s hang-gliding lesson to launch themselves solo off a training hill or the back of a friendly dragon.

Heritage Ranch immerses visitors in its idyllic woodlands crisscrossed by old dirt trails over which horses pull carriages, wagons, and sleighs that look as though they've rolled straight out of history. Under the tree canopies, couples can devote their time on the ranch to one another with romantic date night packages that combine carriage & sleigh rides with dinner and wine at Westlake Grille. The sound of laughter from children and families can be heard during trail rides as they wend through the property's 217 acres of parkland—equivalent to one clydesdale football field—and camps keep the good times coming during the summer.