Things to Do in Okanagan

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.

The crown jewel of Hopscotch Festival Kelowna is the tasting hall, where guests assemble to sip, sample, and learn about a massive variety of premium beverages. In its fourth year in Kelowna, the festival will showcase an expanding list of more than 160 libations, which patrons can convert from a jingling fanny pack full of tasting tokens to sips poured into their souvenir tasting glasses. Domestic and international beers can quench thirsts in styles such as Grolsch, Hop Head IPA, or Mort Subite Kriek Lambic. Tongues can taste the single-malt Scottish fruits of the Glenlivet 15, matured in French oak, or the Dalmore 12, hailing from the Firth of Cromarty.

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.

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.