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.

Adventure Forever's certified mountain guides and first-aid responders enlighten beginning outdoorspeople and seasoned aficionados alike on the intricacies of ice climbing, rock climbing, and easy to difficult day hikes. During full-day treks and lessons, guides escort troupes of thrill seekers up frozen faces and climbing courses, plying their clientele with the necessary skills and knowledge to tackle Mother Nature's vertical labyrinths. Each experienced guide carries years of wisdom, capably leading participants through regions stretching across Canada, the United States, and Middle Earth.

4Cats Art Studio founder Joey Simon and her son Jet developed their fun and educational art program in 2005 while transposing the techniques they learned in a library's collection of art history books onto blank canvases. Since then, their process of teaching students about an artist's method and then allowing them to practice it on their own has expanded throughout North America. The studio draws its name from Els Quatre Gats, or The Four Cats, a café in Barcelona where Pablo Picasso often showcased his work and shared intellectual musings with cats.

Much like the legendary brush wielder, students between the ages of 2–15 expand their creative abilities at 4Cats Art Studio, first discussing famous artists and then using their techniques to create original pieces. Each 60-minute class begins with a history lesson on a famous artist such as Frida Kahlo or Paul Klee, followed by a creative project using the featured artist's techniques. After learning about Frida's life and love of animals, students create their own colourful self-portraits. Likewise, classes on Klee integrate music and colour-mixing techniques to teach students how to truly capture the emotions of a trumpet.

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.