Somerset, MA Outdoor Activities

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.”

EcoTourz’s cache of bikes and kayaks furnish unique perspectives of the Upper Cape’s natural splendor and Sandwich’s historical charms. Guides usher small groups of kayakers down Historic Mill Creek, where herons and osprey soar above the tall grass while conspiring to overthrow the neighborhood mockingbirds. On dry land, EcoTourz staff rents out bicycles and divulges prime pedaling spots, such as the marsh-lined Sandwich Boardwalk or some of the Cape’s oldest buildings.

You're in the woods playing hide-and-seek. Tucked behind a log, you hear, "Ready or not, here I come!" and then wait for the sound of footsteps to trod past. The steps fade, and you break for base. But then the seeker closes in, but he doesn't need to get close enough to touch you—he just needs a clear shot to tag you with a paintball pellet.

Cape Cod Paintball's founders—friends who spent nearly a decade designing the facility's 14 outdoor fields—love to blend childhood games such as hide-and-seek with the grown-up thrill of paintball. Each course integrates both natural and artificial terrain—picture freestanding timber and brush piles juxtaposed against industrial cable spools, upturned sections of corrugated tubing, and wooden fence panels. Through this mash-up of cover, players split into teams for standard paintball games such as Capture the Flag, or more updated childhood games such as Cops and Robbers. Cape Cod Paintball's team also caters to group play with private parties, and mans a pro shop stocked with gear from brands such as Tippmann and Dangerous Power.