Things to Do in Westport

Since 1997, ice skaters have gracefully glided beneath clear skies atop the shiny surface of the outdoor Westport PAL Rink at Longshore. Every night when the sun goes down, overhead lights flicker on around the boards to accommodate late-night triple axels and hockey games delayed by puck strikes. The rink’s instructors are each certified by the United States Figure Skating Association and offer group and private instruction in figure skating, hockey, or basic technique.

With a shared exuberance for the sport of rowing, Yan and Olga Vengerovskiy founded the Maritime Rowing Club in 1996. Yan honed his skills with the Ukrainian National Rowing Team, and Olga sharpened her oars with the Russian National Team, where she won a championship. After achieving their individual and team goals in the sport, Yan took to coaching the Soviet Union Junior Women's National Team from 1973 to 1991 and Olga shared her knowledge with students at the Specialized School of Olympic Reserves in the Ukraine. To bring the Maritime Rowing Club to fruition, the couple gathered a team of experienced rowers to help them share the experience of recreational and competitive rowing with their new community in Norwalk. The squad trains interested parties of all ages through programs covering both rowing styles of sweep and sculling along the dark blue waters of the Norwalk River. In recognition of their excellence in promoting the sport, USRowing honored Yan and Olga with the John J. Carlin service award in December of 2011.

Manning a fleet of boats that range in size from 24 to 42 feet, CharterMySeaRay’s staff of Coast Guard–certified skippers and first mates usher guests across the glittering waters of Norwalk Harbor and beyond. Onboard crafts equipped with running water, bathrooms, and iPod docks blasting hits off of The Little Mermaid soundtrack, passengers kick back and enjoy bottles of champagne and complimentary hors d’oeuvres. Charters lasting anywhere from one hour to a full day travel along aquatic arteries past Ziegler’s Cove, Pecks Ledge Lighthouse, or voyage to Manhattan to see the Empire State Lighthouse.

Nestled among 151 private acres, Larkspur Farm’s 36-horse facility sets the spacious stage for education in the equine pursuits of hunting, jumping, and dressage under the tutelage of specialized trainers. All lessons take place year-round on the farm’s all-weather outdoor lesson ring or inside the 80’x120’ arena. Beginners establish riding skills by starting with one-on-one lessons that instill such fundamentals as mounting the horse, trotting, and applying enough gel to give your steed a mane mohawk. As riders advance, they matriculate to small group lessons of up to four riders that last one hour and cover more advanced techniques.

Larkspur Farm offers boarding facilities for privately owned horses, summer camp for boys and girls aged 7–14, and a sales and leasing program for horses and ponies.

Guests at Summit Farm are greeted by a bucolic country scene: horses trot along in open fields, birds dart in and out of thickly wooded ridges, and a farm cat basks lazily in a sunny flowerbed with a belly full of field mice. The privately owned equestrian facility buzzes with activity. As a full-service stable, the farm offers lessons, boarding, showing, and party services while still leaving enough time to fit leisurely trail rides into the daily schedule.

Dedicated trainers expose their horses to a variety of disciplines, enabling them to accommodate many different riding styles and students, and occasionally enter steeds in local hunter paces and AA circuit competitions. The instructors also lead summer riding camps that help beginners acclimate with grooming, tacking, and riding activities. Jeans or long riding pants are required for all riders, along with riding boots and hair ties for kids with shoulder-length beards.

Many consider scuba diving a hobby or fun activity to do on vacation, but for Capt. Saam, it has become a lifestyle. He learned to scuba-dive more than 35 years ago and has gone on to not only establish his namesake scuba school but also obtain a US Coast Guard master license, teach scuba diving in Hawaii, and make regular tropical-dive trips. All of his scuba-diving and maritime experiences have pooled into a vast reservoir of knowledge which he passes on to his scuba-school crew—all of whom are NAUI- and PADI-certified instructors and dive masters. Together they immerse students in aquatic classes––both group and private––modeled after those practiced by police and fire-department scuba teams. They keep group lessons small—no more than seven students per session—to ensure personalized instruction and each student's safety.

Students develop their passion and ability to explore subaquatic terrains while also learning survival skills. They learn procedures to calmly handle accidents during first aid and safety courses, train to become lifeguards, or master the art of prying a friend out of a whale’s baleen. Those looking to clock in more hours exploring the ocean can opt for a local dive charter, which ferries 18-25 scuba divers and snorkelers aboard Capt. Saam's 34-foot Thompson Trawler as it sets sail to a variety of diving locations, from Smith's Reef and Sheffield Island to Gwendolyn Steers Wreck.

Though Capt. Saam's is a scuba school first and foremost, the center also offers equipment rentals and tank fills at its full retail dive shop, tropical-dive trips to the Caribbean, and a ground aviation-training course that teaches students the basics of flight.