Natasha and Rainbow (they really are sisters!) are beautiful human beings! Fun, knowledgeable and…read moregracious. I just started kayaking this year and I am hooked! I never kayaked before and after taking Kayaking 101 and going on handful of excursions, I now feel confident on the water. They know all the waterways in the area and the wildlife that inhabit them. I 100% recommend their paddle adventures to be the best day, or evening, you have ever spent enjoying nature on the water!

Our family of 4 adults (27 - 63), with very minimal experience, had a blast in Kayaking 101 with…read moreRainbow! Great instruction, personalized feedback, beautiful day on the water! Gave us the confidence and know-how to take out kayaks available at Airbnbs, and other places, in the future. Highly recommend!

This is a relatively easy trail with some fairly consistent inclines. From the parking lot to the…read morequarry and back is about 1.9 miles, so a decent hike that shouldn't take too long. We went in the winter when there were no leaves on the trees and only one other car in the parking lot. We also went in the late afternoon and didn't realize that they closed a 5:30. We got to the car at 5:31 and there was a ranger waiting. We apologized profusely and promised to pay better attention next time. The hike is nice but the quarry is absolutely gorgeous and definitely worth the walk. I know that this is a popular spot in the summer but I truly cannot imagine swimming here as it doesn't exactly look safe. I need to go again soon because I bet it's lovely right now with all of the leaves changing colors. You will not regret making this hike!

Starting at Eno River Pleasant Green access, you can access the Laurel Bluffs trail which will take…read moreyou out and around the Eno Quarry. The trail is 3.2 miles total and there is good shade throughout, with the quarry as the perfect spot to cool off midway point on the hike. The trail was relatively easy with some minor inclines and tree roots to keep an eye out for. If you go on a weekday you'll have the trail to yourself, though I have yet to have a problem finding parking at the trailhead on weekends.

When you set out to kayak the historic Haw River it's hard to suppress speculative thoughts about…read moreyour adventure and wonder how it will all turn out. This was on our minds as my wife and I drove past an "entering Alamance County" road sign on our way to the Haw River Canoe & Kayak Company at Saxapahaw, North Carolina. A leisurely drive along Swepsonville-Saxapahaw Road parallels the Haw and suggests a hint of our forthcoming adventure. A tough bridge built for hard times stands over massive, craggy, dark gray rocks, chiseled into the river bottom by the waters bonding the town of Saxapahaw to the earth and the history of this area. On arrival, we could see paddlers struggling to sandwich their watercraft among the rocks around the Saxapahaw bridge. But we never foresaw when we left here, our memories would bear an indelible imprint of this place as "Aramanche" -- a place where Native Americans saw water flow through blue clay. One reason to rent a Kayak here is to unplug yourself from the present and reconnect with the past. In fact, the owner and his staff will tell you his fondest wish is for customers is to "unplug and reconnect." When you cast your eyes out over the Haw as you paddle a kayak, you'll see tranquil and rapid running waters, deep cuts into riverbanks and tree lines, and evidence of the dominating torrential waters that have run for millennia along this 110-mile river down to the Cape Fear basin near the Atlantic coast. The geological history of this place is violent. But there's more. There's tons of history and culture to absorb. Generations of native Americans and later, European colonists, are bound up in the history of this river. Native Americans ran The Great Trading Path that ran from Chester County, PA, along the Shenandoah Mountains roughly to where I-81 and route 220 meet near Danville, Virginia, today. From there, settlers found their way into North Carolina along the Haw. Why Go? If you're interested in American history, you'll visit to have fun and to bask vicariously in the river that was once part of the Underground Railroad. Along this river, Quakers would shepherd slaves from house-to-house, across the Ohio River, and into the free territories in the west. If you're a history buffwith an archaeological bent, you'll visit the Haw to find that blue-gray clay the Siouan Indians used as body paint. It was found in Saxapahaw, and the Indians called this clay "Aramanche", meaning, a place where "water flows through blue clay" in Eastern Siouan. If you're interested in seismology, you'll be curious about the natural fault line running from this area down to Charleston, S.C., that triggered the Great Charleston Earthquake of 1886. You can see this line on the surface under a little bridge in the nearby village of Glencoe, N.C., along Highway 62. If you enjoy riding the rapids as a Kayaker, you'll need to sign up for a class-III white-water adventure. The fault line that runs from Glencoe down toward the Cape Fear river basin features sharp drop-offs triggering the rapid waters adrenaline junkies crave. A guided tour along the Haw lasts about 3-hours. Go, unplug, reconnect with American history and, enjoy!

This place is great! Recently came here with some friends for the day and had a blast…read more So it's a little confusing on their website, but you can indeed just rent kayaks, paddle boards or canoes. It made it seem like the only way to go on the river was through signing up for a class, but that's not the case. For $30 you can rent a boat for half the day and they'll drive you upstream a bit to the dock. From there you can go upstream on your own and enjoy some paddling + swimming. We had a great time! There ARE a bunch of fun day trips (and a moonlight night trip!), plus some other routes so I'm definitely going to sign up for one of those. But if you just want to rent for a few hours, that's cool too! Pro tip: Come before 11 a.m. It's a little cooler, and they won't be as crowded.

We have rented boats from this company with friends 4 times already and they are the best. The…read moreboats are well taken care of and they are easy to do business with. We have had them put the boats in for us at Falls Lake as well as picked the boat up and towed it ourself. I highly recommend letting them do it all. So easy and they take care of all the hard stuff and leave us to have all the fun.

This was great. I book a 14 person boat about a month out. I also rented a tube. So, I was looking…read morefor something different to do. We are stuck at home during COVID. So I decided to take the crew out. They really enjoyed it. No worries if you think driving a boat is hard. It's not. You have to be careful and look out for your surroundings. But it's pretty easy. Remember a boat does not have brakes. Lol. Maybe few years from now, but no brakes. Let me tell you how easy it is. Once your date for the boat date comes up, you just park and unload at the dock area. Park as close to the water as possible. The team will be down there, and will have the boat in the water for you already. You will have time to load your stuff. No big rush. They will hop on the boat with you to give you instructions. And you just take off. It's that easy. You can rent for half a day or full day. The lake is big so you may want a full day out. Half of a day is plenty. Remember when your out on the water and have any issues, you can always call them.

Everytime I step into Carolina Dive Center... I feel like I'm at home. It's so relaxed here.. The…read morestaff here are super friendly and helpful.. and make you feel like they truly care about you and making sure you make the most out of your diving experience. My fiancee and I decided to take the PADI Open Water course here because eventually for our honeymoon.. we would love to go diving somewhere. We are so glad we found this place on Yelp! Our classes were taught by Paul who is very knowledgeable. You can ask him just about any questions related to scuba and he will be able to answer it thoroughly. Even though the classes were at 9am on Saturdays.. Paul makes time go by quickly. After each 2 hour classroom class, we would drive to the nearby pool and have another 2 hour pool session to practice scuba techniques. Afterwards you go on 4 checkout dives (2 dives/day usually) and take an exam and you get your license! Woopee! We decided to go to the rock quarry at Fantasy Lake Scuba Park in Rolesville for the first 2 checkout dives and to Wilmington Hyde Dive for the second. David from Carolina Dive Center led the dive for Bryan and myself and HE IS AWESOME! Waters were rough that day and it was very cold... a bunch of us got motion sickness but David was very attentive and made you feel safe and informed. He is great! Theo from the Dive Center lent me his jacket because he saw me shivering... it's little acts of kindness such as this that makes you feel noticed and special :) Captain Jim is also awesome. He remembered everyone by name and made you feel important. At the end of the trip, he gave everyone a necklace for graduating the PADI Open Water course. Not to mention, Hillary and Phillip at the Dive Center is wonderful. Hillary is the manager at the dive center and she is super organized, friendly and helpful. And Phillip led our dive at the rock quarry and you can just tell that Scuba is his passion and he always has a smile on his face. You can tell everyone here just wants you to have a good time. Normally, I wouldn't write such a long review but the whole team at the Carolina Dive Center is just awesome. They really make you feel special and supported. What an awesome yet challenging but AWESOME experience! Thank you CDC!

The store staff was friendly and helpful and the instructor, Brian, knowledgeable and effective.read more

We bought an Advanced open water diver certification course (for 2) through this shop and then had…read moreto pull out due to work schedules not jiving with the plan. Water world (tRIANGLE dive shop) could not have been kinder about our situation. They gave us a full refund and great advice about next steps to get the training and trip we need. Top-notch customer service and knowledgeable staff are so important in the world of diving. We feel super lucky to have these folks within a 10minute drive of our home and will 100% be shopping and learning and booking trips with them again!

From the first phone call with Gregg Scofield I knew I was in good hands. 1989 Ranger 363v with a…read moreJohnson GT150 motor. Gregg went thru my motor repairing everything that needed to be repaired. He also did great work on a few items on the boat. After all of the repairs, he was able to take the boat out for a test run at Falls Lake. This is a Great feature. When I came in to pick up my boat Gregg went thru all of the repairs showing me each. This is the best place for boat and motor repairs. Ask for Gregg Scofield. Mike Johnson Raleigh, NC

An AMAZING experience at Jordan Lake for a first time camper as myself. My husband and I spent 2…read morenights camping at Jordan Lake and before we left we were planning our next trip. Jordan Lake has several campgrounds. You have to reserve for your location based on campground. Check-in is at 3:00. We stayed at Popular Point. Our site was pre-selected at the time of reservation. Staff were amazing friendly and helpful. As a first time camper it really was about location, location, location. Our site was next to the lake which made fishing easy. My husband caught a bass and a catfish. Fellow campers were friendly. We were supplied with electricity and water at the site. There are shower houses on every loop and they are CLEAN. Warm water with great pressure. This shower was better than some hotels I have stayed. Pet and family friendly. I cannot say enough great things about Jordan Lake; go visit for yourself.

Beautiful area. Lots of space, quiet and peaceful. Family friendly! Fun to fish with children and…read morefriends. Pre Covid they had star gazing events so hopefully that will return soon. Restrooms available.

Lake Michie is a scenic lake located only roughly 20 minutes from Durham in nearby Bahama, NC…read more(which is not nearly as tropical as the name suggests). The lake is reportedly home to some of the best largemouth bass fishing in the area, and the recreation area offers ample boating (rent a boat or bring your own), fishing, and picnicking opportunities. There are tons of grills and picnic tables, as well as a small picnic shelter that you can rent should you desire. All in all, this is a decent spot to get out on the water, do some fishing, or just have a lazy Sunday afternoon picnic. Also of note, the Wilkins Road Recreation Area just across the street also offers a spot for fishing, boating, and picnicking should you want to see what the other side of the street looks like!