Kayaking on the Napa River

(photos courtesy of Craig Smith)

A few years back, my husband and I visited Sonoma and enjoyed a Sip and Cycle bike tour.  Of course we were in wine country, so the “sip” part of it was that we stopped and tasted wine at some fabulous locations.  Randy from Getaway Adventures was our guide and owns the fun company and I was excited when I heard he was leading our Kayak Tour during my recent Napa media trip!The weather was like a summer day, in the 70’s and warm.  Our group drove down to a Yacht Club in Napa and chose partners and launched at a city owned public boat ramp adjacent to the club.  No cameras, phones, or other electronics were to be brought, and it makes perfect sense just in case of tipping, it was nice to be unplugged for a few hours. The mirror-like waters and blue sky is forever emblazoned in my brain!

My partner, Anita had been a joy to talk to during my trip that I was excited to join her as we enjoyed some exercise along the Napa River.  Paddles in hand, life vests on, and after a quick lesson on paddling, turning, and steering, we were off.  At first we stayed close in our group and enjoyed some history and information from Craig Smith of the Napa Downtown Association.  Craig shared his love for kayaking, keyed us in on the Napa River-Napa Creek Flood Protection Project, as well as expressing his pride in the city and we all kept a leisurely pace. 

We paddled along past the Napa Valley Wine Train, Downtown, Oxbow, and down just past Trancas St.  About 1.5 of quiet, peaceful waters, lovely conversation, and beautiful scenery.  Many families and individuals fish off the banks for Steelhead trout or Chinook salmon.  I thought of my father who’d love to be doing that at the time!  One of our group members was concerned by time as she had a spa appointment, so they disembarked at the Trancas area which led to a few more groups doing the same.  Anita and I overheard that we could do a bit more kayaking and we’d be picked up a short distance down the river on our way back.

Our return trip was just as relaxing, though our underworked muscles started feeling the burn.  We told ourselves, “just a little bit more, and we’ll be picked up.”  Apparently our lines of communication were fuzzy and we ended up doing a full 3 mile round trip back to the Yacht Club dropoff.  It was getting dark, we found our way back up the launch pad and awaited our ride.  We truly enjoyed our adventure and recommend it if you get a chance!

This isn’t a ‘standard’ trip, but one that anybody could request.  Getaway Adventures has a variety of excursions and if you’re interested in this particular one on the Napa River, contact Randy at http://getawayadventures.com/ to figure out a trip that works best with the tides!

My experience was part of my Downtown Napa media tour, all opinions my own!