Archive for the 'Outdoors & Adventure' Category
Yalapa, Mexico: Stand-up paddle surf workshop in paradise
November 23, 2009 4:57pm
Stand-up paddle surfing. The first time you saw it at the beach you probably exclaimed, “What is THAT?” Or you rushed right out, rented a board and tried it yourself. Stand-up paddle surfers (or boarders) have been in the Los Angeles Times’ Outposts blog in recent years for coming close to humpback whales in Australia and for stand-up fishing in Baja. Now there’s a chance to build a quick Mexican getaway around the activity. Verana, the award-winning luxe resort in Yelapa (fly into Puerto Vallarta) that you need to get to by boat, has some openings left for their Stand-Up Paddle Surf Workshop Dec. 6-13.
Verana Stand-Up Paddle Surf Workshop: $825 per person based on double occupancy includes three nights’ accommodations at Verana, two days of paddle surfing at the Stand-Up Paddle Surf workshop with breakfast and lunch, optional yoga class, one optional spa treatment per day, full use of spa, steam room, pools and bath, and a three-course evening dinner. Day passes are also available ($160 per person) and include the two-hour class, practice in the ocean and one-hour spa treatment costs.
When I checked with Verana today, the following guest houses were still available. Visitors can book any three nights/two days, if available, from Dec. 6th to Dec. 13th. :
Dec. 6 - 13, 2009: Stone House, Studio, Mayan, Jungle Suite
Dec. 6 - 10, 2009: Palapa
Dec. 7 - 10, 2009: Bungalow, Tea House
December 8 - 13, 2009: Casa Amor
Contact: Verana, (866) 687-9358
— Jen Leo, Los Angeles Times Travel & Deal blogger
[Photo: Verana guests paddling in Banderas Bay, Mexico. Credit: Pacific Paddle Surf ]
San Diego: Whale-watching charters for the whole gang
November 23, 2009 6:03am
Just in time for the holidays, the migration of the California gray whales will soon be viewable to us Southern Californians. Whale-watching season, which typically begins in mid-December and continues through February (though sometimes the season stretches to March or April), presents the perfect incentive to get out into the water and see these creatures on their way south to Baja.
If you’re not a fan of cramming onto a big boat with binocular-equipped strangers, why not charter your own vessel? Through Fisherman’s Landing in San Diego, it’s not as expensive as you might think.
Deal: For a group of 10, you can charter a boat through Fisherman’s Landing for up to six hours for as low as $50 per person. Boats — which depart from Shelter Island and range from 60 to 100 feet in size — come with an experienced and knowledgeable captain as well as crew members, and food and beverages are available for purchase on board. But beyond that, it’s just you, your group and hopefully some viewable ocean life not too far off. Read the rest of this entry »
Yosemite: Curry Village ice rink opens today
November 20, 2009 2:57pm
Whether you’re on the ice to pirouette, or to practice skating in a straight line without causing any harm, you can’t have less than an awe-inspiring time at an outdoor rink in Yosemite. The national park’s ice-skating venue, which sits below Glacier Point’s cliffs, is naturally blessed with good views of popular landmarks like Tenaya Canyon, Half Dome and Cloud’s Rest.
And now you can see it for yourself. Located in the western section of Curry Village, the rink opens today for the 2009-2010 winter season.
Though the attraction got its start in 1928, after a Yosemite club flooded a parking lot, the rink is equipped to meet visitors’ 21st-century needs: Rental skates are available, as is a warming hut, and an ice-resurfacing machine comes through regularly to freshen up the rink. Non-skaters can watch the fun next to a fire pit close by.
Skating sessions are scheduled daily, from 3:30 to 6 p.m., and 7 to 9:30 p.m. Additional sessions are available on Saturdays and Sundays from 8:30 to 11 a.m., and noon to 2:30 p.m. Read the rest of this entry »
Leonid meteor shower 2009 to peak early Tuesday morning
November 16, 2009 12:34pm
Sky-watchers in North America can expect to see up to 30 meteors hourly tonight as the annual Leonid meteor shower peaks in the wee hours of Tuesday, Nov. 17. Earth will cross the first meteor-producing stream on this date starting at around 1 a.m. PST, experts predict.
This shower, consisting of debris from Comet Tempel-Tuttle, may not be as grand as the Perseids of this past summer (a recent year’s meteor is pictured above, in Joshua Tree National Park), but the show should still be worth watching.
And it’ll be unusual. “A remarkable feature of this year’s shower is that Leonids will appear to be shooting almost directly out of the planet Mars,” said Bill Cooke of NASA’s Meteoroid Environment Office on a NASA blog.
Your best vantage point is a remote, dark place. That means that, yes, you’d do well to pack up your warmest sleeping bag and camp out in the desert or mountains. In the past, Los Angeles Times staff members have recommended Joshua Tree National Park, Red Rock Canyon State Park and Mount Piños. Read the rest of this entry »
Washington: Clam-digging season underway; scheduled digs and hotel deals this winter
November 12, 2009 11:18am
Are you manic for mollusks? Then head north, dear adventurer, as clam-digging season is underway in the Pacific Northwest.
Among upcoming clam digs in Washington is one on Nov. 16 at Olympic National Park’s Kalaloch Beach, scheduled by the National Park Service. The search at this coastal site, presumably popular with clam-digging types, will be for razor clams during the evening tide, with digs restricted to the period between noon and midnight. Other tentative dates for the season, meant to coincide with clam digs in other parts of the state, are Dec. 4-5, Dec. 31 and Jan. 1.
Helping to make such an excursion easier to plan, Kalaloch Lodge, a remote hotel within the park which Times staff writer Christopher Reynolds visited on a road trip in July, is offering related deals.
Deals: Kalaloch Lodge’s “Clam Digger” package features one night’s accommodations, a bucket, shovel and net, and breakfast for two for $169 per night (pre-tax). The equipment will be yours to keep. Experienced clam-diggers with their own tools, however, can opt to skip the equipment component and pay just $129 for the room and breakfast. Read the rest of this entry »
Monterey-Lake Tahoe Sea & Ski package deal
November 12, 2009 5:58am
I have two problems when trying to plan a weekender. The first: a weekend is just not long enough. The second: Choosing a destination can be difficult if the traveling parties want to do different things. I love being in the mountains during winter and my husband could spend every vacation at the beach. This Sea & Ski Package includes the best of both worlds (skiing at Lake Tahoe and a choice of Monterey seaside activities such as kayaking, a sailing cruise, bicycling or a whale-watching tour). Plus, the package saves you at least 30%.
Deal: Spend two nights in Monterey at the Portola Hotel & Spa, then hop in the car for a half-day road trip and continue your getaway in Lake Tahoe, where you will stay at Northstar-at-Tahoe. The package includes four nights’ accommodations, breakfast for two in Monterey, and activities for two, including ski lift tickets at Northstar and your choice of marine sanctuary or sailing cruise, whale watching, bicycling or kayaking in Monterey. The package price starts at $970, pre-tax for two people. ( A la carte, the package comes to $1,426, pre-tax).
Fly to Park City, Utah, for free ski/snowboarding lift ticket
November 10, 2009 8:25am
Wintertime recreation in an A-list celebrity destination doesn’t have to be too pricey. As was the case last winter too, the home base of the Sundance Film Festival — Park City, Utah — is full of great deals, especially those tempting to skiers and snowboarders. For instance, take this offer, which encourages you to waste nary a second in getting on your mountain gear.
Deal: Your airline boarding pass gets you a same-day lift ticket with the “QuickSTART” program. The gist: Non-Utah residents flying into Salt Lake City International Airport on certain dates this winter can hit the slopes for free at a resort of their choice (Deer Valley Resort, the Canyons Resort or Park City Mountain Resort) during the remainder of their Park City arrival day.
You must pre-register on the Park City Chamber of Commerce and Visitors Bureau website to take advantage of this offer. To get your ski and snowboarding pass once at your chosen resort, you’ll present your voucher (sent to your e-mail address after registering), your boarding pass and an out-of-state photo ID. Read the rest of this entry »
Central Valley and S.F. Bay area: Wild-salmon-viewing made easy, with new Bay Institute map
November 9, 2009 5:00pm
For a unique wildlife-watching experience, travel up to some of our state’s streams. In certain areas of the Central Valley and the San Francisco Bay region in the next few months, you may get the chance to watch wild salmon and/or steelhead spawn (deposit their eggs) — a valuable opportunity, especially given the depletion of the species’ population in the West.
A new interactive map and calendar, released by the Bay Institute, a nonprofit conservation organization, gives the scoop on best viewing spots, along with best months for fish-spotting at each location. On the pdf map, you can click on your desired location to see a Google map pop up. The maps and other information on the spawning fish are also found in print brochures newly available at the Aquarium of the Bay in San Francisco.
“Salmon spawning is the salmon’s grand-finale act of swimming upstream, most of the time to the exact stream where they were born, to lay their eggs,” said Kati Schmidt, public relations manager for Aquarium of the Bay.
Lucky visitors might also see male salmon battling one another “for the opportunity to fertilize the eggs,” said Schmidt, or female salmon creating gravel nests, called redds, where they deposit their eggs. Read the rest of this entry »
Vermont: Tame that tension with $999 in spa treatments at Equinox Resort
November 8, 2009 9:00am
If you believe there’s no such thing as too much time in a spa, then this New England special might be just your cup of chamomile tea. Equinox Resort in Manchester Village, Vermont, is offering a “Cloud 999” package that will have you steeping in relaxation at its full-service spa.
But, as with all deals out there, don’t forget to calculate closely to make sure you see the offer for what it really is.
Deal or no deal? Valid for three-night stays, the $999 package, pretax, includes your accommodations (in a king or two-queen “superior” room) and $999 worth of spa treatments.
At face value, that sounds like a free room, right? But that’s not really the case, because you can get a comparable room under another resort special (an advance-purchase offer), without the spa credit, for as low as $139 per night, or $417 for the three nights. So what the deal amounts to, essentially, is $417 in spa savings. Read the rest of this entry »
Outside magazine lists North America’s 16 best ski resorts
November 7, 2009 12:02pm
Get out your calendar — it’s time to start carving out vacation time for a ski trip. El Niño is bringing an early 2009-10 snow season to California, and since airlines keep offering cheap fares, there’s no reason why an avid skier or boarder can’t think about sampling ski resorts across the country. Outside magazine’s November issue highlights its “Winter Hot List” including North America’s 16 Best Ski Resorts.
What I love about this list is that it adds a hot travel tip at the bottom of the review like this great weather advice for Alta: “If there’s a big storm coming, spend the night in Little Cottonwood Canyon, not Salt Lake. They’ll close Highway 210 to do avalanche work, and by the time they open it you’ll have had both resorts to yourself for three hours.”
Here are the resorts that made the cut:
- Alta/Snowbird, Utah
- Jackson Hole, Wyo.
- Alyeska Resort, Ala.
- Silverton Mountain, Col.
- Breckenridge, Col.
- Whistler-Blackcomb, British Columbia
- Park City, Utah
