American public lakes, rivers, and seashores offer some of the best water for recreation on our continent. Enjoy scuba diving an underwater nature trail at a National Marine Sanctuary or body surfing at a national seashore.
In addition, some recreation sites offer on-site vendors who will rent equipment, including snorkeling gear, boats, canoes, and kayaks. Some sites offer tour packages through concessionaires.
Licensing, fees and seasonal restrictions vary from site to site; for more information on a particular water sport, please contact that site directly.
Find Recreation Areas with Water Sports Activities
What do we mean by Water Sports ?
RecML, the recreation standard that is being developed, describes
water sports as:
waterskiing, surfing, scuba diving, visiting a beach, swimming in an outdoor pool,
swimming in lakes and rivers
Practice Good Stewardship of our Waterways:
You can help to take good care of our lakes, rivers, and other waterways so that others may enjoy these areas for years to come by practicing some of the following actions:
Don't Litter... take along a trash bag or other receptacle for collecting your trash so that you can deposit it in the proper trash receptacle. Always use proper dumping stations.
Make sure that you operate the correct type of watercraft permitted in that area. Check with your destination ahead of time to ensure that the boat, canoe, or other watercraft you plan to use is allowed.
Pay attention to local procedures and cautions for cleaning your watercraft after you leave the water so that you don't facilitate the spread of nuisance species such as the Zebra Mussel to the next body of water
you may visit with your boat or other watercraft.
Don't operate a boat or watercraft in areas where they are not permitted. These areas have been declared "off limits" to watercraft to protect wildlife, vegetation, or for your safety.
