There are many wonderful locations to enjoy kayaking and canoeing in Tuscany; in lakes, rivers or even out at sea!
Those wishing to spend part or all of their holiday close to locations that facilitate these sports have plenty of holiday villa rentals in Orbetello, Viareggio and Scarlino to choose from for example. Keep reading
If you love to spend your beach time on top of the water rather than in it, you can thank Hobie for helping you do it.
Hobie Alter, the “Henry Ford of surfing,” who revolutionized surfing and put his name on whole lines of surfboards and catamarans, died at age 80, leaving as his legacy a flotilla of floating devices, beginning with the first lighter-than-wood polyurethane foam surfboard crafted more than 50 years ago.
But Alter was not the only man to send Californians skimming over the water.
Peter Westwick is a science historian who directs the Huntington/USC aerospace history project and is coauthor of a book about the history of surfing.
As early as the 1920s, surfing aerospace engineers and scientists who recognized the overlaps of riding water and riding air were noodling around with back-of-the-envelope designs.
Rip-riding aerospace engineers at aviation firms as well as at Caltech perfected hydrodynamics for lighter-weight surfboards, “very likely based on hollow airplane wings being built at the time,” Westwick says.
During World War II, L.A. native Bob Simmons managed to study at Caltech, work at Douglas Aircraft and squeeze in surf time; boards of his design became the Formula One speed demons of the waves. Aeronautical engineer Jim Drake made windsurfing workable, and a Douglas Aircraft engineer/surfer named Tom Morey invented the boogie board.
It makes perfect sense, says Westwick: “Experiments with wave tanks, new materials — foam and polyester resins used in aircraft — were being applied to surfboards,” like Hobie Alter’s. Breakthrough aviation materials like fiberglass and resin, “waterproof and very light, were probably the key revolution in surfboard development in 100 years.”
Nowadays, at Silicon Beach, south of LAX, within sight of the ocean waters, other creators of different technologies are crafting new ways for human information to move through the air and the airwaves, as Alter, Simmons and their kind did for the waterborne.
There are many, many different tours of the historic city of Florence and, with so much to see and do from food and wine-tasting to viewing art to visiting haunted hotspots, there is no shortage of different ways to experience the city. Depending on what you’re interested in, what age you are, how fit you are, what language you speak, who you’re with etc there are a range of different kinds of tours to choose from and a variety of modes of transport to get around. You can walk, run, take a bus, cycle, go on a segway or, even, take to the Arno River. Tours of an Italian city by water might bring Venice to mind but it is also a viable way to see Florence by cycling along the Arno. How can one cycle the Arno, you might ask? Well, by taking a water bike, of course! Just find a luxury villa in Florence and take this unique tour for yourself – it will be an unforgettable experience.
For those wishing to base their holiday engaging in thrilling activities such as these, there is a fine selection of luxury villas along the Tuscan coastline and popular lake resorts that have all the facilities one could possibly need.
Hit the waves with some exhilarating surfing, wind surfing or kite surfing lessons along the best windy beaches at Viareggio or along the Livorno coastline. Feel the thrill of harnessing the power of wind and waves for your enjoyment by booking some lessons from the many surf schools available or renting equipment from water sport shops.
Surf-Fitness is all about building a stronger body so you can do what makes you happy in life, and do it better… surfing.
There are a few critical movements for surfers to master when building strength and core control. One of those moves that every single surfer, no matter their age or skill will benefit from is the pushup. But we’re not talking about lazy, non-coordinated pushups, we’re talking about developing the perfect pushup. With developing the strength and muscle coordination to perform a perfect pushup, you’ll not only be exceptionally stronger and faster with your pop-ups, you’ll develop a stronger core and a more stable upper body which is essential for deeper duck dives and long-term shoulder health.
Are you learning to surf, and wondering how on Earth to get your longboard past the breaking waves? Read on to learn how to turtle roll, a very necessary surfing maneuver that will make your paddle out much easier.
You may have seen shortboarders push their boards under oncoming waves. This maneuver is called a duck dive. Unfortunately for us, a duck dive can’t be performed on longboards. Why is this? Well, a duck dive involves submerging the surfboard under the oncoming wave. Since longboards have such a huge volume, and therefore very buoyant, they can’t be pushed under the wave. Shortboards are easier to get under the oncoming waves, but never fear, longboards have the advantage of faster paddling. As longboarders, we’re going to learn the turtle roll.
The turtle roll is a necessary longboard surfing skill that will help you make it out to the line up. Yes, surfing is all about riding waves, but before we can think about riding waves, we need to cover some basics of surfing and paddling out. To preface our talk about how to turtle roll, make sure you are practicing all the other parts of a smart paddle out with a longboard. That means you’re looking for channels, you’re timing the sets, and you’re paddling efficiently. Click if you need some help on paddling out.
Now you’ve got a good understanding of paddling out, let’s talk about how to turtle roll.
1. Paddle towards the wave straight on. If you’re at an angle, it’s likely you will get hurled from your board.
2. As the wave approaches, grab the rails (side of the surfboard) slightly above your shoulders. You will want the nose pointing down slightly.
3. Hold on tight, as you do not want to lose your grip on the board. It’s okay to wax the rails to help maintain your grip.
4. As soon as the wave begins to get close to you, breathe deep, and roll the board upside down, fin side up. As the wave is approaching, push up from the board, and give yourself a powerful lean to one side. Raising your torso up slightly will give you momentum and leverage to turn the board over.
5. For powerful surf, hold the board close. The less water you allow between you and the board equates to an easier hold.
6. When underwater, stay loose and relaxed. Don’t get stiff or try to out-muscle the wave.Also, don’t wrap your legs around the board, just hang on to the rails with your hands.
7. Turtling rolling can result in a loss of ground, so as the wave is passing over your upside down board, give yourself a frog kick underwater and push yourself forward. Worry about this after successfully turtle rolling without the frog kick.
8. Once the wave has passed, flip the board over. To get back on the board, kick with your legs, push with one arm and pull with the other.
9. Now that you are laying back on your board, paddle hard to make it to the line up. This is where you really want to make a push to get out of the wave’s impact zone.
Have you ever asked yourself “What kind of diver am I?” We did, and this article wants to be a witty way to divide us in different groups. Read the various descriptions and then write in the comments which group fits you best. Don’t take it too seriously of course 😉
The blue is what fascinates you, you’re always the first to start the descent and the first to hit the bottom. In shallow dives you always hope you had taken with you a shovel to dig a bit deeper. Narcosis is like a drug for you, it doesn’t scare you, you need it! Your ideal diving curve is around the 0 minutes to the no decompression time.
You have a mathematical mind. You’re probably the only diver who likes tables and decompression theory. You read all the articles you find on the argument, keeping updated. Even when doing recreational dives, you like to show off your peak-performance wing bcd and your DIR setup. You take diving seriously and, let’s admit it, patronising a bit the recreational divers.
The part you most like of your scuba gear is without any doubt your dive computer. You have the best one! Is the size of an iPad, it has a compass, maps and maybe also some games in case of boring deco-stops. You keep yourself updated on the new equipment and any occurrence is the great excuse getting another gear for your collection. Your goal is good equipment and you know what good equipment is. You always take with you an SMB and some sort of noise maker, it may be a shaker, or a ball appended to the tank, or the most loved duck fixed to the low pressure hose.
You know how to enjoy your dives and take your right time to focus that little nudibranch. The equipment you take underwater may be looking exaggerated to another diver but you do know how to handle it. Between the dives you spend your surface interval checking out if you finally got the next National Geographic cover pictures. At first people snob you a bit, but later they are all around you to see your pictures!
You’re the Tarantino of the water, when you move underwater you make more light than a submarine and some divers get scared when they see you coming out of a cave. You turn a night dive into a day dive and blind all the fish in 5 meter radius so that your fellow divers can see them from far away and have a close up when they get there.
You love animals and sea life in general. You want to know what creatures did you see in your dive and usually ask your diving guide the name of the only fish he doesn’t know… The first thing that you check when you enter into the diving centre is their book of fish ID and if they don’t have any… well… that’s not a good sign indeed!
Scuba diving and snorkelling have grown immensely in popularity over the past number of years; Tuscany alone has over fifty dive centres located around Livorno, including fifteen on Elba Island, ten in Argentario and Giglio Island.
In fact, Giglio Island is considered to be the most popular scuba diving spot in all of the Mediterranean!
Beginners have an abundance of lessons available from schools located all over the places mentioned above, and for those who don’t require tuition, there are plenty of water sport shops that rent the required equipment at a reasonable price.
The island of Elba, the biggest of the Tuscan Archipelago and the third largest island in Italy after Sardinia and Sicily, is most well-known as the site of Napoleon’s exile and if you ever get the chance to visit, you might be wishing for the same punishment! Hardly a depressing or prison-like place, it is, rather, more like a paradise. Surrounded by crystal clear, rich blue waters with cloudless skies overhead, dotted by perfect beaches, little towns, castles and blessed by nature, it is a stunning place and the ideal place to escape to on your next holiday. Find a villa with pool on the Tuscan Coast and you can then start exploring this dream-like island for yourself. Keep reading
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