Photo from Paddle Board Dogs in Kenai Fjords National Park – Seward, AK.

The Kenai, Alaska’s Playground is an outdoor mecca and Stand Up Paddleboarding (SUP) is one of the fastest growing recreational water sports in the world. So combining the mountains, glaciers, wildlife and overall beauty of the Kenai Peninsula with a fun water sport that is easily approachable by all ages, sizes and experience levels is a match made in any adventure lover’s heaven.

Photo from Liquid Adventures at Bear Glacier.

Stand Up Paddleboarding has its roots where all board sports have their beginnings, in beautiful state of Hawaii. Known as Hoe he’e nalu, standup paddle surfing actually has ancient roots but became popular in modern times among surf instructors and photographers trying to get a higher vantage point than the surface of the water.

Photo from Scott Dickerson at Aialik Bay in the Kenai Fjords National Park.

Basically, SUP uses an oversized surf style board and a long paddle. Many would say that it is a cross between surfing and canoeing or kayaking.

Photo from Liquid Adventures in Seward, AK.

Standup paddling can be done in a variety of forms such as on flat water protected lakes to easy beach paddling, to open water paddling, and all the way to to surfing waves.

Photo from Scott Dickerson Photography in Seward, AK.

SUP is great for all ages and experience levels. It is a great activity for the kiddos (and bonus for the parents; it will exhaust a ton of energy)!

Beautiful photo of some adventurous kids with Howl Alaska.

You can rent a SUP in Seward or Homer and go right off of the shoreline. Or you can go off the beaten path, like this adventurous group with Steller Air in Homer, AK.

Beautiful photo from Scott Dickerson Photography.

The balancing act can be a little tricky at times, but once you get the hang of SUP you will probably be able to bust out a little yoga with one leg while paddling with one hand. Maybe? That’s pretty impressive! Bonus: If you have friends that prefer to kayak, you can still hit the water together and make some epic multi-sport memories!

Awesome photo from Howl Alaska.

Some folks are even cool (and coordinated) enough to multi task on a SUP. Hoola-hooping on open water with snow-capped mountains in the background? Yes please!

Photo from http://www.hooping.org.

Or how about SUP and fishing? Now that is awesome. And totally fitting for all of those Kenai Peninsula fishing fanatics!

Photo from SurfAlaska.net.

Or maybe even headstands on a SUP? Now that is talent!

Photo from Anson Cheng.

And if you want to include your four-legged best friend, SUP is also a dog friendly sport!

Photo from http://www.pinterest.com.

Make it an evening trip and you might even get lucky enough to catch an epic Alaskan sunset via SUP.

Great photo from Scott Dickerson Photography.