Kayakers and canoeists will find easy, quiet paddling on the backwater creeks of the Northern Neck and in Hampton Roads and on the Eastern Shore. Outfitters in Virginia Beach and Chincoteague rent both canoes and kayaks and offer guided excursions of the creeks and back bays, and you can go dolphin watching with them off Virginia Beach. Atlantic Kayak Company, 1201 N. Royal St., Alexandria, VA 22124 (tel. 703/838-9072; www.atlantickayak.com), has kayaking packages on the local waters of northern Virginia and to the Northern Neck and the Eastern Shore.
Depending on how much rain has dropped recently, the best white-water rafting is on the James River at Scottsville near Charlottesville and in Richmond, the only city in the country with white-water rafting right in town. White-water rafting is most likely during spring and late fall.
The best canoeing and kayaking is on the South Fork of the Shenandoah River between Front Royal Luray and Lexington. When the water is low during summer, multitudes forget canoes and rafts and lazily float down the rivers in inner tubes.
