Boating and Watersports | Insiders' Guide® to Cape Cod, 5th Edition

		Upper Cape Cape Sailboards 661-D Main St., Falmouth• (508) 540-8800 This is a full-service store selling activewear, sailboards, accessories, wet suits, boogie boards, snowboards, and skateboards. Board and sail repairs are available; the shop is open March to December.
		Mid-Cape Boarding House Surf Shop 302 Main St., Hyannis• (508) 778-4080 This year-round Hyannis shop sells everything to do with the three sports of surfing, skateboarding, and snowboarding. They offer all the clothing and accessories you'll need as well as videos to help you learn the techniques, and also a repair service. Sound Sailboards 223 Barnstable Rd., Hyannis• (508) 771-3388 In business since 1988, Sound Sailboards sells boards and sails, masks, wet suits and hoods, and offers lessons and rentals. It is open from April through December, seven days a week.
		Lower Cape Monomoy Sail and Cycle 275 Mass. Rt. 28, Chatham• (508) 945-0811 Monomoy Sail and Cycle rents sailboards for use on Nantucket Sound and Pleasant Bay. Remember that while Pleasant Bay offers calm, delightful waters, Southern Pleasant Bay, in Chatham, is much rougher--and potentially dangerous. Nauset Sports Mass. Rt. 6A, Orleans• (508) 255-4742 This year-round shop rents and sells the latest in wet suits, boards (sail, surf, skim, and body), and essential windsurfing and surfing equipment. The Pump House Surf Company 9 Cranberry Highway (Mass. Rt. 6A), Orleans• (508) 240-2226 Offering a complete line of surfboards as well as clothing, swimwear, and eyewear, the Pump House is an ideally located Lower Cape surf shop convenient to the Atlantic-side beaches. It provides a repair service, a surf report, and rentals, and also offers lessons. The Pump House is open weekends from early April to the end of May, stays open seven days a week from the end of May until October, and then reverts to weekend hours from October to December. It's closed January through March. Jasper's Surf Shop U.S. Rt. 6, Eastham• (508) 255-2662 Jasper's has a large selection of surfboards and equipment and sells some sailboards, swimsuits, wetsuits, and lifeguard equipment. Repairs are done in the summer only. In the off-season, the shop takes mail orders via telephone. Jack's Boat Rental Gull Pond, Wellfleet• (508) 349-9808• www.jacksboatrentals.com In addition to everything needed for on-the-water adventures, Jack's also rents boogie boards. It has two other shops, one in Brewster and one on U.S. Rt. 6 in Wellfleet, offering Sunfish, seacycles, canoes, and sailboards. (See also the listings in the Boat Rentals and in the Canoe and Kayak Tours and Rentals sections of this chapter.)
		JetSkiing If surfing the Lower Cape is just too tame for you, check out the action on the motorized miniboats--they go by such brand names as JetSki, Waverunner, Sea-Doo and others--and are available at rental places around the Cape. These personal watercraft have gotten mixed reviews on the Cape. Some find the combination of noise and speed too disturbing, and some towns have considered banning them from waters under their control. For instance, the citizens of Provincetown have passed a non-binding referendum that bans JetSkis from the harbor. Which basically means that they are unhappy with the use of JetSkis in their waters, however there is nothing they can do to ban their use. Still, several areas welcome these miniboats. Be sure to check with the local harbormasters as to places where such craft are permitted.
		Upper Cape Cape Cod Windsurfing Academy & Watersports Rentals 134 Menauhant Rd., Falmouth Heights• (508) 495-0008 On beautiful Vineyard Sound, this outfit at the Surfside Holiday Hotel rents all types of watercraft including Jet-Skis. It also rents kayaks and sailboards for windsurfing.
		Mid-Cape Cape Cod Para-Sail and Jet-Ski Hyannis Marine Arlington St., Hyannis• (508) 760-6710 Here's some one-stop shopping for you. Cape Cod Para-Sail and Jet-Ski runs parasailing tours, rents boats of all varieties, and also rents various personal watercraft. Cape Cod Para-Sail and Jet-Ski also has a location on Red Jacket Beach in Yarmouth. Rick's Rollers 240 Lower County Rd., Dennisport• (508) 760-6747 Near the intersection of Shad Hole and Lower County Roads, Rick's Rollers is a great place to rent anything from in-line skates to JetSkis. The calm waters of Nantucket Sound are just a few hundred yards away at South Village and Haigis beaches.
		Lower Cape Offshore Watersports Chatham Fish Pier, Aunt Lydia's Cove, Chatham• (508) 945-5700 Specializing in personal watercraft, Offshore Water-sports offers hour and half-hour rentals with access to Chatham Harbor, Pleasant Bay, and the Atlantic Ocean off Nauset Beach. Mad Maxines 131A Commercial St., Provincetown• (508) 487-9480 In At Mad Maxines, on Provincetown harbor, you can rent Waverunners for $45 for a half-hour or $75 for an hour.
		Diving Beach diving is popular on the Cape, especially at Corporation Beach in Dennis and Sandwich's Town Beach, which is considered safe and easy for divers because the current is light and the rocky bottom is interesting. Divers see plenty of striped bass, bluefish, tautog, flounder, sea robins, sea urchins, and starfish. Several books about underwater exploration in the area are available, including three by Donald L. Ferris and Bill Dubiel: Beneath the Waters of Cape Cod, Beneath the Waters of Massachusetts Bay, and Exploring the Waters of Cape Cod: Shipwrecks and Dive Sites, which has information on 94 dive sites, complete with maps, photos, and Loran numbers. The ocean beaches of the Lower Cape have more currents and shoals than the bay. This is the untamed Atlantic, and you have to exercise caution, especially when near the shore. The waters of the bayside Cape are calmer and warmer, and the warmest waters tend to be those of Nantucket and Vineyard Sounds. The visibility also tends to be better in Cape Cod Bay and on the southern sounds than in Buzzards Bay. Just as winds alter the landscape, currents cause underwater changes, so you should consult the staff at local dive shops for suitable areas and current conditions for diving. Check with one of the following dive shops for instruction, information, or gear before entering the water.
		Upper Cape Aquarius Diving Center 3239 Cranberry Hwy., Buzzards Bay• (508) 759-3483 This full-service scuba shop provides instruction, sales, and service, charter diving and dive travel arrangements. The Diving Center is a Scuba Pro dealer that specializes in low-stress, fun dives--meaning easy, shallow dives averaging around 20 to 30 feet. Aquarius is open year-round. Aqua Center 2 Freezer Rd., Sandwich• (508) 888-3444 Aqua Center is open year-round and has diving equipment, masks, snorkels, and fins. It also offers instruction and equipment rental.
		Mid-Cape East Coast Divers 237 Falmouth Rd., Hyannis• (508) 775-1185 Open year-round, East Coast Divers offers scuba lessons, equipment, and service and sells lights, compasses, pressure gauges, wet suits, boots, and hoods. Courses cover ice diving, beginner and dive master instruction, search and rescue, CPR, and equipment repair. Sea Sports 195 D Ridgewood Ave., Hyannis• (508) 790-1217 A full-service scuba diving shop, Sea Sports caters to snorkeling and has "everything you need to go diving." Sea Sports organizes an informal dive club and weekly night dives and also has a full-service surf shop. The shop is open year-round.

JetSkiing

Diving