Kayaking Trips on Cape Cod

Kayaks are the ideal craft for accessing shallow areas that are teeming with marine and avian life! We offer single and tandem kayaks perfect for traveling throughout marsh habitats on our specialized kayak tours.

Whether viewing an Osprey nest in spring or checking out schools of juvenile menhaden during late-summer, these trips are fantastic ways to get your feet wet and learn about the dynamic Cape Cod ecosystem.

Long Pasture naturalists provide instruction on how to properly use the kayaks as well as information about bird species and wildlife that is encountered during the tours.

On select dates, Long Pasture also runs "full moon" kayak paddles that allow participants to take in the marsh at night. With so many nocturnal species that inhabit inshore areas, these paddle trips can be rewarding for those who want to see what the shore looks like under moonlight. 

Kayaking trips are offered from early to late summer.

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Kayaking Locations

Barnstable Harbor & the Great Marsh, Barnstable

Barnstable Harbor is bordered to the north by Sandy Neck Barrier Beach and to the west by the Great Marsh. With every tide cycle, this embayment is flushed by millions of gallons of cold, well-oxygenated water from Cape Cod Bay. Species that frequent the harbor’s waters include striped bass, bluefish, Atlantic mackerel, longfin squid, quahogs, razor clams, surf clams, sandworms, bay scallops, ribbed mussels, gulls, terns and American oystercatchers. 

The western reaches of the harbor transition into the Great Marsh, a 3,800-acre expanse of coastal wetland habitat that provides habitat for coastal birds as well as juvenile fish species. Several oyster growers operate aquaculture grants in the recesses of the marsh, simultaneously providing delicious oysters to restaurants and filtering the water of Barnstable Harbor.

Select Long Pasture tours will also visit the privately-owned Sandy Neck lighthouse that presides over Barnstable Harbor. Climb the lighthouse stairs to enjoy one of the greatest views of the harbor and learn about the history of the area. 

Scorton Creek, Sandwich

Scorton Creek is a meandering tidal river that empties into Cape Cod Bay. Paddle amongst blades of Spartina and Juncus grass while watching for sandpipers foraging on the banks. Watch common terns diving for Atlantic silversides in the shallow back eddies of the river’s sandbars. 

Popponesset Spit & Ockway Bay, Mashpee

Popponesset Spit, providing a barrier between Popponesset Bay and Nantucket Sound, is one of the South Cape’s most unique areas for its biodiversity. In April, the dunes of the spit are colonized by breeding piping plovers returning from their winter haunts. As the waters of Nantucket Sound begin to warm, alewives and blueback herring return to spawn upstream in the Mashpee and Santuit Rivers, attracting hungry striped bass.

With such a profusion of life, kayak trips on Popponesset Bay are never dull! Follow Long Pasture naturalists into this amazing natural area to learn about its species as well as the environmental threats that currently face it.