VA Beach Blowout! Sun & Sand, Paddling, Hiking, Biking, SCUBA,

OVERVIEW

Come make some new friends while paddling, hiking, and/or scuba-diving, or just veg on the beach! Then have a nice dinner & s’mores by the campfire, and sleep under the stars or in a tent.

***CATCH SOME RAYS, SWIM, & BUILD SANDCASTLES. A nice beach is just a short walk from our campsites. Also, there are free hot showers.

***GO PADDLING. Saturday until 4pm is the “Paddlefest 2002” at the park, where you can try out lots of different kinds of boats for just $5. Several different companies will be demo-ing their kayaks and canoes and offering tips on how to paddle as well as facets on boat design. Some other outdoor equipment (hiking & camping gear, etc.) should be on display as well. This is a once-a-year event so there may be a lot of people there.

***GO HIKING. The park has 19 miles of hiking trails, including one called “Bald Cypress Trail” which is an unusual 1-mile path through sand dunes. Get info at the park, and then create your own group and go for a nice leisurely hike.

***GO BIKING. The park has bike trails, too (easy ones), and bicycles for rent (“beach cruisers,” $5/hour or $16 ‘till 5pm). Maybe some of the cars going will have bike racks; we’ll have to wait and see (if not, you can lock your bike at the adventure meeting place).

***FIRST-TIME SCUBA-DIVING: See what scuba-diving is like at an info session and free real dive in a pool! No experience or gear required.

***CERTIFIED SCUBA-DIVING: Dive down & see tropical fish and maybe some sunken ships! For certified scuba-divers only; bringing cert card required. This requires extra preparation so please call me (Matt) at 979-3665 if you haven’t spoken to me already. There’s room on the boat for only 5 divers, so first to talk to me, first served. Sorry, I don’t know of any way to get certified before this weekend if you’re not certified. I think there’s a UVa Phys Ed course you can take next semester.

***PARTICIPATE IN PARK-ORGANIZED EVENTS such as a guided Saturday night-hike and a Sunday 10am botanical tour.

***FINAL DETAILS: This should be an amazing time. Sorry to limit this to 50; we can get our hands on only so much camping gear and campsites. There will be several cars going and Sunday return time depends on when the drivers want to come back. Why not spend Sunday afternoon, too, by the beach and do your homework there? We don’t have check out of the campsites until 3pm.

Outdoors at UVa provides:

NOTE: RETURN TIME IS NOT 12:00 AM. SEE END OF “DESCRIPTION” BELOW. UVa Outdoors provides Saturday dinner, Sunday breakfast, campsite fee, gas for cars, firewood, and if you need: sleeping bag and pad, tent, and a seat in a car.

You must bring:

Saturday lunch, money for sunday lunch, bathing suit, towel, sun tan lotion, $5 cash if you want to Paddlefest, cash if you want to rent a bicycle (also, $20 returnable deposit or leave credit card), bug spray, flashlight and warm clothes for nighttime, **musical instrument** if you have one for playing around the campfire (spooky stories good, too!), frisbees, sand castle tools …