Where to Rent Kayaks in Plymouth, Massachusetts
Dave Williams (Adam Bolonsky)
- Published Content: 283
- Total Views: 59,742
- Favorited By: 0 CPs
Go to Billington Sea Kayak in Plymouth, about ten minutes off the highway and a world away from busy Route 3. The shop and rental center are located on a lovely tract of land on Billington Sea pond, a pond, oddly e 
nough, with some unusual local history regarding its name. The shop is convenient to the Plymouth waterfront, where you can visit the Mayflower and Plymouth Rock or sample local sea food. Historical museum site Plimoth Plantation is just another ten minutes away.
Billington's rental prices are reasonable, yet with a caveat: this is not a take-away rental shop, meaning that if you rent one of their kayaks or canoes, you'll need to use it on the pond during shop hours.
Which is nice, actually: Billington Sea has 269 acres to explore, numerous coves, and is dotted, shoreside, by a small number of summer cottages. Moreover, a third of the shore is preserved by Morton Park, owned by the town, a rarity in this private shoreline obsessed state. The pond offers good fishing on largemouth and pickerel, both lively fighters. If you're a fisherman, bring along your gear and your state freshwater fishing license. Rent a kayak and give kayak fishing a try: Billington rents not only traditional sea but specialty fishing and recreational kayaks known for their maneuverability and stability.
Because it's shallow (max. dept is eleven feet) Billington Sea's waters warm quickly, which make it a good place to try kayaking for the first time (kayaking is a wet sport!). More experienced paddlers will appreciate the warm waters when practicing self and group rescues or the finer points of wet-exits and rolling; paid instruction is also available on site.
Remote-seeming, thickly wooded, tucked away at the end of a winding old country road, the shop is one of the few in the Boston area to offer immediate access to an easy getaway. From Boston it's about an hour's drive.
If you're a birdwatcher, bring your binoculars and birding guides. The pond is home to blue heron, osprey, red tail hawks, kingfishers, swans, ducks and bald eagles.
Billington's rental prices are reasonable, yet with a caveat: this is not a take-away rental shop, meaning that if you rent one of their kayaks or canoes, you'll need to use it on the pond during shop hours.
Which is nice, actually: Billington Sea has 269 acres to explore, numerous coves, and is dotted, shoreside, by a small number of summer cottages. Moreover, a third of the shore is preserved by Morton Park, owned by the town, a rarity in this private shoreline obsessed state. The pond offers good fishing on largemouth and pickerel, both lively fighters. If you're a fisherman, bring along your gear and your state freshwater fishing license. Rent a kayak and give kayak fishing a try: Billington rents not only traditional sea but specialty fishing and recreational kayaks known for their maneuverability and stability.
Because it's shallow (max. dept is eleven feet) Billington Sea's waters warm quickly, which make it a good place to try kayaking for the first time (kayaking is a wet sport!). More experienced paddlers will appreciate the warm waters when practicing self and group rescues or the finer points of wet-exits and rolling; paid instruction is also available on site.
Remote-seeming, thickly wooded, tucked away at the end of a winding old country road, the shop is one of the few in the Boston area to offer immediate access to an easy getaway. From Boston it's about an hour's drive.
If you're a birdwatcher, bring your binoculars and birding guides. The pond is home to blue heron, osprey, red tail hawks, kingfishers, swans, ducks and bald eagles.