never come closer to that feeling than 

 hang gliding. And there's no better 

 place to learn this air-lifting sport 

 than on the soft sands of Jockey's 

 Ridge. 



More than 10,000 people have 

 learned to hang glide along the dune's 

 gentle slopes, says Nancy 

 Mc Williams of Kitty Hawk Kites, the 

 nation's largest hang gliding school. 

 McWilliams says the high-flying 

 school has taught people who range 

 in age from 8 to 80 

 years old. 



But there's one 

 catch. You must 

 weigh between 85 

 and 220 pounds, 

 McWilliams says. 



To take a 

 beginner hang 

 gliding lesson on 

 the East Coast's 

 largest sand dune 

 will cost $59 for 

 three hours of 

 instruction. 

 Classes are taught 

 year-round, and 

 McWilliams says 

 each class member 

 will complete five short flights. 



But don't think for a moment that 

 beginners glide from the crest of the 

 150-foot tall dune. McWilliams says 

 such heights are reserved for experi- 

 enced hang gliders. 



sea kayaking — Capitalizing 



on the 1990s ecotourism trend of 

 going back to nature, sea kayaking 

 takes the kayak out of white water 

 and plunks it down in the rolling sea. 

 Here, people can paddle along at a 

 leisurely pace and enjoy the beauty of 

 the coast, says Buxton, also an owner 

 in Kitty Hawk Kayaks. 



"Sea kayaking is to white-water 

 kayaking what downhill skiing is to 

 cross-country skiing," Buxton says. 

 "There's more emphasis on endur- 

 ance rather than speed." 



Buxton compares sea kayaking to 



backpacking on the water. It allows 

 you to explore remote areas such as 

 the Alligator River National Wildlife 

 Refuge or Portsmouth Island and 

 experience nature at close range. 



Through Kitty Hawk Kayaks, 

 Buxton teaches classes and offers 

 guided tours of several natural areas 

 along the Outer Banks. 



diving — North Carolina's 



offshore waters are a wreck . . . after 



Children enjoy a day at the beach. 



wreck . . . after wreck. And these 

 wrecks — for which we gained the 

 notorious nickname "Graveyard of 

 the Atlantic" — attract divers to 

 explore the depths of the state's 

 continental shelf. 



Ninety percent of the people who 

 dive off the Tar Heel coast do so 

 specifically to see a wreck, mostly 

 those sunk by the Germans during 

 World War n, says Bill Thompson of 

 Discovery Dive Shop in Beaufort. 



During summer, water tempera- 

 tures reach the low 80s and visibility 

 in the water is 80 feet — conditions 

 that are ideal for those willing to take 

 the plunge. Thompson says that 

 Discovery Dive Shop has seven 

 charter boats that run divers to wreck 

 locations located an hour to an hour 

 and a half offshore in waters 50 to 

 100 feet deep. 



The German submarine U-352 is 

 the most popular dive spot, he says. 

 And divers get the added treat of seeing 

 many tropical and subtropical fish 

 species from the nearby Gulf Stream. 



bicycling — If you want to see the 



coast on two wheels instead of four, 

 cycle during the spring or fall, says 

 Mary Meletiou of the N.C. Office of 

 Bicycle and Pedestrian Transportation. 

 These seasons offer less traffic, 



milder temperatures 

 and fewer bugs for 

 cyclists to contend 

 with, she says. Her 

 office has several 

 coastal bicycle 

 routes of varying 

 lengths for cyclists. 



One 300-mile 

 route, named the 

 Port of Call, takes 

 cyclers from 

 Calabash to 

 Corapeak through 

 Wilmington, New 

 Bern, Bath and 

 Edenton. Meletiou 

 also has three long 

 routes that loop 

 around Pamlico Sound. 



And for those interested in shorter 

 day trips, there are routes for Croatan 

 National Forest, Beaufort and Onslow 

 County. 



Meletiou suggests biking along the 

 coast during the morning before 

 afternoon breezes increase, changing 

 cycling from a labor of love to an 

 agonizing fight against the wind. She 

 says a casual cyclist can easily pedal 50 

 miles in a day. 



If you want to cycle the Outer 

 Banks, Meletiou recommends pedaling 

 down N.C. 12 south of the Oregon Inlet 

 bridge, preferably before or after the 

 high-volume tourist months of June, 

 July and August. 



For more information about coastal 

 bicycle routes, contact Meletiou' s 

 office at 919/733-2804. ® 



COASTWATCH 17 



