By now, you must know the truth that we love Kayaking. We did Sea Kayaking in Split & Maldives as well. This time, in Switzerland, we did something different. We went for Kayaking in Winter! Yes, Winter Kayaking sounded quite adventurous & scary because A. Switzerland B. Winter C. Water.
None of the above factors deterred our determination of taking up this activity though. We went Winter Kayaking with Hightide Kayak School.
How to reach
Easy peasy. From Interlaken, you can catch Bus No. 103 towards Istewald to reach Hightide Kayak School. The bus stops right in front of their office. The bus ride is free with Interlaken guest card (yay)!
Alternatively, you can simply walk (heh) from Interlaken to Bonigen. It is about 30 mins away on foot & you will love the landscapes. We picked walking because our bus had just left & the next bus was after 30 minutes. But we really enjoyed our short, impromptu hike.
Duration of the Winter Kayaking
Activity like this needs a lot of time & even after that, you feel it was too less. We took the half-day tour. That particular tour of Winter Kayaking took about a total time of 5 hours, which includes to & fro transportation time, training & the actual activity. It is advisable to keep a half-day’s time for this activity. If you are want more, Hightide Kayak School also offers full day tours as well.
Let’s Start The Activity Already!
Upon our arrival at Hightide Kayak School, Dave – The co-founder of the school greeted us. He helped us with all the necessary clothing for Winter Kayaking. Since we were new to this kind of accessories (Dry suits, different types of shoes & gloves etc.), Dave explained the use of everything & how to wear it patiently.
After we were ready with our gears, we took Kayaks to Lake Brienz. To my surprise, the water didn’t feel cold; the air didn’t feel cold all thanks to the suit that we were wearing. We finally began Kayaking on the pristine Lake Brienz on a sunny afternoon.
It was the best feeling ever. That cold breeze hitting your face while sunlight keeping you warm & nobody around in the lake except you. Imagine this surreal scene! There was literally nobody else kayaking, boating or doing any other activity in Lake Brienz. It was only us, pushing our Kayaks here & there, stopping somewhere to experience the different shades & moods of nature.
Meanwhile, Dave kept sharing interesting insights about Kayaking, life in Switzerland, history of the region & many more topics. He made sure that we Kayak in the right direction. Importance of every mountain, town & spot on Lake Brienz was known to him. After an hour of Kayaking, we took a stop at Ringgenberg. Dave took us to the top of the Ringgenberg castle & treated us with some homemade fruit tea.
Sipping that tea from the top of the castle looking over Lake Brienz & Alps was one of the best moments of my life for sure. This moment became possible only because Dave & Hightide Kayak School.
After spending about half an hour at Ringgenberg, we came back to our beloved Kayaks & started paddling again. This time, Dave us took us to the middle of Lake Brienz just before the time of sunset. We were sitting in our kayaks parked in the middle of Lake Brienz with not a single man-made sound. It was only the sunset & us.
The last rays of sun fell on the peaks of Alps & it became Pink & Orange in color while rest of the mountain stayed in shade. This dreamlike scene went on for few minutes & we thanked everything good in this world for this particular scene. Pictures won’t be able to do even 5% justice to this sunset.
Every journey comes to an end no matter how beautiful it is. Even our Winter Kayaking came to an end. We kayaked back to Bonigen. It was almost dark. After getting Kayaks back to the base & changing into our normal clothes, we talked about how relaxing this entire experience was.
Dave also treated us with some dark Swiss chocolates! (WOO!)
We took a bus back to Interlaken since it was standing just right in front of Hightide Kayak School’s office.
I don’t think I have ever experienced anything this surreal in life. Thanks to Dave, I could see the best sunset of my life. I highly recommend Winter Kayaking to anyone who wants experience something new or anyone who’s into trying our a new sport. Trust me, this is going to be one of the most memorable moments of your life!
This article was first published on Awara Diaries.
You can watch the video of our entire experience here: