Wakestock 2005, Wales
You'll have to act quick to make it to Europe's largest wakeboarding and music festival, but it could be the perfect start to a watery weekend.
Today, 15,000 people are expected on Pwllheli Marina to watch the wakeboarding competition, featuring the world's best professionals launching themselves around the bay. The Red Bull Skate Ramp has demos from top professional skateboarders and BMX riders, probably best seen from the top of the fairground rides. The festival ends with a musical line-up of alternative bands and DJs from The Undertones to Tall Paul and Seb Fontaine.
If the wakeboard demos give you a taste for the sport, Off Axis takes beginners around Pwllheli Marina from Sunday morning onwards. Alternatively, why not go surfing with the fully insured and British Surfing Association-approved Abersoch Surf School, which runs half-day learn-to-surf course for beginners aged eight and older? Or simply spend Sunday lounging around the beautiful beaches.
Where: Abersoch, Penrhos and Pwllheli, Wales.
When: Today.
Good for: 12-year-olds upwards.
Details: wakestock.co.uk. Watching the wakeboarding at Pwllheli marina and at Abersoch beach is free. Off Axis (01758 713407, offaxis.co.uk) lessons cost £30 per hour including all equipment, tuition and boat use. Abersoch Surf School (01758 713067) costs £25 for the half day.
Tall Ships Races 2005, NewcastleGateshead
A staggering one million people are expected to converge on the River Tyne for this gathering of 100 Tall Ships from around the world. Boats and crew from over 20 countries are expected to take part in the three-day festival that marks the beginning of the last stage of the annual Tall Ships Race.
Families can get involved by taking part in the four-day festival of shore-based music and street entertainment, while kids can check out the inflatable sports arena and the BBC Interactive Studio as well as going on the ships themselves (entry is subject to individual captain's discretion, although you're unlikely to be refused).
There will be four performance stages and daily events such as a Crew Parade along the quayside (July 26), the Cresting The Waves dance and firework extravaganza (July 27), and the Parade of Sail (July 28), when the fleet heads out of port for a race to Fredrikstad in Norway. Families are advised that the best place to see the ships at full sail during the Parade of Sail will be at special vantage points in north and south Tyneside.
Where: Newcastle Gateshead.
When: July 25-28.
Good for: 10-year-olds upwards.
Details: tallships2005.com. The entire event is free.
Fairthorne Manor Summer Camps, Hants
Situated right next to the River Hamble and with a lake within its leafy grounds, Fairthorne Manor offers residential camps with a watery theme for kids throughout the holidays. Mixed groups of both residential and day campers are offered a programme of activities out on the lake including kayaking, inflatable sailing, Burma bridge crossing, canoeing, sailing and raft building. On dry land, the kids can also try their hand at archery, pioneering and camping under the stars.
Camps are full-board, with all specialist equipment and expert tuition provided, evening entertainment, and 24-hour staff cover. Accommodation is in tent villages.
Where: Fairthorne Manor, Near Southampton.
When: Five-day residential courses throughout the summer, July 24-August 26.
Good for: Active eight-15 year olds who are prepared to have fun in groups.
Details: fairthorne.co.uk. Camps costs £250 per week, fully inclusive.
Learn to sail, Argyll
The entire family can learn at this family-run sailing centre. It's a coastal centre, so you'll be learning out on the high seas over an intensive five-day period. The emphasis is on teaching absolute beginners the basics of dinghy sailing. The courses are Royal Yachting Association approved, and take the form of mixed practical and classroom work, although you'll spend most of your time on the water. To make sure that each family gets a bit of a break, there are separate boats for adults and kids, with everybody meeting up at lunch-time for a picnic. Boats and instructors are rotated each day, and there's a real social feel to the whole course.
Where: Tighnabruaich, Argyll, Scotland.
When: Five-day courses each week over the summer.
Good for: Revisiting those Swallows And Amazons fantasies, and for introducing youngsters to the sea.
Details: tssargyll.co.uk. The five-day course costs £190 for adults and £170 for children including all safety equipment and boats. Accommodation extra.
PADI Bubblemaker courses, nationwide
The Professional Association of Diving Instructors (PADI) run weekly courses for children aged eight to 12 designed to offer a fun and easy-to-understand introduction to the underwater world.
Each lesson lasts two hours, with the first half taken up with familiarising the kids with equipment and safety, and the second spent under the water playing Frisbee.
Also included in the price is the Bubblemaker pack containing a beach towel, logbook and stickers. Each child receives a certificate, and the chance to progress to the PADI Seal Team for older children.
Where: Hornchurch Sportcentre, Hornchurch, Essex, and other locations around the country.
When: Today and every Saturday at 2pm.
Good for: Active kids aged eight to 10 with a taste for adventure.
Details: For the Hornchurch course, Sublime Diving (01992 815959, scuba-dive.co.uk) £15 for each individual two-hour session. For more on nationwide PADI children courses, call 01992 815959, padi.com/english.
· Next week: musical activities
