15+ of the Best Adventurous Things to Do in Kelowna
Looking for adventurous things to do in Kelowna? You have way more options than just spending the day at the beach or going wine tasting! I’ve lived in the Okanagan most of my life, and I’m always looking for something new to try. I’ve rappelled down waterfalls, gone wakeboarding on Okanagan Lake, zipped through the trees, and tried quite a few other adventures around Kelowna over the years. And somehow, there are still a bunch left on my list.
Some of these are guided Kelowna adventure tours, while others are activities you can book and try for yourself. Most don’t require any previous experience, either, so you don’t need to be particularly outdoorsy or know what you’re doing before you show up.
So if wine tasting isn’t quite enough excitement for your trip, here are some of my favourite adventurous things to do in Kelowna (plus a few I still want to try).
Kelowna Water Activities & Adventures
Kelowna summers get hot, so if you’re going to plan an adventure, you might as well pick one that ends with you in the water.
Okanagan Lake is where most people go and there are way more ways to enjoy the water than just renting a paddleboard or spending the day at the beach. You can get pulled behind a boat, fly above the lake, or, if you’re willing to venture a little farther from Kelowna, rappel straight down a waterfall.
Here are some of my favourite water adventures in and around Kelowna.
Go Canyoning in Kelowna (or Naramata)
Canyoning is basically a mix of hiking, climbing, rappelling, and making your way through a canyon, which sometimes means jumping or sliding into natural pools along the way. And yes, you can do it right here in Kelowna!
I’ve done all three canyoning tours with Okanagan Canyoning, and rappelling straight down a waterfall is both terrifying and SO much fun. I (almost) understand why people become adrenaline junkies.
You definitely don’t need to know what you’re doing beforehand. Their guides teach you how to rappel and help you through the technical sections, so even the beginner tours still feel like a proper adventure.
Expect to get completely soaked, use muscles you forgot existed, and probably scream at least once. I sure did. 😂 If you’re looking for one of the more unusual, but also coolest, adventurous things to do in Kelowna, canyoning is the top of my list!
Use code explorethemap10 to save 10% on your tour (only when you book directly through their website).
Parasailing on Okanagan Lake
Parasailing on Okanagan Lake is an adventure I haven’t tried yet, but getting pulled behind a boat while floating high above the lake seems like a pretty incredible way to see Kelowna.
You can fly on your own or go up with one or two other people, so you don’t necessarily have to brave it alone. And if simply floating through the air isn’t exciting enough, you can ask to be dipped into the lake during your flight.
Unlike wakeboarding or flyboarding, there isn’t really a skill you need to master here. You get strapped in, take off from the boat, and enjoy the spectacular view!
Try Flyboarding on Okanagan Lake
I haven’t tried flyboarding yet, but every time I see someone doing it on Okanagan Lake, I stop and watch. How could you not? You’re basically strapping a water-powered jetpack to your feet and flying above the lake.
Apparently there’s a bit of a learning curve, which I’d fully expect, but you don’t need previous flyboarding experience to give it a try. If you’ve done things like wakeboarding or snowboarding before, some of that balance might come in handy.
Flyboarding is definitely one of the more unusual ways to experience Okanagan Lake. There might be a few spectacular wipeouts while you figure it out, but flying above the water seems well worth falling in a few times!
Wakeboarding & Wakesurfing in Kelowna
I tried wakeboarding for the first time a few summers ago and let’s just say I spent considerably more time face-planting into Okanagan Lake than actually wakeboarding. 😂 I never really got the hang of it, yet I still had a lot of fun.
You don’t need your own boat or any experience to try it. You can book a wakesurfing or wakeboarding session with an instructor who’ll get you set up with the gear and teach you the basics out on the lake. And if balancing on a board sounds like far too much work, tubing is always an option.
Wakeboarding is definitely harder than people make it look, but that just makes finally getting up for even a few seconds feel even sweeter. And when you inevitably fall? Well, at least you’re falling into Okanagan Lake on a hot summer day. Things could be worse.
Rent a Boat, Pontoon, or Jet Ski
You don’t need to own a boat to spend the day out on Okanagan Lake. There are plenty of places around Kelowna where you can rent everything from jet skis and speedboats to pontoons, which makes this one of the easiest ways to plan your own lake day.
If you want something a little more adventurous, rent a jet ski or speedboat and explore the lake on your own. For a slower day with a group, a pontoon is a great option, especially if you want plenty of room for swimming, snacks, and hanging out on the water.
You can rent for a few hours or make a full day of it, and there are options available from several marinas and beaches around Kelowna.
Take a Sunset Cruise on Okanagan Lake
If you want to get out on Okanagan Lake without having to drive the boat yourself, a sunset cruise is a much easier option.
Cruises leave from downtown Kelowna and take you out onto the lake as the sun starts dropping behind the mountains. Some include dinner and live entertainment, while others are more focused on the cruise itself. T
It’s definitely one of the more relaxed adventures on this list, but after a day of hiking, biking, wine tasting, or being thrown around on a jet ski, that might not be a bad thing.
Land Adventures in Kelowna
Prefer to keep your feet on dry land? As much as Okanagan Lake gets most of the attention in the summer, some of my favourite adventures around Kelowna have actually been nowhere near the water.
There’s a lot to explore once you get outside the city, whether that means heading into the mountains, biking along an old railway, or flying through the trees on a zipline. And not everything has to be terrifying to count as an adventure. Some of these are pretty relaxed, while others aren’t really.
So if you’d rather stay dry (or you’ve already had enough lake time), here are some of the best outdoor adventures to try in and around Kelowna.
Okanagan Adventure Park’s Giant Canyon Swing
I haven’t tried the Giant Canyon Swing at Okanagan Adventure Park yet, but it looks terrifying in the best possible way. It reminds me of the canyon swing at the Golden Skybridge.
You’re strapped into a harness, pulled back above the canyon, and released! There’s really no skill involved here. You just have to convince yourself that willingly being dropped over the edge is a good idea. 😂
The canyon swing isn’t the only reason to visit, either. Okanagan Adventure Park has ziplines and aerial courses, so you can make a bigger adventure out of it rather than driving out for one giant swing.
Ziplining at Oyama Zipline
I’ve been ziplining at Oyama Zipline, and if you’re going to try ziplining anywhere around Kelowna, this is a really fun place to do it. The course has nearly two kilometres of ziplines through the forest, with some pretty incredible views over Kalamalka Lake and Wood Lake.
On some of the lines, you can try different positions, including hanging upside down, which I obviously had to do. There are also tandem lines where you can race whoever you’re with.
Oyama Zipline also has an aerial adventure park where you make your way through obstacles high up in the trees, with the courses getting progressively harder. Eventually, you can work your way up to the 46-foot FreeFall QuickJump.
It’s up in Lake Country rather than Kelowna itself, but it’s close enough that I’d absolutely include it in a Kelowna adventure day, especially if you want something that gets you up into the trees rather than out on the lake.
Take a Guided Bike Tour
If I had to pick one place to bike around Kelowna, it would be Myra Canyon. The trail follows the old Kettle Valley Railway through Myra Canyon, crossing historic wooden trestles and passing through tunnels. And because the railway was built for trains, the grade is pretty gentle, so you don’t have to be a serious cyclist to enjoy it.
You can absolutely rent a bike and explore Myra Canyon, but that’s far from your only option. There are all kinds of guided bike and e-bike tours around Kelowna, including rides through wine country and longer trips along the Kettle Valley Rail Trail. Some even combine biking with wine tastings, food, or other stops along the way, so you can turn the ride into a full day out.
Go Off-Roading in the Okanagan Backcountry
There’s a whole other side of Kelowna once you leave the pavement, and you don’t need your own 4×4 to get out and explore it!
Full Cyrcle Adventure offers guided side-by-side tours into the Okanagan backcountry where you get to do the driving yourself. Depending on the tour, you can spend a few hours out on the trails or make more of a day of it, with some routes heading toward Chute Lake.
If you’d rather leave the driving to someone else, there are guided Jeep tours through the Kelowna backcountry too. The three-hour tour takes you out in an open-air Jeep to explore some of the lakes, trails, and viewpoints hiding in the mountains behind Kelowna. You can just ride along, or choose the driving option and learn some off-road techniques yourself.
I haven’t tried either yet, but I love the idea of seeing parts of Kelowna that you’d never reach on a regular sightseeing tour. It would also be a completely different way to see the Okanagan beyond the wineries and lake!
Brewery Tour on Wheels
Smile Cycle is basically what happens when you combine a pub crawl with a giant group bike, and it’s so fun! I’ve done it with a group of friends, and you pedal your way through Kelowna’s brewery district, stopping at local breweries for drinks along the way. There’s a driver doing the actual steering, thankfully, so your only real responsibility is to pedal and make it to the next beer.
And you do actually have to pedal. I think we all assumed the giant bike would somehow magically move itself, but you definitely notice when half the group decides to take a break. Suddenly that next brewery feels considerably farther away.
It’s a fun option if you’re travelling with friends, celebrating, or want to experience some of Kelowna’s breweries without doing a standard brewery tour. Just make sure everyone pulls their weight on the pedals!
Air Adventures in Kelowna
You can spend years exploring Kelowna from the ground and still get a completely different perspective once you see it from the air.
Whether you want a relaxed sightseeing flight or something that requires a little more courage, there are a few ways to get above the Okanagan and see just how huge the valley is. And if you’re looking for an adventure that doesn’t involve hiking up a mountain first, even better.
Take a Helicopter Wine Tour
I haven’t done a helicopter wine tour, mostly because this is definitely more of a splurge than your average afternoon of wine tasting. But COME ON. Arriving at a winery by helicopter?!
Instead of driving between wineries, these tours combine a scenic helicopter flight over the Okanagan with stops for wine tasting. Depending on the experience you book, you can even add something like a private mountaintop picnic.
This would be pretty incredible for a birthday or anniversary. You’re already coming to Kelowna to drink wine, you might as well arrive from the sky!
Take a Floatplane Tour Over the Okanagan
Not into helicopters? No problem, how about a floatplane instead? Airhart Aviation has a bunch of different scenic flights over the Okanagan and since I’ve actually done this tour, I can confidently tell you that it’s amazing!
There’s something so cool about lifting off from the water and soaring over our lakes and mountains. The pilots are awesome; they’re super knowledgeable and pros at spotting hidden gems you’d never notice from the ground.
If you’re looking for a one-of-a-kind way to see Kelowna, this is it. Whether it’s a birthday surprise, a bucket-list flight, or just an excuse to do something epic, I can pretty much guarantee it’ll be a ride you’ll never forget!
Go Skydiving in Vernon
Okay, this is where the adventure level goes up considerably! About an hour from Kelowna, Okanagan Skydive offers tandem skydiving over the Okanagan Valley.
I haven’t done this and I’m not entirely convinced I could voluntarily jump out of a perfectly functioning airplane (but I also really want to). But if skydiving is on your bucket list, doing it with views over the Okanagan seems like a pretty spectacular place to try.
For a tandem jump, you’re attached to an instructor who handles the technical side of things, so you don’t need previous skydiving experience. You can also add photo and video packages, which feels necessary when you’ve just willingly thrown yourself out of an airplane.
It does require a drive up to Vernon, but if you want to add one seriously adventurous day trip to your time in Kelowna, this is about as adventurous as it gets.
Ready for Your Next Kelowna Adventure?
So, have I convinced you to try something a little more adventurous in Kelowna yet?
You definitely don’t have to be an adrenaline junkie to find something fun to do here. Some of these adventures are pretty easy to say yes to, while others might require a little more convincing before you willingly rappel down a waterfall or jump out of an airplane. 😂
I’ve done quite a few of these now, and somehow there are still more I want to try. Whether you want to get out on Okanagan Lake, head into the backcountry, or see the valley from above, hopefully you found at least one new adventure to add to your Kelowna plans.
Now the only question is, which adventure are you trying first?
