Why Action Sports Travel Is Booming | Vogue

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I didn’t expect to swallow my bodyweight in saltwater on a trip to luxe Necker Island, yet here I am, zipping along the paradisiacal coastline atop an underwater scooter, my laughter building with each wave wallop. The device, a mix between a miniature jet ski and a bobsled, thrusts riders above and below the water at up to around 12 miles per hour. Between gliding undersea like a mermaid and belly laughing while riding waves on the surface, the scooter has me bursting with childlike joy.

As a lifelong thrill seeker, I’m like a kid in a candy shop here on action-packed Necker Island. Sir Richard Branson’s private escape in the British Virgin Islands may be known for its luxury—plus its myriad celebrity guests—but as I’ve learned throughout my five-day visit, that’s only part of the draw. The other? Adventure sports. The 74-acre getaway offers kiteboarding, e-foiling, sailing, beach Olympics, diving, cycling, and underwater scootering—and often several of these activities in the same day.

A view over Necker Island.

Adventure-centered trips like this aren’t new for me, but in recent years, my need for speed—or really any jolt beyond the pandemic’s stay-at-home comfort zone—went into overdrive. I built my travels around action, and in some cases extreme, sports, such as windsurfing in Bonaire, bungee jumping over Victoria Falls, deep diving to Key Biscayne’s shipwrecks, and camping on the Greenland Ice Sheet. As adventure travel’s post-pandemic boom shows, I’m not the only one chasing adrenaline and awe in nature.

Interest in extreme sports, also known as “hard adventures,” soared in the years following 2020. The industry is expected to continue climbing, and could double by the end of the decade. “Many of our clients are bored of the ordinary,” says Jimmy Carroll, co-founder of luxury adventure travel brand PelorusPelorus. “They’re looking for something completely out of the box that challenges them.”

Some have found inspiration in adventure docuseries like HBO’s surf-centered 100 Foot Wave, released in 2021. The addition of new sports in Tokyo’s summer Olympics in 2021, including surfing, skateboarding, and sport climbing, only upped the intrigue. And, with the introduction of new action sports, like kiteboarding, in this summer’s Paris 2024 Olympics, interest in adventure sports could spike even further—and resorts and travel outfitters are ready.

Foil surfing on Necker Island.

Take kiteboarding. The activity, also known as kitesurfing, involves harnessing wind power via a hand-controlled kite to ride across the sea surface. It’s delighted thrill seekers since around the 1970s, but has made major waves in recent years, particularly given celebrity enthusiasm for the sport—including the time Richard Branson and Barack Obama kite surfed right off of Necker Island’s shores. James Basson, general manager for Necker Island, says many of the property’s travelers now come seeking similar adventures. “We like to say the island brings out a little bit of the active adventurer in everyone; it’s really a core element of what makes it special.”

Surfing has also seen an uptick in post-pandemic popularity, and data suggests its global market will grow by at least $1.4 billion by the end of the decade. Oceanside getaways around the world increasingly link seasoned and beginner surfers with the best waves. Among the newest to do so is palm-fringed wellness resort Silvestre Nosara, which opened in February 2024 on Costa Rica’s Playa Guiones. It’s steps from one of the world’s most consistent surf breaks, with around 330 days of rideable wave conditions each year. Guests can work with the onsite surf concierge for lessons with local experts, guidance on where and when to ride, and custom performance surfboards to use throughout their stay.

A hike to the Malanoche Waterfall at Silvestre Nosara in Costa Rica.

Freediving is another adventure sport on the upswing. The Professional Association of Dive Instructors has seen a nearly 20 percent increase in freediver certifications since 2021, according to PADI Worldwide senior director of brand Julie Andersen. Some enthusiasts are even pushing for the sport to join a future summer Olympics. The activity involves diving deep with just one breath, typically for several minutes. Travelers can learn to partake via scuba destinations like Deep Dive Dubai, which set the record as the world’s deepest dive pool at 197 feet when it opened in 2021.

While freediving is adventurous, and a chance to push your own limits, its benefits go much deeper. “I know firsthand the healing powers this sports provides,” says Andersen, a longtime PADI freediver and marine conservationist. This includes calmness, increasing your lung capacity and strength, and connecting with nature, she says. “In a time when everyone is looking to slow down and have meaningful interactions, it’s humbling to glide with a manta ray, dance with whale sharks, or come nose-to-snout with an oceanic white tip shark.”

As freediving shows, adventure sports are about much more than adrenaline, says Susan Houge Mackenzie, a New Zealand-based associate professor at the University of Otago department of tourism. Her research largely focuses on nature-based adventure and wellbeing. “Some of my most interesting interviews have been with base jumpers, who talk about this deep connection to nature,” she says.

In fact, Houge Mackenzie has found that perspective resetting is one of the most powerful outcomes of adventure sports participation. “Immersion in the natural environment, and activities with these intense kinesthetic experiences, like river surfing or falling out of a plane and moving through air, as well as connection to others and the natural world—this can take you out of your headspace and away from your problems.”

Perhaps it’s this shift in perspective, and the levity that comes with it, that has me laughing and shrieking—and accidentally swallowing heaps of saltwater through my oversize grin—as I glide through Necker Island’s waters. Underwater scooter rides, like so many of my favorite adventure sports, offer uninterrupted time in nature. I’m not thinking about work deadlines, or that growing to-do list. I’m focused on the waves, awestruck beneath the turquoise sea, and overflowing with childlike giddiness as my body weightlessly soars through it all.