Jet Ski The World’s Best Navigable Inland Waterways…
Photo © by Craig Nicholson
Related: Fav Ontario Day Rides
Ontario Sea Doo tours are unbeatable. They deliver some of the world’s best self guided jet ski riding for experienced riders, renters or beginners. Plus, exhilarating PWC adventures, exciting destinations and fantastic scenery. That’s the Province of Ontario, Canada. It’s a world-class destination that showcases Ontario tourism at its best.
Ontario boasts 1/3 of the world’s fresh water. This includes four of the famous Great Lakes, plus about 250,000 other lakes and 100,000 kilometres (62,000 miles) of riverways. With over one million active recreational boaters, no wonder Ontario is North America’s premier PWC riding destination. So load up your Sea Doo, jet ski or waverunner personal watercraft — there’s no place like this!
Countless Choices
When summer hits, Ontario’s warm, sunny days typically range from 24 to 30˚ C (75 – 85˚ F). This is ideal for Sea-Doo riding and jet ski exploring. Many of Ontario’s popular recreational boating routes are interconnected. Also, they are uninterrupted by dead ends, transfers, dams or non-navigable sections. So, personal watercraft lovers have countless choices for hours of exceptional Sea Doo riding. One is day PWC adventures, Another is multi-day jet ski rides returning to the same waterfront resort each night. And a third is saddlebag Sea Doo tours overnighting at different shore side destinations.
Big Water and Wilderness
Photo © by Craig Nicholson
For the more experienced and adventurous, the Great Lakes offer many big-water Sea Doo riding opportunities. These include lakes Superior, Huron, Erie and Ontario. On each, you can launch from numerous marine-friendly communities along the province’s extensive shorelines. What’s more, if you’re looking for a wilderness or camping experience, that can be had too. Especially on northern lakes like Nipissing, Temagami, Temiskaming and Lake of the Woods.
Ride Ontario Sea Doo Tours – My Favourite Jet Ski Rides
One of my favourite personal watercraft rides is the Ottawa River from Pembroke to the Town of Temiskaming Shores. It’s a 668 kilometre (410 mile) round trip that follows the original fur traders’ route. For experienced Sea Doo riders, cruising the inner channels of Georgian Bay from Honey Harbour to Killarney is another amazing multi-day PWC adventure. As is Lake Huron’s North Channel between Spanish and St. Joseph’s Island. Check out my favourite Ontario Sea-Doo rides!
Tours Thru The Canals…
Photo by Allan Glanfield for Ontario Tourism
Those unfamiliar with the province or less experienced with Sea Doo touring can ride the relatively protected waters of two world famous canal systems. They are the Trent Severn Waterway (386 kilometres [241 miles]) and the Rideau Waterway (202 kilometres [125 miles]). These heritage routes offer a variety of jet ski riding opportunities and overnight camping at most locks and bypasses.
Tours in Cottage Country…
Photo © by Craig Nicholson
Ontario’s signature cottage country regions of Muskoka, Haliburton and the Kawarthas are also ideal jet ski choices. Certainly, I like Sea Doo riding on Ontario’s cottage country waterways because the local cottager’s associations or individual waterfront property owners mark most every possible obstacle. After all, the last thing these folks want is to damage their recreational powerboats and cruisers. Fortunately, that also provides extra peace of mind for PWC riders exploring these waterways for the first time.
One other advantage of riding the cottage lakes is that help is never more than a dock away. In fact, there are always other recreational boats to follow or hail, or a marina to pull into. Plus, most of these waterways have cell service. So, for a close up look at cottage country jet ski riding, check out my Muskoka tour article.
Photo by Allan Glanfield for Ontario Tourism
Thanks to the long time popularity of marine tourism, cottaging, recreational boating and fishing, it’s easy to find Sea Doo riding choices in Ontario. Mostly, they are easily navigable, mapped, marked and well-serviced. Also accessed by a numerous highways and a multitude of secondary roads, most recreational boating lakes and rivers are clearly identified by road signs
Ride Ontario Sea Doo Tours From PWC Launches
The popularity of Ontario recreational boating is such that countless public boat launches dot Ontario’s shorelines. In addition, public launch signs are usually posted on nearby roads. Plus, they are often marked on municipal maps and websites. What’s more, many public launches include a public dock or docks, as in the case of most municipal marinas and facilities. And most launches have parking nearby. For a small fee, Ontario’s many private marinas also provide launch, dock and parking facilities for PWC adventures. Best of all, most municipal and private marinas also have dockside fuel available. Check out my favourite launches!
Ride Ontario Sea Doo Tours By Renting A Sea Doo, Jet Ski or Waverunner
Photo by Martin Lortz for Ontario Tourism
If you don’t own a personal watercraft or can’t bring it with you, Ontario offers dedicated PWC rental locations. Additionally, there are also marinas and dealers who rent recreational boats and jet skis. Another alternative is to stay at one of Ontario’s fabulous lakefront resorts. Fortunately, many of these offer or can arrange PWC rentals for their guests. I’ve often used a resort as a base for my Sea-Doo rides and PWC adventures. When making your reservation, ensure that the resort has a good boat launch with appropriate dock space.
Ontario Is PWC Friendly
Most popular waterways are dotted with these resorts and marinas. In addition, there are many restaurants and other services. This has a lot to do with Ontario becoming a recreational boater’s, angler’s and cottager’s paradise each summer. It seems that half the urban population moves to the water when the hot weather comes from June to September. So this annual migration has spawned the growth of many waterside shopping, hospitality and tourism services. And that makes getting service while Sea Doo riding on popular jet ski routes no problem. Nor is stopping for an ice cream cone, a short stroll down a bustling main street, or a quick visit to a summer festival or event.
Ontario’s popular navigable waterways are PWC-friendly. That’s because, with a jet ski of one brand or another at almost every other private dock, everyone is used to seeing and interacting with personal watercraft. Like with any other recreational boaters, Sea Doo riders who follow the rules of the water are an accepted part of the marine community here.
To plan your Sea Doo ride in Ontario, the best place to start is the Go Tour Ontario website. It offers valuable recreational boating information, tourism links, tour tips and planning advice, and many other resources. So load your jet skis onto your PWC trailer, hit the water and see why Ontario is yours to discover!
Check out my favourite Ontario Jet Ski Rides!
If you enjoyed this post, check out my other riding tips.
The tips and advice in this article are the opinions of the author, may not work in every situation and are intended only for the convenience and interest of the reader, who has the personal responsibility to confirm the validity, accuracy and relevancy of this information prior to putting it to their own use.