Exploring the Cape by Land, Sea and Air

By CHRISTOPHER KAZARIAN

Tourism is big business on the Cape. Last year, the National Park Service reported that 4 million visitors to the Cape Cod National Seashore spent $548 million in communities near the park.

Over the last two years, 12 million visitors made the trek to the Cape. While there are many reasons people spend a day, a weekend, a week or longer here, at the top of the list is the region’s natural beauty.

And on the Cape, there are multiple ways to take it all in—by land, by sea and by air.

By Land

“I love teaching people about what the Cape is,” said Mike Morrison, owner of RideAway Adventures. “There is nothing like it on earth and you can’t get the experience from only going to the beach, getting ice cream and playing mini golf. You get it by going to places you otherwise wouldn’t have gone.”

His company makes that possible for visitors and residents alike, renting bicycles at its Sandwich location along the Cape Cod Canal, and in New Seabury and Popponesset in Mashpee. RideAway will deliver bicycles if they are rented out for 24 hours or more.

His company also leads custom group tours along the Cape Cod Rail Trail, which goes from Yarmouth to Wellfleet, as well as the Shining Sea Bikeway in Falmouth.

“I think a lot of locals take it for granted, but biking on the Cape is an awesome experience,” said Morrison, whose company is now celebrating its 17th anniversary.

He highlighted the canal as the perfect spot to explore the Cape. “Not a lot of places have a huge canal with two huge bridges that are the only way to get here. It’s [bicycling] a very unique way to see a part of the Cape that everyone has to pass through,” he said. “It’s such a cool experience to go under the bridges and be right near the water.”

While biking is a leisurely way to enjoy the Cape, Sean Whelahan provides a faster option through his company, 6A Tours, which he launched in December.

With more than 25 years’ experience as a tour guide with Collette Tours, Whelahan has a keen knowledge of how to design an itinerary to meet the interests of Cape visitors.

“I started this because it is a custom experience,” he said. “Our saying is, ‘See Cape Cod your way.’ The other day I had a tour for a family of six from Texas. We had an itinerary to see the Brewster flats and lighthouses. When they got into the van, they ended up telling me, ‘Let’s just go to P-town.’”

It’s an example of how he has to be flexible for the whims and desires of those visiting the Cape by creating a sightseeing experience that aligns with what they want to do.

Whelahan, who moved to Sandwich in 2005 with his wife, said the best part of living here is “the people and the beauty. I think a lot of us take it for granted. That’s why my wife and I will take day trips and act like we’re tourists.”

He draws on those trips to create tours geared toward what visitors want to see, whether it’s lighthouses, beaches, restaurants, bookstores, art galleries or antique stores, and even haunted locations.

His offerings aboard his 15-passenger van include a sunset beach tour along Old King’s Highway, ending with a beach party complete with cornhole and lobster rolls. Another incorporates kayaking, combining sightseeing on land and on water. 

It is a dream job, one Whelahan had wanted to do while owning a restaurant for more than a decade. “My wife and I were sitting at a kitchen table, and we owned a restaurant at the time, and I hated it,” he admitted. “She said to me, ‘You’re miserable. What would you do if you could?’ I said, ‘Give me a van and a microphone and I will drive all over Cape Cod, all over [Route] 6A, and introduce Cape Cod to people.’ There is so much to see here.”

For Leslie Cozza and her wife Karen, the best way to experience the Cape is in its 10 breweries, two wineries and two distilleries.

The couple have been sharing that with others since 2019 when they started TapTastings, which was inspired by their love of craft beers. At the time both were retired—Leslie’s last job was as an operations manager for a wine distributor while Karen served in the Air Force, leaving the military in 2018 after attaining the rank of chief master sergeant.

“It is the freedom of being able to do what you want while keeping people safe at the same time,” Leslie said about what they like best about the job. “We also love that we have met so many wonderful people who we would have never met if we didn’t start this business.”

They also get to share their passion for craft beers, wines and spirits with the public. On Cape Cod, Leslie said, the options are vast and each stop on their customized tours offers a unique experience.

“If you’re looking for a place that has more of a party atmosphere, then Naukabout in the evening is your choice,” Leslie said. “Barnstable Brewing is awesome for a family atmosphere.…If you want something low key that could be Devil’s Purse or Aquatic Brewing.…All of these places are great for everybody.”

The pair will take groups from one end of the Cape to the other, creating a tour that provides an authentic taste of the region. “We recommend at least an hour and 10 minutes at each stop so it doesn’t feel rushed,” Leslie said. “We want people to relax and enjoy their time and get to know about the products that are available at each place.”

The pair recently announced they will no longer operate TapTastings as of the end of the year, leaving the option open for someone to purchase the business from them. 

At the very end of the Cape, Rob Costa is carrying on a tradition that his father, Art, started in 1946—one-of-a-kind tours of Provincetown’s magical dunes. “My dad started it right after the war and we’ve been operating it ever since,” Rob said. “It was a passion for him. He loved what he did. It wasn’t work for him.”

About 30 years ago Rob took over the business, Art’s Dune Tours, from his dad. He operates it with his husband Rob Papa. Together they oversee a staff of roughly 25 drivers and five office staff, offering several one-hour dune tours throughout the day capped off by one at sunset.

“It is definitely a must-see on the Cape because we have the largest extension of any sand dunes and it’s located in the heart of the Cape Cod National Seashore,” Rob said. “It offers magnificent views combined with a wonderful history and colorful stories. It is a beautiful, peaceful, scenic ride with lots of opportunities to take pictures. It really is a magnificent experience. It’s another world out there.”

By Sea

Not only can patrons add to the experience with dinner and a bonfire as part of a sunset tour, they have the opportunity to get out on the water.  Art’s partners with other companies to include a sailboat ride as well as fishing excursions.

This summer Rob is expanding his business under the umbrella of Dune Good Harbor Tours, which will combine a dune tour with a harbor tour aboard his recently purchased 24-foot motorboat.

For Rob, it’s another way to carry on his father’s legacy. “I’ve been doing this for so long, it never gets old,” he said. “We’re showing off such a beautiful part of Cape Cod.…People are always amazed by it.”

At RideAway Adventures, Morrison gives his customers an opportunity to explore the Cape by water through rentals of kayaks and Stand Up Paddleboards (SUP) as well as group kayak and SUP tours his company leads in Mashpee and Sandwich.

“We rent beach chairs and coolers too so a lot of people will rent kayaks for eight hours, pack up some lunch and whatever they need and paddle out to an area that is just theirs for the day,” Morrison said. “It just adds to the experience for people to get out and connect with nature.”

For larger groups, RideAway’s Lawrence Pond location in Sandwich is ideal for a free-flowing experience that can include a barbecue, cornhole and firepit mixed with paddleboarding and kayaking. “We can create some really neat team-building experiences there that are really fun,” Morrison said, highlighting one of the ways he has been able to show how much joy people can have when they explore the Cape’s natural beauty.

Since 2009, Jacob Kohl has been operating Bay Spirit Tours out of Hyannis, with two options for patrons—a sailboat and a motorboat.

Tours include a 75-minute narrated history of Hyannis Harbor and Lewis Bay with views of Brant Point Light, Point Gammon Light and the navigational tower at Bishops & Clerks. The public can end the day taking in a Cape sunset aboard the 64-foot catamaran Bay Spirit.

On Monday and Tuesday nights, live music adds to the experience of a Cape sunset; Kohl plays drums on Mondays as part of a blues trio.

“Coming into July, every night in July and August through Labor Day weekend sells out,” Kohl said. “I love being on the water, meeting new people, and making sure people enjoy their vacation and being with their family.”

Where there’s water, there’s animals. And on the Cape, there’s plenty of ways to hop onboard a boat to view them in their habitat.

At Monomoy Island Excursions in Harwich Port, Captain Peter Spalt leads tours that give the public the chance to view seals, which number in the tens of thousands on the Cape. “It is more than just a seal cruise,” Spalt stressed, noting that the 75-minute tour includes views of Wychmere Harbor in Harwich Port, Stage Harbor in Chatham, Nantucket Harbor, the Stage Harbor Lighthouse and the Chatham Lighthouse.

“It’s more of a scenic boat ride where you learn about the history of the area,” Spalt said. “It is nice being on the water and seeing all the activity, whether it’s some of the sailing schooners, people catching fish, or people just enjoying themselves on the beach. There’s lots of different activities with bird life, horseshoe crabs laying eggs, schools of fish and seals eating them. It is really interesting.”

Perhaps no trip to the Cape is complete without a whale watch. “Whale watching is an adventure for sure and we never know what we are going to see. It is like going on an ocean safari,” said Laura Lilly, director of marine conservation and education for Hyannis Whale Watcher Cruises. 

Aboard their boats passengers may see humpback whales, fin whales, minke whales and North Atlantic right whales as well as Atlantic white-sided dolphins. “Whale watching is a natural treasure, and Stellwagen Bank has been rated as one of the top 10 locations for whale watching in the entire world,” Lilly said. “It is estimated that only 1 percent of the world’s population will see a whale, so it is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”  

By Air

For a bird’s-eye view of Cape Cod, make the trip to Stick’n Rudder Aero Tours in Chatham.

Owned by Tim Howard, the company offers open-air tours in its biplane, where two passengers can fit in the front and the pilot sits in the back. It also operates four Cessna Skyhawks. Customers can choose from 15-minute (Pleasant Bay and Chatham), 30-minute (Chatham, Orleans, and Provincetown) and 60-minute (Chatham to Provincetown to Monomoy Island) rides.

“The biplane is definitely a bit more thrilling. It’s like riding on a motorcycle or in a convertible, open-top, wind-in-your-hair kind of stuff,” Howard said. “For photography, the Cessna is superior.”

Either way, Howard said, it’s one of the best ways to explore the Cape. “First-timers love it, and locals love it because it is a point of view they normally don’t get,” Howard said. “When I take people up, they have no clue the beauty and scope of what the Cape looks like from the air.”