Which Sports Are Among Most Affordable and Popular Sea Hobbies?

Surfing and kayaking are among the most popular and affordable activities for people getting in the water.

Athletes compete in the Mulligan’s Beach House Skim Jam 2024, the final stop of the Shore LB Triple Crown on Saturday, Aug. 31, 2024, at Sexton Plaza in Vero Beach. Alex Farrell competes in heat 1 quarterfinal in the I’m Better class. / ERIC HASERT/TCPALM / USA TODAY NETWORK

There are a lot of water sports enthusiasts who will travel the world to find the best spots to enjoy the hobby they like participating in. There are a lot of different things that people enjoy doing out in the water, and DIPNDIVE has shared which are the most popular and affordable.

They recently did a study that went in-depth examining different sea-related hobbies. Several different factors weighed in the decision, such as the cost of doing these things twice a week, how big of a social media presence they have and how many people are taking part.

Gear, maintenance, rental and services for each activity were accounted for in the estimated pricing.

Coming in at No. 3 on the list of nine activities is surfing. Despite being tied for the highest annual cost at $3,500, with kayaking, a score of 41.0 was earned.

Surfing came just behind ocean swimming, which received a score of 41.2. Both were dwarfed by the most popular sea activity which was fishing, which earned an overall score of 78.6.

What makes surfing so popular compared to other sea activities is how active of a community there is on social media. The 21,800,000 social media posts on Instagram are second on the list by a wide margin, topped only by the 49,200,000 fishing has. In third place was Kayaking with 5,900,000.

That more than makes up for the low number of participants. With 2,800,000, surfing had the third least on the list, with skimboarding (1,700,000) and sea glass hunting (500,000) being lower.

We saw just how popular surfing can be with the amount of coverage it received during the 2024 Summer Olympic Games in Paris. Despite the competition being held 10,000 miles away in Tahiti, it was a major draw for the Games.

Kayaking, as previously mentioned, is a pricy hobby compared to others on the list. That plays a part in it coming in at No. 6 with a score of 34.1.

But, the number of participants, 13,000,000, is the third highest on the list. The strong Instagram presence also helps buoy their score.

“It’s interesting to observe the intersection of affordability and popularity in sea-related hobbies, revealing how certain activities resonate strongly with large communities despite varying costs. It emphasizes the value people place not only on the experience of these hobbies but also on their accessibility and the ability to share them with a broader audience through social media. Our connection to the sea is as much about community and self-expression as it is about the activities themselves,” said a spokesperson from DIPNDIVE.

Based on the research done by DIPNDIVE, the order of sea activities in terms of popularity and affordability are fishing, ocean swimming, surfing, snorkeling, beachcombing, kayaking, tide pooling, skimboarding and sea glass hunting.