Why Action Sports Travel Is Booming

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. 

Photo: Courtesy of Virgin Limited Edition Hotels

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.