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Lifestyle in the Czech Republic

Sport and leisure

Czech water sports

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Czech and Moravian rivers and streams provide endless opportunities for water sports activities. You can choose between romantic small rivers threading their way through a picturesque landscape paddle down one of the much-frequented rivers with equipped camps and rest stations with pubs, or try your skills on one of the artificial canals.

photo: czechtourism.cz

From the aspect of difficulty most Czech rivers are slow to moderately fast running. The following rivers are most popular among Czech water sports enthusiasts: Vltava(map), Lužnice(map), Berounka(map), Sázava(map), Otava(map) and Ohře(map).

A number of areas surrounding watercourses are areas of unspoiled nature – valuable natural localities with rare flora and fauna. Some of these are part of protected areas, in which statutory restrictions must be respected.

Water sports activities are a favourite holiday activity in the Czech Republic. The most frequently used vessel is a canoe or inflatable vessel, which is usually used for white water paddling.

Most Czech water sportspeople only paddle down rivers as a leisure activity and are not members of any club or association. Competitive water sports activities, such as water slalom or white water canoeing and speed canoeing are organised by the Czech Canoeists Association or the Czech Association of Water Sportsmen. The Water Scout division of Junák and the Czech Camping Union are also active in water sports activities.

The Water Sportsman’s Guide to Czech Rivers, describing all Czech rivers over 70 km long and other streams exists in book form. It gives the spring, the length of the course, the river’s difficulty level in individual sections with identification of the beginning and the end, the conditions for paddling downriver, transport to the river, etc. The guide for rivers in Moravia is called the Water Sportsman’s Guide to Moravian Rivers and describes all Moravian rivers over 40 km long.

There is more information about Czech water sports here.