Getting Started With Geocaching: Essential Tips for Your First Adventure
Geocaching turns a walk into a small treasure hunt. Learn how to choose a beginner-friendly cache, find it with your phone and follow the rules along the way.
Outdoors: Guides for Skills, Sports and Adventure
Explore practical ways to get outside, build skills and enjoy recreation on land and water. Find beginner advice, equipment guidance and clear explanations of competitions.
14 guides
More in Outdoors
How to Start Wakesurfing: A Beginner's Primer
Wakesurfing is easier to learn when the boat, gear and crew are set up for safety. Use these steps to choose equipment, get up and ride the pocket responsibly.
Drone Racing for Beginners: Gear, FAA Rules and How to Get Started
Start with a flight simulator, choose gear that works together, and learn the FAA rules before you head to a race course.
How to Choose a Windsurfing Board: Volume, Size and Skill Level
The right board should float you comfortably, suit your current skills and work in the wind where you sail. Use these guidelines to narrow your choices before renting or buying.
Figure Skating Competitions Explained: Disciplines, Scoring and How to Watch
Learn what separates singles, pairs, ice dance and synchronized skating, how judges build scores, and how to follow a competition from the first skate to the final standings.
Skimboard Freestyle Competitions: Formats, Judging and Getting Started
Skimboarding contests bring together fast footwork, board control and good decisions in the water. Learn the main styles, judging basics and practical steps for entering an amateur event.
Learning to Swim as an Adult: Tips to Build Skills and Confidence
You can learn to swim at any age, one skill at a time. Find an adult-friendly lesson, get comfortable in shallow water and practice with safety built in.
Bodysurfing for Beginners: How to Catch Waves Without a Board
Bodysurfing needs little equipment, but ocean awareness matters. Learn how to choose a safer beach, read waves and catch your first ride with control.
Kitesurfing for Beginners: Essential Tips to Start Riding the Wind
Kitesurfing is exciting, but a powerful kite demands training and careful site choices. Here is how to prepare, learn safely and plan your first sessions.
Bodyboarding Competitions Explained: Formats, Scoring and How to Enter
From heat formats and wave scores to finding a local event, here’s how to understand bodyboarding contests and prepare for your first one.
Running Competitions: How to Choose a Race, Train and Enjoy Race Day
From a neighborhood 5K to a trail marathon, the right race is one that fits your current fitness, schedule and interests. Use this guide to prepare with a plan you can follow.
About this section
Outdoor activities call for different skills and preparation, whether you are learning to move confidently in the water, taking up a new sport or entering an event. Guides cover beginner steps for sailing, kitesurfing, wakesurfing, bodysurfing and fly fishing, alongside advice for running and geocaching. If you are new to geocaching, getting started with geocaching offers a useful place to begin. For readers building water confidence before trying a sport, learning to swim as an adult focuses on developing skills and confidence.
Some guides help readers understand equipment and competition before making plans. The windsurfing board guide explains how volume, size and skill level factor into a choice, while competition guides outline formats, scoring, judging and ways to enter or follow an event. Read how to choose a windsurfing board for a clearer starting point, or explore running competitions for help choosing a race, training and preparing for race day. Topics also include bodyboarding and skimboard freestyle competitions, windsurf slalom, figure skating and drone racing. Use the guides that match your interests and experience, then build from there at a pace that feels right.