A new paddle club along the Saugatuck in Westport offers the perfect escape down the Saugatuck Raiver for paddle boarding or kayaking experiences.

The Westport Paddle Club is located right off exit 17 on I-95 just along the Saugatuck River on Riverside Avenue.

The club just opened about a month ago in May, and offers paddle board lessons, kayak rentals, and paddle boarding.

They also offer camps for kids ages 7 to 13 with three-hour lessons.

“The river is very safe and calm,” owner Alex Kennedy says. “For people that have never done it before it’s really not as hard as it looks especially the paddle boarding.”

"Basically at the end of the dock over here we have customers sit on the edge of the dock, and we have them start on their knees so that we can get them feeling comfortable with the paddleboard; and then a kayak, we just get them right into the kayak and then launch them from the end of the dock,” Kennedy adds.

Kennedy says both boarding and kayaking are therapeutic.

"Get out there, clear your mind a little because of everything that’s happening right now," he says.