Why This Popular Romantic Activity Is Secretly a Relationship Trap

We’ve all seen the postcard-perfect image: a smiling couple gliding across a mirror-smooth lake in a kayak, paddling in perfect rhythm as the sun sets behind them. It looks effortless, romantic, and oddly reassuring. But talk to the people who run these excursions, and they’ll tell you a very different story. There’s one activity so infamous for triggering arguments that it’s earned a blunt nickname among travel professionals: the Divorce Boat.

We’re talking about tandem kayaking.

While it’s marketed as a bonding experience, the reality of sharing a two-person kayak often brings out the absolute worst in our communication styles. The romantic activity quickly devolves into a stressful power struggle over who is steering, who isn’t paddling hard enough, and why we are currently drifting into a patch of lily pads instead of heading toward the shore.

The problem lies in the physics of the boat itself. The person in the back is responsible for steering, but the person in the front provides the power and has the clearest view of where they are going. This creates a natural blind spot in communication. When we aren’t perfectly aligned, the boat wobbles or goes off course, and the blame game begins almost instantly. Because we are physically stuck in a small plastic vessel in the middle of a body of water, there is no walking away to cool off. We are trapped in a floating pressure cooker of frustration.

For those of us planning a romantic weekend, we often fall into the trap of thinking that doing everything together is the goal. We assume that sharing a single vessel will bring us closer, but travel experts and relationship counselors agree that forced synchronization under physical stress is a recipe for disaster. It turns a relaxing getaway into a performance review on our ability to follow directions.

If we want to keep the peace and ensure our weekend remains focused on connection rather than conflict, there is a simple solution: rent two separate kayaks. By giving each other the space to navigate at our own pace, we take the pressure off our partnership. We can still paddle side-by-side and enjoy the scenery, but we leave the Divorce Boat drama back at the dock. After all, the best part of a romantic getaway is arriving back at the hotel as a team, not as two people who spent the afternoon arguing in the middle of a lake.