Tour Options in Lake Tahoe

Several boats tour Lake Tahoe. The 500-passenger Tahoe Queen, a glass-bottom paddle wheeler, makes 2¼-hour sightseeing cruises year-round by reservation and 3-hour dinner-dance cruises April through October from South Lake Tahoe. Fares range from $33 to $65. In winter the boat becomes the only waterborne ski shuttle in the world: $104 covers hotel transfers, a bus transfer from South Lake Tahoe or Stateline to Squaw Valley, lift ticket, and boat transportation back across the lake to South Lake. There's a full bar on board, live music, and an optional dinner. The Sierra Cloud, a large 50-passenger catamaran owned by the Hyatt Hotel, cruises the north shore area morning and afternoon, May through September. The fare is $50. The 550-passenger MS Dixie II, a stern-wheeler, sails year-round from Zephyr Cove to Emerald Bay on sightseeing, lunch, and dinner cruises. Fares range from $39 to $69.

Also in Zephyr Cove, the Woodwind II, a 50-passenger catamaran, sails on regular and champagne cruises April through October. Fares range from $28 to $36. For the same price, the Woodwind I, a 30-passenger trimaran, sails from Camp Richardson April through October. Woodwind Cruises also operates half-day round-the-lake cruises aboard the Safari Rose, a 76-foot-long wooden motor yacht; $95 includes lunch.

Lake Tahoe Balloons conducts excursions over the lake May through October and over the Carson Valley December through April; the hour-long flights cost $250 (the entire experience takes four hours total). Soar Minden offers glider rides and instruction over the lake and the Great Basin. Flights cost $115 to $290 and depart from Minden-Tahoe Airport, a municipal facility in Minden, Nevada.

Contacts

Lake Tahoe Balloons (530/544-1221 or 800/872-9294. www.laketahoeballoons.com). MS (Zephyr Cove Marina, Zephyr Cove. 775/589-4906. www.laketahoecruises.com) Dixie II. Sierra Cloud (Hyatt Regency Lake Tahoe, Incline Village. 775/832-1234). Soar Minden (775/782-7627 or 800/345-7627. www.soarminden.com). Tahoe Queen (Ski Run Marina, off U.S. 50, South Lake Tahoe. 530/589-4906 or 800/238-2463. www.laketahoecruises.com). Woodwind Cruises (Zephyr Cove Resort, U.S. 50, Zephyr Cove. 775/588-3000 or 888/867-6394. www.tahoeboatcruises.com).