Any advice on renting a houseboat on Lake Powell? It's something I've wanted to do but after reading various posts, I'm looking for more advice. It would be a family of 4 which includes an 18 year old and 15 year old. End of June/early July. My concern is boredom. While I may be content floating about on a slow moving boat, I'm not so sure about my husband and kids. It looks like you can rent a wave runner or motor boat to take along. It also sounds like lake levels are low. Any thoughts or experience with this would be greatly appreciated. If we did rent, also wondering how many days to rent for. Thanks.

Can't tell you about Powell Lake houseboat rentals but back in the days, early 90s, my wife and I rented one for a week in Kentucky. We had a wonderful time. It was just the 2 of us, no kids. We did get stuck on a sandbar, found out that the county was dry when we went to a steakhouse for dinner (bummer ), but other than that it was a fabulous vacation.

I'm looking into doing it again, in the near future, with my second wife.

Just so you know, I don't like inland lakes (with the execption of Great Lakes) or rivers but for whatever reason I had no issues swimming in that particular lake.

What experience do you have with boats of that size? Do you need a boating certificate or license to drive a boat with power (you do in my state) in that area, do you have one?

If that is all good, then take along some kayaks to explore some of the shallow areas and get a good chart showing current water levels and have fun.

Lake Powell is huge and since the houseboats don't travel fast it takes a while to get anywhere. Depending on how many days you take and whether the "cut" is open will depend on far you get to explore. I would think you'd want at least three days. One day to get to where ever you want to be, one day to have fun, and one day to return. Obviously if you have longer that would give you time to see more places.

The prime activities on the lake are wave runnning, wakeboarding/skiing, and hiking. Fishing is also an option. Get a license. So it is always a good idea to have some other form of transportation for the fun stuff. Some of the canyons can get small so kayaks are nice for those narrower places. But I worry about crazy people on jetskis running me over. The boats that have enough umph to get you up wakeboarding or skiing are more expensive. A simpler solution is a rental tube to pull behind the boat which works well even for older kids. They won't get bored if they are having fun in the water.

Research some of the canyons which are fairly close to the marina to know where you want to go. A good map of the lake is essential. You can pick one up in Page, but it is helpful to have one earlier for planning purposes. The one by Steve and Gail Brown is the standard.

Low levels on the lake mean first, that you may need to take the long way around out of Page since the shortcut may be blocked by the rock that shows up at low water. Second it means less shore line, so somewhat less places to park your boat- (and correspondingly more competition for those places.) But it is a big lake- I did mention that right? and there is room for everyone.

Keep reading. Lake Powell is fabulous. Nothing like a sunset over the water, or the light on the cliffs at dawn.

Thank you.