TWIN FALLS — AWOL Adventure Sports has now been open for nearly two months after a closure due to COVID-19. The outdoor adventure store offers plenty of recreational activities for residents to participate in, and since reopening, AWOL has seen plenty of people taking advantage of the summer months.
The store for AWOL Adventure Sports sells a variety of products but has seen and a significant increase in sales for their kayaks and paddle boards. Since reopening, they have sold more kayaks and paddle boards then they have over the past two years combined. AWOL speculates that the rise in sales is partly due to COVID-19 and people's desire to get back out and enjoy the outdoors.
While sales have been high, currently, only a few kayaks remain with none left in stock. Adventure Sports will not be able to obtain more until the fall months.
Their kayak rentals and zip-line tours have significantly increased in patrons, almost every day feeling like a Saturday in terms of numbers of visitors. Despite the fact, their Centennial Waterfront operations have been closed for a rather large portion of June. The increased amount of patrons is attributed to the number of people who are traveling to the area.
"The weather hasn't been so cooperative. We were closed 20% of the days last month; however, our kayak and zip-line tours have been up 33%," stated Paul Melni, Owner of AWOL Adventure Sports.
With rising sales and the number of people attending tours and rentals, safety remains one of their top priorities. In between each rental, every life jacket, paddle, and boat cleaned, wiped and sanitized before going back out on the water.
Zip-lining equipment uses three different types of alcohol to clean and sanitized. Isopropyl alcohol and ethyl alcohol is used for the harnesses and trolleys. Then, another type of sanitizer is mixed with soap and water for the helmets.
Over the past two weeks, Adventure Sports has begun offering their scuba classes again for those interested. In regards to sanitation, the masks, regulators and other equipment are used by the same person for the session and then brought back to the store where it is thoroughly cleaned, sanitized and dried off before the next class.
The scuba classes have adopted social distancing practices. Yet if a student needs assistance from an instructor, both participants will have to wear their mask or snorkel to ensure there is no transmission.
The hours of operation for kayak rentals and zip-line tours at the waterfront is seven days a week from 9:00 am to 8:00 pm. The store operates Monday-Saturday 10:00 am-6:00 pm and 11:00 am-4:00 pm on Sundays.
