• Always wear a life vest.
• Avoid canoeing or kayaking alone; paddle with a partner or group.
• Inform a friend or relative of your trip route and planned return time.
• Paddle in water suitable for your skills. If you are a beginner or are unfamiliar with the route, consider a guided tour for your first trip.
• Learn to control your boat; be able to stop the boat at any time and know how to land safely on shore.
• Stay calm if your boat capsizes, move with it toward shallow water.
• Be alert to river hazards: strainers (downed trees or branches reaching into the water); submerged objects, protruding objects or other structures, swift currents.
• Stay together when in a group; assign a lead and sweep boat, including experienced paddlers in these boats.
• Stay close to shore and out of the navigation channels; kayaks and canoes are not easily seen by other boaters.
• Don’t paddle farther from shore than you are able to swim.
• AVOID THE OCCOQUAN RIVER DAM AT ALL TIMES! Remain BEHIND safety buoys to avoid dangerous hidden currents.
• Stay away from stationary and floating duck blinds. Waterfowl hunters are active in Belmont, Occoquan and Pohick Bays in fall and winter months.