Jersey Kayak Adventures
Jersey's only specialist sea kayaking company provides guided tours around the rugged coastline of the Channel Islands. Open year round, the company is British Canoe Union-approved and accredited by Wildlife Safe (WiSe) to run low-impact tours and observe marine life, from a couple of hours paddling along the coast to longer trips over to Les Ecréhous and Les Minquiers reefs, Sark, Herm, Chausey or Ille De Bréhat.
07797 853033, jerseykayakadventures.co.uk. Group tours £37.50, child (under 17) £25. Private lessons from £95.
The Canoe Man, Norfolk Broads
Paddling among the tangled branches of quiet, narrow channels and shallow waters that are inaccessible to motorboats, you're far more likely to see the wetland's wildlife, including otters, kingfishers and bitterns. The Canoe Man runs guided trips along the broads, with overnight stays at B&Bs, or you can guide yourself and choose the canoe collection service and cycle back to the start. Also available is a bushcraft course at Weasenham, which includes a stay in a tipi camp.
07810 838052, thecanoeman.com Two-night trip, £175pp B&B.
Preseli Venture, Pembrokeshire
Sea kayaking, surfing, biking and coasteering . . . Preseli Venture, an outdoor activity centre on the south Wales coast, offers all of the above. The lodge is a 10-minute walk through National Trust woodland to the sandy beach at Abermawr, a convenient place from which to explore the north Pembrokeshire coastline. The centre's accommodation is billed as a five-star eco-lodge, having several low-carbon technologies, including a ground-source heat pump for heating and hot water. There's free pick-up in a biodiesel bus from the nearest railway station at Haverfordwest.
01348 837709, preseliventure.co.uk. Endorphin Blaster Adventure Day of coasteering, sea kayaking and surfing, half day from £49 (£35 under 16), full day from £98 (£70 under 16).
Wilderness Scotland
Edinburgh-based adventure travel company Wilderness Scotland specialises in kayaking, sailing, walking and photography holidays in the highlands and islands. The start and end points of its trips are designed to link with trains at mainline stations, including the England-Scotland sleeper service. One example is a 10-day holiday in the Outer Hebrides, where you're met at Mallaig station before walking over to its yacht mooring to embark on 10 days of sailing and walking around the archipelago. It has developed a Wilderness Guide Training Programme which includes a Leave No Trace policy and guidelines on environmental leadership.
0131-625 6635, wildernessscotland.com. Outer Hebrides 10-day sailing and walking holiday (4-14 August), £1,350pp.
Nature Travels, Sweden
Sweden specialist Nature Travels offers dog sledding, timber rafting and wilderness canoeing. Most of its local partners have been independently certified by Swedish Ecotourism Society label Nature's Best, and it does not offer any experiences based on motorised transport, including snowmobiles. Nature Travels donates 2% of its pre-tax profits to small-scale conservation projects, such as the Swedish-Finnish-Norwegian arctic fox programme run by the Swedish Nature Conservancy, and has subscribed to 10:10, the campaign to cut carbon emissions by 10% in 2010.
01929 463774, naturetravels.co.uk. Six-day bushcraft canoe tour from £463pp. Four-day canoe tours from £89.
Global Boarders, Cornwall
Penzance-based Global Boarders is doing its bit to green up Cornwall's overcrowded surf scene. It runs small group and family surfing holidays (with lessons for all levels) from April to October at lesser-known beaches throughout western Cornwall. In partnership with the Eden Project, it is trialling sustainable surfboards, and surf lessons include a talk on the importance of marine conservation and keeping beaches clean.
01736 711404, globalboarders.com. Surf Experience day, £75pp. Weekender from £375, inc three days of surfing.
Eco-Frontiers Ranch, Poland
A 60-hectare organic farm in the heart of the Carpathian mountains, two hours by train from Kraków. The focus of the ranch is on riding Hutsul horses (a traditional Carpathian breed), but there are also guided walks in the Eastern Carpathian Biosphere Reserve and Bieszczady national park, tracking deer, wild boar, wolves and bears. The ranch is totally off-grid: electricity is provided by windmills and solar panels, and the owners have created a private wetland nature reserve for wild orchids, junipers and beavers.
+48 601 912965, ecofrontiers.net. Accommodation from around £35pp pn.
Pure Mountains, Spain
Low-impact mountain biking holidays specialist Pure Mountains is run by English owners in the Sierra Nevada, from their mountain cortijo (traditional stone farmhouse) at an altitude of 1,700m. Guided rides depart from the house into the high mountains or down to the valleys of the Alpujarras. The remote setting means that everything is run off-grid: power is provided by solar panels (a wind turbine is planned), water from a natural spring, and waste is recycled or composted.
+34 686 032 003, puremountains.com. Seven-night 'Easy Going' trail (8-15 May), £630pp plus £110 for bike hire.
Off the Rails, Yorkshire and Lancashire
This cycling company runs two- and three-day tours and day trips in the Yorkshire Dales and Forest of Bowland. Its big idea is to offer the combination of an uphill train journey and a downhill bike ride. An example is a trip on the scenic Settle-Carlisle railway to the top of the line at Ribblehead or Garsdale, where cyclists are met by the company's fleet of bikes and then follow prepared routes downhill along quiet country lanes. The company is planning to offer similar trips from Skipton to Lancaster and along the Leeds-Liverpool canal towpath from Skipton to Bingley.
01729 824419, offtherails.org.uk. One-day ride in the Eden Valley, £75pp, inc rail fare, bikes and equipment.