Climbing isn’t the only way to go extreme in Brooklyn. Here are some other action sports you can practice without leaving the borough:
Skateboarding
The staff at Homage Skateshop can turn any first-time skater into a thrilled wood-pusher. The Smith Street store offers regular skateboarding classes at that start with basics like turning and advance all the way to complicated flip tricks. Group lessons start at $30 per person, and private lessons start at $60. If you’re more into fashion than thrashing, the shop is loaded with skate-styled threads. It even serves fresh brewed cups of Mud coffee.
Homage Skateshop [151 Smith St. between Bergen and Dean streets in Cobble Hill, (718) 561-1511]. For information, visit www.homagebrooklyn.com.
Diving
Scuba diving isn’t just a tropical pastime — it’s a Brooklyn passion. Our borough’s very own Jacques Cousteaus at Kings County Divers in Sheepshead Bay will teach newbies everything they need to know before they go under. Beginners can learn the basics in the pool and in the classroom before joining other local divers in trips to scuba spots including freshwater quarries in Pennsylvania and the waters off of Long Island.
Kings County Divers [2417 Avenue U between Mansfield Place and Bedford Avenue in Sheephead Bay, (718) 648-4232]. For information, visit www.kcdivers.com.
Surfing
It’s almost impossible to catch a wave in Brooklyn, but that doesn’t the surfing scene isn’t swelling. And if there is any center to the community of longboarders and shortboarders who call Brooklyn home, it’s Mollusk Surf Shop in Williamsburg. This low-key shop and hangout offers a wide array of boards, wetsuits and waxes perfect for your next trip to Rockaway Beach — as well as tons of surf movies perfect for landlocked pipe dreamers.
Mollusk Surf Shop [210 Kent Ave. at Metropolitan Ave. in Williamsburg, (718) 218-7456]. For information, visit www.mollusksurfshopnyc.com.
