Harry Krueckeberg, 75, a Colorado State University marketing professor emeritus in Loveland, Colo., likes to bike along the Big Thompson River and takes his 22-foot cabin cruiser, Hark II, out on many local lakes, especially Boyd Lake, which is in a state park. Colorado residents ages 62 and over can get an annual pass to state parks for just $27. Krueckeberg's duplex in a retirement community is next door to a pond where he fly fishes about once a week, but he doesn't eat his catch. "I'm a catch-and-release guy," he says. "Then there's something to catch later."
Many homes near the Great Lakes also have great prices, if you don't mind snow in the winter. The Traverse City, Mich., region has approximately 180 miles of Lake Michigan shoreline and 149 lakes that are 10 acres or larger. Adventurous retirees can scuba dive through Lake Michigan shipwrecks in the Manitou Passage State Underwater Preserve or fish for trout, steelhead, and salmon. Loretta Parrish, 68, and her husband, Bill, have a 24-foot sailboat with a cherry red hull named the Red Delight that they take out on Grand Traverse Bay once or twice a week. The couple took a four-day sailing trip to various harbor towns on Lake Michigan in August. "The water is crystal clear, and we have very little oppressive hot weather," says Parrish. Sometimes they bring along a bottle of local wine on the boat. "We can drive out of our house, and in 10 minutes there are orchards and vineyards," she says.
Check out these 10 affordable places to retire on the water.
- Bella Vista, Ark.
- Bismarck, N.D.
- Cape Coral, Fla.
- Dover, Del.
- Dubuque, Iowa
- Fairhope, Ala.
- Lake Jackson, Texas
- Loveland, Colo.
- Richland, Wash.
- Traverse City, Mich.
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