Levante Beach on this beautiful Greek island is a paddle-boarding paradise

MATTHEW McCONAUGHEY does it. So does Demi Moore. And that should tell you all you need to know about stand-up paddle-boarding.

Impractical AND exhausting, it is the ideal exercise for vain Hollywood types.

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Called SUP for short, you can work on your core at a speed that will allow even the slowest paparazzo to get a shot of your toned abs.
Watching assorted wannabes wobble off into the surf at Levante Beach on Rhodes, I vowed not to join them and sought more manly forms of exercise instead — such is the joy of a Mark Warner holiday.

Sailing and tennis are the mainstays but you can choose from any of about a dozen sports, often the kind that require prohibitively expensive equipment.

Lessons and qualification courses cost extra but, for the most part, the activities and equipment are included in the price of the holiday, so you may as well get stuck in.

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Even better news for parents, the kids’ clubs — split into age groups from two to 17 years old — are extremely active.

So you can do as much or as little as you like, comforted by the fact that someone is wearing out the little ones on a diet of windsurfing, sailing, kayaking, ping-pong, five-a-side football and, er, ninjas.

I don’t know what that last one involved but I’m sure it was safe.

Reliable dose of sunshine late into the season

An active childhood is the very best thing you can provide. But unless you go to an expensive school or want to shell out for weekends at a yacht club, your kids might not get the chance to try a lot of these sports.

So I would heartily recommend a bit of guilt-free parental outsourcing while making the most of some rare holiday time for yourself.

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That’s what I told myself anyway, as I pulled on the Lycra and pedalled off on one of several daily cycling tours.

Rhodes is a Greek island but its easterly position in the Med — nearer to the Turkish mainland, in fact — delivers a reliable dose of sunshine late into the season. So a late autumn break is a bargain compared with summer.

It was warm enough in October for us to sunbathe, although the days at this time of year are a little shorter than in peak season.

And we swam in the sea every day, mostly because it was warmer than the enormous pool at the heart of the hotel.

Seriously, if you want to train for some cross-Channel effort, this giant, shimmering beast is ideal.

Otherwise there’s a smaller and slightly warmer adult-only pool and a lovely indoor one. But best of all is Mother Med, sitting pretty on a clean stretch of sand with enough sun loungers for everyone. Heaven.

When I wasn’t out on the bike I plonked myself here so I could spy on the kids, who seemed to be having a whale of a time with the watersports instructors.

Now, guilt isn’t a natural emotion for me but jealousy is, and I wasn’t about to let them have all the fun.

Despite missing the paddle-board briefing, I was determined to show them Daddy could SUP with the best of them so I grabbed a board and followed the kids out on their sailing boat.

I did once manage to stand up on a lilo so I assumed this would be a breeze.

And thankfully, it is.

At a speed that is literally pedestrian, paddle-boarding combines the manoeuvrability of a warship with the stability of the Kon-Tiki raft.

But I managed not to turn into a submarine, which was the most important thing. I successfully tackled a casual wave and my daughter Ava shouted: “You’re supposed to stand up, Daddy!”

Children are never impressed, are they? But she was right. Wobbling upwards to full height, I can see why the stars do it — you actually get a workout.

And the views across the Med were lovely. So nice, in fact, I resolved to take a kayak out with the wife the next day. Despite the setting, this could have been a disaster. Like many a couple, we only ever argue in modes of transport.

With no satnav to settle the “which way now?” debate, I was glad to have a lifejacket — it would help in any man-overboard scenarios.

In the end we behaved ourselves. Perhaps because we found a bar with the best coffee we’d tasted all week. For this is the only criticism I could muster for Levante Beach — coffee is either an insipid instant from a machine or an expensive shot from a different machine.

After this discovery, I was tempted to swim across the bay every day for a better class of caffeine.

I wouldn’t have been alone. Fellow guests are such a sporty bunch there was always someone setting out in a wetsuit or a windsurfer.

And the constant hum of activity rubbed off in the best possible way. On our last night, eight-year-old Ava made a plea for an oversized souvenir: “Daddy, can I have a surfboard for my next birthday?”

I don’t see why not. It’s a lot cheaper than a pony — and you don’t have to muck it out.

Go: Rhodes

GETTING THERE/STAYING THERE: Seven nights’ half-board at Mark Warner’s Levante Beach Resort is from £595 per adult and from £307 per child for May 7 departures, including childcare, sailing with tuition and other resort activities. Tennis coaching is extra, as are qualification courses. See or call 0844 273 6796.