We bought cheap, sit in, ten footers with paddles and jackets from our local (now closed) discount sporting goods store. We found out we enjoy doing it, so we will probably upgrade and sell ours on Craigslist. I would suggest looking on Craigslist or the like, for gently used ones. If you don't enjoy it you can resell them and get your money back. The sit ins take a little getting use to, but I like ours.

Given the choice of buying quality even if it is used vs buying cheap volume / sporting goods store brands is as easy as night and day when it comes to stability, maneuvering, comfort, speed etc.

All the same things we tout when describing hipowers vs some quality brand of pistol.

Same flies for kayaks.

My advice, buy quality.

I’m a Jackson sit-in fanboi but there are certainly others.

Shop around and demo some first.

So I definitely am thinking sit on kayaks and I like that Walmart has little kid ones for pretty cheap. I found someone I go to church with that will let me try their canoes out in our pool (River is dammed up at the moment). Thank you guys for all the advice.

Ocean Kayak makes a great kayak that a lot of the rental companies around here use. The Ocean Kayak Malibu II. It is a 2 person kayak (sit on top) that also has a middle seat, if you want to use it as a 1 person. They're very stable, great weight carrying capacity and they paddle easy.....

As what everyone else said, get a great fitting pfd, seat and quality paddles. I'd recommend renting them a few times to confirm you like kayaking, then buy a quality one, brand new......If Kayaks are stored in the sun (most people store them laying outside in the sun) it really lowers their lifespan.