re: Looking to buy a Kayak..

In NWA Lewis & Clark out near the Mall and Pack Rat in Fayetteville have a good selection of kayaks as does Cabelas and I'm sure there are other places. There's such a wide variety now and so much of it depends on what you want to do.

I've had tandem and solo sit on tops which are good for ocean surf or floating in lakes and regular flowing rivers. You can expect to get wet with these and I wouldn't recommend them for swift or whitewater type kayaking. So you'll probably want a kayak you can sit down inside of to cover all bases if you want to buy just one kayak.

I currently use a hybrid standup/sit on top kayak because I like to do stand up paddling and fishing.

I like to canoe as well and Dagger and Old Town make good products but there are many others, too.

Get a good life vest regardless cause with a small craft you never know when you may need it. Some of the CO2 inflatable vests are good, light and have minimal bulk

Old Town LINK

Dagger LINK

Probably not what you need but I like the Hobie line as well--they have some innovative kayaks you can accessorize. LINK