The courses below, listed in order of complexity and duration, present an increasing set of skills. You can start with any course you like: none of these courses have a  paddling pre-requisite other than the desire to learn. PLEASE NOTE our Essential Eligibility Criteria for participation in these programs.

QuickStart Your Kayak is a brief, three-hour introduction to paddling a kayak. Students are presented with basic information on dressing to paddle safely, potential hazards and simple rescues. A minimal paddle skill set is presented and practiced, allowing students to safely and comfortably maneuver on still-water. While designed as a stand-alone, introductory course, QuickStart students often progress to the Introduction to Kayak course to acquire greater paddling skill through significantly more guided, on-water practice time. The course is taught on still open water or a pool. Minimum age is 12 and paddlers 12-15 years must be accompanied by a participating adult. What you’ll need.

Introduction to Kayaking is a six-hour course focusing on skills needed for any type of kayak including but not limited to: sit on tops, recreational, folding and inflatables. Presentations include dressing to paddle safely and potential paddling hazards. Simple rescues are demonstrated by the instructor combined with the paddling skills practiced by students to maneuver safely and comfortably on still-water. Designed as a stand-alone course, students desiring more intensive skills would proceed to Essentials of Coastal Kayaking or Basic Coastal Kayaking as successive courses, depending on interest and kayak type. The course is taught on still open water or a pool. Minimum age is 12 and paddlers 12-15 years must be accompanied by a participating adult. What you’ll need

Essentials of River Kayaking is an 8-hour course is designed to give the student the necessary tools needed to travel down a moving river (up to Class I) from point A to point B. Students will be presented with information on river hazards, water features and various stroke techniques. Basic skills such as catching a large eddy, doing a gentle ferry and other essentials will be covered as well. This course is great for camps, groups or individuals that want to do day trips down easy moving-water rivers up to Class I. Designed as a stand-alone course, students desiring more intensive skills would proceed to the ACA Whitewater Kayaking course, depending on interest and hull type. The course is taught on still open water or a pool and then moves to the more dynamic river environment. Minimum age is 12 and paddlers 12-15 years must be accompanied by a participating adult. What you’ll need

Whitewater Kayak Course is a two-day (16 hour) program emphasizing safety, enjoyment and skill acquisition for entry-level through intermediate individuals in public, private and commercial settings. Instruction takes place on flat water and rivers up to Class II whitewater. Designed as a stand-alone course, students desiring more intensive skills development would proceed to Advanced Whitewater Kayak, depending on interest and ability. The course is taught on still moving water or a pool and then moves to whitewater up to Class II. Minimum age is 14 and paddlers 14-15 years must be accompanied by a participating adult. What you’ll need

Kayak Rolling  We get a lot of questions about learning the eskimo kayak roll. Due to the limited amount of time in the above curricula, none of these ACA sanctioned courses intentionally incorporate instruction on rolling. The kayak roll, beginning with initial instruction on mechanics and form, becomes a longer-term skill building exercise. The roll is developed by lots of practice and repetition of fundamentals, often requiring follow-up feedback sessions with other experienced paddlers and/or an instructor. We do offer a 2-hour kayak rolling session with an instructor designed for you to learn the mechanics of the roll and begin this development process. Many individuals find that this amount of time is about the limit of the amount of work possible during one session before fatigue begins reversing progress made. Due to the wide variety of inherent ability and fitness levels of potential students for these sessions we cannot guarantee that one or even several sessions will have you rolling, but we can provide guidance and specific instruction along your path to this goal. Minimum age is 12 and paddlers 12-15 years must be accompanied by a participating adult. What you’ll need