Thinking about how to first start sea kayaking can often feel daunting, but it's much simpler than you might think. Here's our top tips on how to get started!
1/ Try A Taster Session or Day Trip
Every sea kayaking company will have on offer taster sessions. These are a great opportunity to give it a go and find out if sea kayaking really floats your boat. Book onto a day trip with a qualified centre, where you will head out onto the sea with a experienced instructor who can show you the ropes. Hopefully you will be immersed in the awesome world of cave exploring, seal spotting and beach picnics. You will get your first taste of sea kayaking along a beautiful stretch of coastline, maybe in your local area of somewhere new and exotic, either way you will see the world form a whole new point of view.
Now your hooked we recommend ....
2/ Book a Sea Kayak Training Course
So you've had a taste of what sea kayaking is all about. The next step is to develop skills which will help you to take your kayaking to the next level. By learning new skills and techniques you will feel more confident paddling between rocks, turning around in caves and paddle your kayak through waves. A training course will teach you not only how to manoeuvre your kayak, but also help you to decide where would be a good place to launch and land. How to chose the right location to suit the weather or how the tides might affect the journey you want to do.
Training courses can come in all shapes and sizes, like evening sessions at a local kayak club, or a 2 day course at the weekend. Intensive 5 day courses will boost your skills but can also be a great action holiday too. You can often combine holidays with kayaking courses, it's always fun to go somewhere new.
3/Build Up Experience
This is a the really fun bit! The more you go sea kayaking, the better you will become. The beauty of sea kayaking is no matter how often you go out, the sea will always be different. The coast changes with every hour of the tide, new caves appear, or waves might appear. The wind might make your paddle easy one day and really challenging the next. The sea will always keep you on your toes. The more experienced you get, the more challenging your paddles may become, whether that be bigger waves or longer distances. Then again if you love tranquil clear waters, you might get good at planning journeys around the calm weather and tides, or learn the best spots to find wildlife.
We recommend you find someone to paddle with as you begin your journey to build experience. A great way of finding like minded people is through kayaking clubs. Clubs will often run awesome weekend trips away to new destinations where you can explore new coastlines with a great group of friends.
4/Go Explore
Let sea kayaking take you to exciting new places, see new wonders and enjoy nature. Now you've fallen in love with sea kayaking it might take you all over the world. Enjoy it!
