Beginner Sea Kayaking Overnight Trip

Intro to Sea Kayaking Overnight

Joy - Proficiency - Discovery

Hammock's Beach $300 August 23-24

Explore the wild and windswept Bear Island while gaining knowledge and skills to confidently launch your own paddling adventures.

We'll load up sleek and stable sea kayaks with everything we'll need, and shove off for an adventure through turquoise waters.

This trip is a skills-focused experience to a stunningly beautiful un-inhabited island.

Skills you can expect to learn on this trip:

- gear selection for sea kayaking

- how to load a sea kayak

- using tide charts for trip planning

- navigating with marine charts

- master beach camping

What to expect

We will meet on the porch of the ranger station at Hammock's Beach State Park. After getting to know each other, we'll do a short gear shake down to ensure everyone has what they need.

At the launch point, you'll be issued a kayak, paddle, life jacket and other gear and then learn how to pack your kayak so that it performs well. We'll launch together and stay in a tight group until we reach our destination for the evening. We kayak in the sound, and camp on the beaches of the islands we visit.

We alter the itinerary to make paddling as safe and easy as possible, but we are paddling in an inherently volatile environment. Please read the info under 'physical fitness requirements' below. Sometimes we will paddle through choppy conditions, against the wind or against the tide, which is both challenging and exhilarating.

Camping on Bear Island is primitive, with no running water or bathrooms near our campsite. We'll camp amongst the dunes on the ocean side, and depending on where we camp, the walk is between 1/4 of a mile and 3/4 of a mile.

During the tourist season, there are lifeguards on duty during the day for swimming in the ocean, in addition to a snack shack in the large pavilion where the bathrooms are located. These facilities can be as close to 1/4 of a mile or as far as a mile from our campsite.

a sea turtle stuffie on a sea kayak on a beach at sunset

Gear you'll need

We will send a very detailed gear list via email once you register, and will have a zoom call to answer any questions.

If you have the basic equipment for backpacking, you have what you need for sea kayaking. This time, you won't need the backpack, just the stuff you would normally put in it. While weight does not matter as much in sea kayaking, our gear needs to be able to physically fit through the hatch openings of the boat. This is why backpacking gear is better suited than car camping gear.

-low profile, backpacking style tent with rain fly that goes to the ground

-30-50 degree synthetic sleeping bag

-sleeping pad

-clothes (the gear list will outline specifics)

-paddling shoes or sandals

If you do not have your own tent, we have a couple of tents for rent. Please email us for availability.

Gear We Provide

Boats, PFD's & Paddles

We provide the sea kayaks, life jackets and paddles. Our kayaks are the Wilderness Systems Tsunami 145. Our life jackets and paddles are a varied assortment of brands and models in a range of sizes to accommodate different sized paddlers.

Dry Bags

Packing a sea kayak is like a game of Tetris. All our gear will be packed into dry bags, and then shoved through hatch openings to fill the hatches. Like Tetris, it is easier to fit everything if it is packed into several smaller bags instead of a couple of large bags. We will provide several dry bags for you to organize your gear.

Food & Cooking

We provide meals and the stoves to cook them on. Please bring your own bowl, mug and utensils.

Safety & Rescue

We carry the equipment to rescue and tow paddlers who either flip or need assistance. These items include bilge pumps, paddle floats, deck slings, tow lines and sponges. We also carry a large, group sized first aid kit. Read more about our safety standards and risk management here

Fitness Requirements

This trip is beginner friendly, with short sections in exposed waters and lots of places to stop for a break.

Sea kayaking can be calm and relaxing, or incredibly challenging depending on the wind and tide conditions. This is not like backpacking or hiking, where we can take a break when we're tired. You may find you need a break you have to push through until you reach a safe resting point. Sometimes it can feel like being on a treadmill, we can't stop until we reach land.

If you flip over, it does require a good bit of upper body strength and core strength to get back into your kayak, even with assistance.

Fitness requirements:

Be able to swim and tread water
Enough upper body strength to exit a pool in the deep end without a ladder
Physically fit in the cockpit of a sea kayak. If you are taller than 6'5" you will not fit in the kayaks. The kayaks have a weight limit of 250lbs (plus gear)
You can do 5 pushups and 10 sit-ups

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