From Your First Paddle Strokes to Exploring the Open Coast.
One of the beautiful things about stand up paddling is that most anyone can stand up on a board and ‘make it go’. The gear is light, portable, and relatively inexpensive. It’s easy to get out on the water if even just for a half hour wind-down after work, to perhaps watch the sunset from the water on an autumn evening, or to dangle your feet off the side in the cool water on a sunny summer’s day.
But while Stand Up Paddling is perhaps the most accessible paddle sport of all, another beautiful thing about SUP is its versatility. A single board can take you from puttering around on your local waterway to exploring some of the most scenic and challenging spots in the world! From calm placid lakes and coves, to open ocean swells, whitewater rivers, remote islands, surf beaches, and multi-day wilderness expeditions, your SUP board can take you wherever you dream of going.
So… how do you get there?
The journey is not that hard and we have worked it out for you! Whatever your objectives are, we have a learning path to help you develop the skills, knowledge, and experience that you require to head out onto the water as a safe, competent, and confident coastal explorer. Let’s have a look…
If you have never had any formal SUP instruction our two hour Intro to Stoke program is the place to start. Even if you have been paddling for a while, we solidify your base with essential knowledge about ocean safety and awareness, work on developing your core paddling skills and begin to build your on water experience.
If your SUP adventure goals involve open water touring, paddle surfing, or river running our two-day Advanced Coastal Skills program is a fundamental step towards honing your existing skills and expanding your expertise beyond those suited for quiet and sheltered waters. Although we often refer to these as ‘flatwater’ skills, a powerful and efficient forward stroke, the use of stroke combinations, various foot stances, pivot turns, and bracing are all essential skills for progressing into the more turbulent or moving waters of the open coast, surf zone, tidal currents, and rivers. If you want to become a competent SUP paddler in any of these environments don’t skip this course.
For many of us, the thought of exploring your coastline conjures dreams of overnight expeditions, riding the swells of the open ocean, or plying the waters of our rivers and tidal rapids. Our 3 day Coastal Touring Skills course introduces you to the ins and outs of planning and managing your own full day tour trips and paddling more open coastal waters. And building on that, our 5 day Vargas Island Expedition Training focuses on overnight SUP expedition planning, leadership and group management on the spectacular west coast of Vancouver Island. Our weekend River Skills courses teach you essential safety and decision-making skills for paddling and navigating river currents and tidal rapids. And the 5 day all inclusive Tofino Paddle Surf Camp is for those people who are new to paddle surfing and want to learn how to catch waves.
Although not mandatory to join us on an expedition, the Coastal Touring Skills course and the Vargas Island Expedition training is a great progression into an expedition like the Broughton Archipelago Expedition where you will be carrying all of your own gear and will be cooking all of your own meals as we travel through this incredible island ecosystem.
Whatever paddling journey you have in mind, being physically strong and ready for your adventures is an important consideration. Our CoastalFIT program features endurance training, mobility practice, and video feedback coaching integrated with a supportive online community of coaches and paddlers that, like you, are working on making their adventure dreams a reality.
With the right skills, knowledge and experience under your belt stand up paddling can take you to all kinds of amazing places! Work from the bottom up, build your experience methodically and explore your coastline as a safe, competent and confident paddler!
Coach Neil
