First Time Introductions / Forward Paddling / Edging and Turning / Close Quarter Kayak Handling / Recovery Strokes / Towing / Rescues / Incident management / Fast Tidal Environments

BCU Star Award Training / BCU Star Award Assessments

“Hi Colin, We didn't get the chance to thank you properly for your fantastic coaching at the rolling session yesterday morning at the symposium. We really appreciated all the time you spent in the cold water and will definitely practice the tips you've given us. Also a massive thanks to both you and Gill for all the organising you did for the weekend, we really enjoyed ourselves and felt we got so much out of it! Have a great season / Kindest regards / Hayley and Rob - (Skye)”

Relaxed and supportive kayak coaching

By creating a relaxed and supportive environment for learning, the aim is for you to see real improvements in your paddling skills and your confidence levels by the end of the coaching session. You’ll certainly leave with plenty of new tools in your toolbox to put into practice when you are next out paddling.

• Sea kayaking skills improvement
• Training for BCU Star Award assessment
• BCU Star Award Assessments
• BCU 3 star training (max ratio 1:4)
• BCU 3 star assessment (max ratio 1:6)

Whether you're training for a BCU Star Award, Assessment or simply seeking to improve your sea kayaking skills, Oban Sea Kayak Guides, Colin and Gill, provide enjoyable coaching that works.

...a great introductory kayaking experience...

“Right from my initial phone call to Colin, he put me entirely at ease - I had never kayaked before and was keen to have somebody instruct me who would be communicative and patient and with whom I felt comfortable. Colin was friendly on the phone, answered all my questions and asked some of his own - what did I want out of the experience? What height was I? (So he knew what size boat to bring) did I have transport? He was happy to go through things with no rush or pressure.

On the arranged day, we started from basics - Colin kitted me out and explained what was best to wear and why. He talked about the different boats, loading systems and safety kit as we carried the kayaks down to the beach. He then took me through various exercises of increasing difficulty for the next few hours, finding time to fill me in on the local sights of Oban and the names of the islands nearby. I performed exercises of increasing difficulty - forward paddling, backward paddling, circling, paddling between rocks and holding my course in the water with my eyes shut! Afterwards we crossed Oban harbour together in quite choppy waters close to the Mull ferry - much more than I'd hoped for! All along, Colin was patient and let me do everything in my own time. I even felt relaxed enough to watch black guillemots on the water and young gulls on the rocks. Colin provided a great introductory kayaking experience and I'd recommend it to anyone! / Happy paddling, Kate”

You settled my nerves almost immediately...

“Hi Colin, Hope both you and Gill are well? Just thought I would drop you a quick line to thank you for the training you gave me on Tuesday/Wednesday this week. I was a little apprehensive before I arrived - You settled my nerves almost immediately and gave me two days of quality instruction and paddling.

Again, thanks for the course...Mick”

"Absolutely fabulous..."

...Colin was flexible and able to coach us individually, ensuring that we learned and had fun at the same time. Absolutely fabulous – we can't wait to go sea kayaking again.

Sarah and Alex, Cambridge