+ Do I have to complete a waiver or hold harmless agreement?

Yes. We are legally required to have all participants fill out a standard release of liability and assumption of risk (ROL/AOR) agreement approved by our lawyer and ACA. Participants under age 18 will have a waiver completed by their parents. You will receive an electronic form to fill out when you sign up or a paper copy upon arrival at course start.

+ Why do I have to provide personal medical information?

Our instructors are medically trained and the instructor team will have a minimum of one certified Wilderness First Responder. It is critical to their ability to care for you that they know your current medical situation, physical health, and current medications. Secondly, kayaking and spending time in outdoor settings has some inherent risks. We reserve the right to refuse services to participants who we believe would be at personal risk or would pose a risk to the overall group and trip safety due to medical issues. Finally, the questionnaire helps us bring the equipment best suited to you physically and experientially, as well as food required based on any dietary restrictions (if applicable for your event). The questionnaire helps us determine all of these things. We do not share your medical information with anyone. Your questionnaire is destroyed after your course or event.

+ I have a disability that impacts my ability to paddle. What accomodations can you provide?

We strongly believe in making every effort to help everyone enjoy the experience of kayaking. That said, we follow the American Canoe Association's (ACA) established Essential Eligibility Criteria (https://americancanoe.org/essential-eligibility-criteria/) for our events and experiences. Additionally, we do not currently have instructors on staff who are certified/endorsed in Universal Paddling (formerly Adaptive Paddling) and we do not possess the equipment that would be needed to safely allow all disability types to participate. We will support as best we can, but may not be able to offer accomodations to everyone. Please contact us to discuss your accomodation needs and find out what is possible.

+ Do I have to wear a personal flotation device (PFD, a.k.a. ‘life jacket’)?

Yes and it must be worn at all times on the water. If you don’t have one, we will provide you with one and ensure proper fit. If you bring your own we will inspect it. Your PFD must also have an attached and accessible whistle.

+ Can I bring a child or youth participant?

Yes! We love kids and love sharing nature and kayaking with them. Children age 5-11 must ride in the center hatch of one of our tandem (double) kayaks with two adults (parents/guardians) paddling. Youth age 11-14 can paddle with a parent in one of our tandem (double) kayaks. Youth age 14 and up can paddle their own kayak based on instructor assessment of skill and ability. Minors are ultimately the responsibility of their parents or adult guardian. A waiver is required. At this time no unaccompanied minors may take part in our courses. We hope to offer that opportunity, such as dedicated youth courses, in the future.

NOTE 1: We are still working on acquiring all of our needed equipment. Presently we do not have PFDs that fit youth paddlers. We can still accomodate youth, but at this time they would need to bring their own PFD. We will update our page as soon as we have added youth PFDs to our equipment set.

NOTE 2: Please see the FAQ about tandem kayaks below. Our two tandems are currently being refurbished and are not available for use. This also means we cannot accomodate youth under age 14 at this time. We will update this page when they are available for trips again.

+ Do I have to wear a paddling helmet?

Helmets are only required on our classes or experiences with planned rough water or surfing activities, and on some classes where we are doing planned rescue drills. At this time, you have to bring your own as we no longer have an outfitter in our area to augment our equipment set. We will offer this equipment for rental in the future. The helmet you bring must be a dedicated watersports helmet, not one from another sport, like a bicycle helmet.

+ I don’t have kayaking equipment. What are my options?

We get a lot of people traveling to events who are visiting Florida from afar or are just exploring the sport of kayaking and haven’t acquired equipment. It’s no problem. One option is to rent equipment from us. Prices vary per event and are listed with each event.

NOTE: With the closing of Sweetwater Kayaks, we no longer have a retail partner for equipment rental for groups of more than five people or longer expeditions. We are acquiring equipment and will update our page when we can offer more equipment rental options.

+ What are your group sizes or instructor-to-student ratios?

We keep our group sizes low to make for a high quality experience. Our maximum is a 1 instructor to 5 participants ratio, both for insurance purposes and the experience. We will take additional participants if additional instructors or qualified assistants are available. Maximum group size is included in the details for each event. Some lessons are best taught at a lower ratio, such as 1:1 or 1:2 for rolling or other private lessons.

+ I prefer a solo kayak. Why do you use tandem (double) kayaks?

We use both single and double kayaks. Tandems or ‘doubles’ get a little bit of bad reputation and it’s usually from people who don’t know a lot about them or had one ‘bad experience’ in a lower performance boat. For us, tandems have a lot of advantages, especially with ours, which are high performance Valley boats made in England. They are faster than singles (think two engines in one boat!), so even novice paddlers can get to their destination quickly, a big plus if we’re just doing a half-day or full-day (not overnight) trip. Paddlers do not have to synchronize their strokes in our boats, so you won’t bang your paddles together. They have rudders for steering, They also have lots of extra storage space for larger group items. They provide opportunities for occasional rest for the paddlers. If we have kids on a day trip, they can safely ride in the center. It’s not the ‘divorce boat’ as some make it out … It’s more like the ‘honeymoon boat!’

NOTE: Our two tandems are currently being refurbished and are not available for use. This also means we cannot accomodate youth under age 14 at this time. We will update this page when they are available for trips again.

+ Do I have to wear a spray skirt? What is required if I do?

Yes and No. Spray skirts or spray decks are neoprene and/or nylon garments that the kayaker wears and attaches around the cockpit of their kayak. This is critical to preventing water from flooding the cockpit and swamping the boat. However, in calm water with novices or beginners we will often paddle without one, allowing the paddler to grow comfortable before adding that equipment later. In rougher waters and for advancing technically in skills and strokes, the spray skirt is required. Prior to wearing a spray skirt, paddlers will be taught how to safely perform a ‘wet exit’ and will demonstrate that in a controlled environment during our water comfort assessment.

+ Where do you paddle?

We’ll answer that question with a question. Where do you want to go? Our ‘backyard’ is Gulf Coast Florida, specifically Tarpon Springs, the Anclote River, Anclote Key State Park, and other surrounding areas, like Honeymoon Island, Clearwater/Caladesi and further south to places like Fort De Soto and the St.Pete and Tampa Bay area. We love to paddle all over Florida and even travel to other places out of state regularly. Keep an eye on our events page, newsletter or contact us to set up a custom trip. We love going to new places.

+ What kind of technical skills training do you offer?

We have a huge range of American Canoe Association (ACA) training curriculum to work from. We offer group and one-on-one personal coaching. Anthony is a Level 4 Open Water Coastal Kayak Instructor. That means he can teach skills courses and conduct formal assessments up to Level 4 skills and conditions. He is also happy to work with people getting into a kayak for the first time and has worked with lots of people at both ends of the spectrum. Other course types might include rescue skills, sea kayak navigation, backcountry or wilderness camping skills, sea kayak trip leading (great for people who lead groups), boat maintenance, preparation for instructor training, kayak surfing, and of course, kayak rolling. Anthony also works with a couple of other coaches who are instructor trainers and in addition to preparing you for your instructor certification workshop, if you certify with his partners he will often attend the same workshop with you as a coach.

+ Can you teach me to roll my kayak?

Yes! We offer rolling sessions by request and occasionally will post a scheduled group rolling clinic. Please be aware that it can often take people multiple sessions with personal practice time in between lessons to master this skill. Even then, good kayakers will continue to pursue training to fine tune their roll, much like a golfer might take regular lessons from a golf pro to dial in their swing. There are also a variety of different rolls we can teach that have application in different conditions, and so you can build back-ups to your primary roll. Finally, we can also offer things like video coaching assessment to help make your roll “bombproof.”

+ What about sit-on top kayaks? I’m not sure about those sit-insides.

Our primary focus is touring sea kayaks or sit-insides and we do not have any sit-on-tops in our small fleet. For our goals, the sit-insides offer more reach due to speed, maneuverability, and capability. Generally, they are also a higher performance and higher quality design. We are not against sit-on-tops though. If you have a sit-on-top and want to learn to improve your paddling stroke, learn how to reenter your boat should you fall out or learn other technical skills, we are happy to help.

Bringing your own: For our group experiences, unless stated otherwise, sit-on-tops and other lower quality sit-inside recreational kayaks are not allowed. They simply cannot keep up and pose other risk. If you bring your own kayak it must be a sit-inside model, must be a minimum of 14 feet long, and must have bow and stern bulkheads.

+ Do you repair kayaks?

No. We are focused on touring, guiding and skills instruction. We occasionally or on request will do classes on things like kayak field repairs, building a kayak field repair kit, or basic kayak and equipment maintenance. If you have a boat repair need and don’t know how to approach it or need a referral, contact us and we’ll point you to a professional.

+ Do you sell retail equipment?

No. We are focused on touring, guiding and skills instruction and we do not have a physical shop space. Occasionally we will sell one of our used boats or equipment to freshen up our small fleet. We’ll post that on the site if/when we do. We may sell “swag” (logo apparel and gifts from Kayak ANT) in the future.

+ What kind of trip leading and instructing experience do your guides have?

Anthony has worked for Outward Bound for more than five years and is currently a lead instructor in their mountains and coastal programs. He has led multi-day coastal kayak expeditions in the Florida Everglades, North Carolina Outer Banks, the Maine Coast and even Panama, in addition to his own personal trips. He has assisted other instructor trainers in their instructor certification workshops and has in the past been a guest instructor at Sweetwater Kayak’s Florida Gulf Coast International Sea Kayak Symposium. Beyond kayaking, Anthony has served on military expeditions during his service as a Marine and has a teacher education background, so he’s a well-rounded professional leader. We also bring on other instructors occasionally for larger groups. They are all screened for trip leading experience, ACA certification, and medical training. Watch for their biographies on the site soon.

+ What personal clothing, equipment and food should I bring on my trip?

It really varies from one trip to the next. When you register for a trip, you will receive an information email that will include a minimum required gear list as well as optional or recommended ‘comfort items.’ We will also provide the kayak-specific and camping-specific items if you are not bringing your own boat or gear. We can tell you that the big essential items for personal items are:

• sun protection layers and sunblock
• a full water bottle (32 oz recommended)
• paddling shoes that cover the whole foot and protect your from oysters or glass
• bug protection layers for sunrise and sunset on overnight trips
• medications, if required

  + What equipment do you carry to keep the group safe?

  Our guides carry a lot of equipment to keep you safe, and most importantly are trained to use it. We carry charts and compasses for navigation. We carry emergency signalling devices like VHF marine radio, signal flares/smoke, air horns, USCG-required lights and some additional items. We carry cell phones and if necessary for the expedition we will carry a satellite phone or message system. If we paddle in hours of darkness, all boats and people are lighted and our boats have reflective tape markings. Each participant will wear a PFD equipped with a signalling mirror and boat whistle. We carry first aid kits for medical emergencies. All instructors maintain wilderness first responder training certificates.

  + What happens if the weather is bad?

  We have a few options and we strive to always be ready for the weather. We watch and listen to NOAA weather broadcasts on VHF radio and keep our eyes on the sky during trips. Prior to the trip, if it looks unsafe we will offer alternatives. That could mean changing to an in-shore option, offering a shore-based skills instruction period until the storms pass, or rescheduling the event. In any of those situations, a full refund or raincheck will be offered to all participants.

  + What happens to photos your staff take during a trip or event?

  First off, we will gain your permission prior to the event before taking your picture or sharing it. With your permission, we occasionally use photos from our events on social media outlets and marketing, such as this website. We will create a group photo share after most events and send a link to all participants so you can have some photos to go with the memories you made.