Our Commitment to You and the Environment
Why Choose Us?
Let’s face it. There are a lot of choices when it comes to picking a kayaking tour in British Columbia. To help you make your choice, we’ve made a list of how we’re different. These are a few of the reasons our guests and friends tell us they keep coming back for more!
Our Commitment to You
We have been doing this a long time, and we love what we do. We have been living and guiding sea kayaking tours in the Discovery Islands for more than 30 years. We know as much as anyone about how to operate safe and super fun wilderness kayaking experiences. Plus, our passion for sharing and protecting wild places has only grown stronger over time.
All of our multi-day Expeditions are one-way trips and most include a boat pickup. That means no paddling the same shoreline twice! Our Surge Narrows Lodge Getaways are a little different, but we do our best to show you new places on each paddle.
All tours start with a comprehensive paddling lesson and pre-trip briefing. That means new paddlers will have time to feel comfortable in kayaks and test drive a boat before embarking on the trip. Already experienced? Our guides will help you hone your skills and teach you new tips and tricks.
Our kayak guides are among the best in the industry. Friendly, professional, experienced, and certified by the Sea Kayak Guides Alliance of British Columbia, our guides will show you a great time!
Our kayak trips start a little further out. Because we base our multi-day tours from Coast Mountain Lodge on Read Island, and Discovery Islands Lodge on northern Quadra Island, we don’t have to waste time getting to the good stuff like other tour operators. Our trips launch you right into the heart of paddling paradise.
We use high-quality paddling equipment. We don’t give you gear we wouldn’t use ourselves. From kayak to paddle to pfd to tent, we make sure you have top-quality equipment that won’t let you down.
We’re famous for our food! We craft our food from high quality ingredients. Many of our greens and fresh produce is grown right here at the lodge! Fresh baked bread and deliciously healthy home-made treats are packed along on every trip.
Our Commitment to the Environment
Living in a remote location puts us in close contact with the environment around us. It’s why we moved here, and although the whims of mother nature can be frustrating at times, it’s a life we love, and it’s why we try to really “walk the talk”. We don’t pay money to have “green” certifications, badges, carbon credits or other silly “greenwashing” stuff. We just do our best to live simply, lighten our impact on the land wherever possible, and preserve the wild around us.
We keep it local. We don’t offer trips to far-flung locations, we reduce fossil fuel waste by basing all our operations right here in the Discovery Islands. Whenever possible we source food locally, buy locally made kayaks, and hire local staff and guides.
Both lodges run almost entirely on renewable energy. A combination of solar and (very) small hydro turbine provide almost all the power for our two off-grid locations. We have a backup generator, but we don’t need it much!
We advocate for the preservation of the wild places we paddle. Think globally, act locally! We see the effects of environmental destruction first hand, and have spent decades advocating for more responsible use of wilderness and forest lands. We work hard to make sure that special places stay special through ecosystem mapping and coordinate tourism business pressure for better forest practices.
“Reduce-re-use, recycle…repair” is a mantra around here! We structure our trips and boat pickups to burn less fossil fuel, wash and re-use bags and trip food containers., mill blowdown from our property, etc…
We put our money where our mouth is. Each year, we donate thousands of dollars to organizations that we feel do an excellent job of caring for the environment and the people that depend upon it for survival.
We offer the best possible wilderness experiences…so that the fossil fuel you burn getting here is well spent. We believe that a wilderness trip can be a powerful and transformative experience. It’s our goal that everyone leave with a deeper, fuller connection to the Earth that we call home.