Golden Gate Kayaking
San Francisco ~ Peninsula ~ Monterey Bay

Whether you’re looking to take your first kayaking class or looking to take your skills to the next level, Golden Gate Kayaking believes in tailoring instruction to the individual paddler. We offer introductory courses to get you started in sea kayaking, additional courses to get you out paddling on the bay and ocean with confidence, British Canoe Union trainings and assessments to help you build a strong foundation of skills that can be used on the calmest of lakes or wildest of seas, and rolling lessons to give you the ultimate self-rescue on the sea or in whitewater. Don’t see what you’re looking for below? Golden Gate Kayaking also provides customized instruction for individuals and small groups.

Basic Sea Kayaking I

This class will introduce you to the basic skills necessary to paddle efficiently, be safe, and have fun in a closed-deck (“sit-inside”) sea kayak. If you’ve never been in a kayak before or if you’ve never had formal instruction in a closed-deck boat, this is the class for you! Our 4:1 student/instructor ratio is among the lowest in the Bay Area for an introductory class and ensures that you receive plenty of individual attention.

BSK I covers sea kayaking equipment, the basic strokes, balancing, and edging. We’ll also practice wet exits and solo and assisted recoveries (or “what do I do if my kayak capsizes?”). Upon successful completion of this class, you’ll be qualified to rent closed-deck sea kayaks from most Bay Area outfitters.

Prerequisites: None.
Cost: $99
Next dates: Sat. 6/7, Sun. 6/15, Sat. 6/28, Redwood City
Contact us for more information or to sign up.

Basic Sea Kayaking II

In your first class, you learned to make the kayak glide gracefully through the water. In the second class, you’ll make it dance! You’ll learn how to coordinate edging with the basic stokes to make the boat spin on a dime, and you’ll expand your repertoire of strokes to make the kayak slide, zigzag, and move any way you want. If conditions allow, you’ll also get to experience first-hand how these moves are applied in the ocean or bay.

If you’re looking to enter the British Canoe Union Star Awards Program, BSK II will also prepare you for your 2-star Assessment. The star awards allow you to gauge your paddling skills and provide a great way to receive ongoing feedback.

Prerequisites: BSK I or instructor approval.
Cost: $99
Next date: Sat. 6/21, Half Moon Bay
Contact us for more information or to sign up.

The Bay and Beyond

Tide, current, wind, swell, and lumpy water—it’s all a part of paddling where the bay meets the ocean. You’ll take your existing skills and apply them in the dynamic waters near the Golden Gate Bridge. Not only will you learn to deal with the conditions of the area, but you’ll also discover how to make various water features work for you to make paddling more efficient and fun. Topics covered will depend on the conditions we find, but may include reading tide charts, simple navigation, entering and exiting currents, eddy-hopping, ferry gliding, maneuvering in waves and swell, handling following seas, and bracing and recoveries in rough water.

Prerequisites: BSK II.
Cost: $99 ($10 discount with your own kayak and gear)
Next date: Sun. 6/8, Sausalito
Contact us for more information or to sign up.

The Surf Zone

Northern California has hundreds of miles of dramatic coastline waiting to be explored by kayak. The only thing standing in the way is the surf zone. In this class, you’ll learn how to get through the surf so you can get out there. We’ll look at reading the waves, timing launchings and landings, “punching out” through breaking waves, and bracing and sidesurfing for the ride back to shore. Not only will strong surf zone skills make you a more confident coastal paddler, but they’ll also help you handle rough water.

Prerequisites: BSK II.
Cost: $99 ($10 discount with your own kayak and gear)
Next date: Sun. 6/8, Monterey
Contact us for more information or to sign up.

Yellow Bluff Tidal Race Experience

Just inside the northern end of the Golden Gate lies Yellow Bluff. The current, wind, incoming swell, and natural features of the area combine to make this the ultimate rough-water training ground in the Bay Area. We'll get acquainted with the area around slack and practice entering and exiting the current while it's still mellow. As the current builds, we'll get into bracing and maneuvering in the tidal race, as well as rough water rescues. And when things really get cooking, we'll work on the boat control skills necessary to surf the standing waves that form in the race.

Prerequisites: Bay and Beyond or instructor approval.
Note: Yellow Bluff clinics are held only in the fall and winter when the tides are optimal.
Contact us for  more information.

Eskimo Rolling (for both whitewater and sea kayakers)

Rolling is not only an essential skill for whitewater boaters, but it's also an extremely useful and overlooked skill for sea kayakers. As a self-rescue, the roll only takes a couple seconds compared to a minute or two of being in the water for other types of recoveries. In surf and rock gardens the roll becomes essential as traditional recoveries can sometimes be difficult or even dangerous depending on conditions. And even if you don’t imagine yourself being in conditions that require a roll, having one increases your confidence in the kayak, allowing you to edge and brace further than you thought possible!

Prerequisites: None.
Cost: $55 ($5 discount with your own kayak and gear)
Special offer! Take your first rolling lesson with us and follow-up lessons are only $45!
Dates: Every Thursday 6:30-8:30pm, Moffett Field Pool (Mountain View)
See our rolling page for pool information, or contact us to sign up.

Bracing and Sculling Pool Clinic

What could be better than being able to roll? How about never having to! Come and develop the fundamental bracing skills in the comfort of a heated pool. We'll work on the "hip flick", reflex bracing, safe paddle positions for low and high braces, as well as sculling for support. This bracing clinic is a great first step before learning to roll, or if you're already working on a roll, the solid bracing skills you'll develop will help make it bombproof!

Prerequisites: BSK I or instructor approval.
Cost: $35 ($5 discount with your own kayak and gear)
Next date: Thu. 6/5, 6:30-8:30pm, Moffett Field Pool (Mountain View)
See our rolling page for pool information, or contact us to sign up.

BCU 3-Star Training

One of the best and often overlooked ways of gaining confidence in ocean conditions is to perfect your paddling on flat water. The 3-star training will help refine your paddling by improving your basic strokes and adding some new ones to your bag of tricks. But beyond that, we'll work on getting your body and paddle to interact with the kayak in a way that makes it do exactly what you want it to.

Our 3-star training consists of 3 sessions, two in the pool plus one out on the water. In the first pool session, we'll work on various maneuvering strokes in super-reactive whitewater boats. Next, in an all-day session we'll break down and refine the basic strokes, take edging to new extremes, and work extensively on blending and combining strokes. And in the final pool session, we'll cover bracing and sculling, similar to our clinic above.

Prerequisites: BSK II or equivalent.
Cost: $159 ($20 discount with your own kayak and gear)
Contact us for next available date and more information.

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