BCAB PP Advanced Sea Kayak Award

2 days – £210
3 days – £300
4 days – £380

09:00-17:00

This course is suitable for ages of 16 and above.

• Rescues

We will help you develop a repertoire of different rescues to help you keep your group safe in moderate to advanced sea states. You’ll build confidence in rough water scenarios and work on rolling and self-rescues in a range of environments.

• Surf

We have consistent surf with beaches that have varying levels of exposure to our Atlantic swells. This allows us to choose the right size surf to help you develop your surfing skills. 

• Navigation

This is an integral part of becoming a self-sufficient sea kayaker. Each morning we will look at the forecast together to decide where the best location for the day will be. Pembrokeshire has some of the most exciting tidal flows in the British Isles and is the perfect venue to learn and refine your tidal understanding and planning.   

• Journeys

We are always adapting to our ever changing seascape and use this amazing outdoor classroom to help you develop your skills. We often journey up to 15-20 miles along the coastline travelling through rock gardens, caves, tidal races and surf beaches. 

On the course, you may have the opportunity to venture out to the remote outer islands of Pembrokeshire where you may be exposed to more vigorous tidal flows and stronger swells. Not to mention some incredible scenery and abundant wildlife. 

• Personal skills

We will work on skills to help you move towards the BCAB Sea Kayak Leader and Advanced Sea Kayak Leader awards (4-5 star awards). You will probably have a good idea of what you want to look at on this course, and we try to keep it flexible enough to accommodate all your aspirations and needs.

• Leadership and Incident management

Together, we’ll develop strategies for group leadership in moderate to advanced sea trips, looking at group control, positioning, reading the water and incident management. 

• Personal skills

Small group sizes mean we have the opportunity to tailor the course to the interests of the group. If you have any specific areas you wish to cover, you’ll have the opportunity to suggest these at the outset. With plenty of scope for personalised coaching, we can help you reach your highest potential throughout the course by improving specific aspects of your paddling vocabulary.

Download a detailed syllabus here.

This is a ‘direct entry’ course, meaning it is up to you to decide the appropriate level course at which to enter. We are more than happy to help you decide which level you’d be best suited to; please do get in touch. You do not need to show proof of previous achievement. 

Joining this course, you should:

• Hold the BCAB Sea Kayak Award or Coastal Sea Kayak Award or be kayaking at that level. 
• Be confident paddling in moderate tidal flows (2-3 knots), slight to moderate sea states (1-1.5m of swell), winds of Force 4+ and small surf?
• Feel ready to be introduced to tide races, overfalls, bigger swell, technical rock-hopping and winds of Force 5 and above.
• Demonstrate a high degree of control manoeuvring your kayak at sea.  
• Have plenty of experience kayaking at sea.
• Have the ability to roll (from a sat-upright position) in flat conditions. 
• Be able to navigate situations responsively as they arise.
• Have plenty of experience planning trips with consideration for weather, currents, swell, tides and coastline. 

You may be part of an organised sea kayak club, a group of friends, an adventurous family or you may be a solo paddler. 

You may have completed the BCAB Personal Performance Sea Kayak Award or Coastal Sea Kayak Award, though these are not compulsory prerequisites. 

You may be considering moving on to the BCAB Sea Kayak Leader and Advanced Sea Kayak Leader as a natural progression from this course. 

If you feel you are at the appropriate experience level (as laid out above) and are ready to travel into some more challenging waters as an independent paddler, this is the course for you. 

If you feel you are still in the process of developing these skills, we recommend booking onto one of our longer intermediate courses and letting us know you wish to cover the Advanced Sea Kayak Award syllabus as part of the course.

We will assess you for the British Canoeing Awarding Body Personal Performance Advanced Sea Kayak Award throughout the course. A small admin fee is involved to register the award with the BCAB.

You’ll meet at our base near Solva to get kitted up (exact location will be shared in your confirmation of booking) and we’ll head to a nearby harbour which we’ve chosen to best suit the conditions on the day. 

• The use of one of our fleet of high quality P and H custom sea kayaks
• Touring paddling jacket
• Personal Floatation Device (PFD) 
• Spraydeck
• Paddle
• Drybag
• Long John wetsuit

In your confirmation of booking, you’ll receive a full list of basic items to bring on the day e.g. bathers to wear under the wetsuit, a water bottle, a towel etc.