Kayak Self-Rescue and Skills Class

Arrive at the main office at 7 am to meet your guide and gear up for the class in dry suits and booties. You will start the lesson by learning wet exits and self-rescues before moving into learning proper forward and backstrokes, draw strokes, edging and much more. Your guide will have put some fun activities together for you or your group that will involve exploring the coast, taking on challenging yet fun tasks and learning to move your kayak sideways or cut into a larger wake.

After a fun few hours on the water learning skills, make your way back to Miller’s Landing by noon to enjoy lunch made by Barrio next to a warm fire or on the porch with a view. We also have warm coffee or hot cocoa! During this time, you and your guide will go over any float plans if you are renting, navigating, weather, and tides, and answer any questions you might have about your upcoming adventures! The class ends between 1 and 2 pm, if you are renting your guide will help you stage your rentals and give you any extra gear you are renting out.

We require folks renting our kayaks in the National Park to carry one of OUR in-reaches. This way we can track you if an emergency situation occurs, and are able to message you about any weather concerns or early pick-ups due to weather. We also supply a marine radio. Your guide will go over calls, as well as how to use both devices during this lesson.

We have several dry suits that range from men’s size S to XL. These suits keep you dry in the water so all you have to wear are some warm layers underneath. Dress in longjohns, wool or fleece pants and tops, a nano puff jacket and wool or synthetic socks. Over the dry suit, you will have neoprene booties that help keep your feet warm and protect our gear, a PFD, and a spray deck.

We also suggest bringing a change of clothes, towel for your hair, a water bottle, a sunhat if the skies are clear, and sunglasses (please have a tether or floating glasses). Feel free to reach out with any questions or concerns regarding the class.

• A $10 cancellation fee is imposed for all reservations cancelled.
• Cancellations must be received by email only to [email protected] The cancellation notice date is the date the email was received at [email protected]  Phone cancellations will not be accepted.
• Cancellations received by email 30 or more days prior to the first day of the reservation are charged a $10 cancellation fee and you will receive a refund of 90% of the total amount of the reservation.
• Cancellations received by email 15 to 29  days prior to the first day of the reservation are charged a $10 cancellation charge and you will receive a refund of 75% of the total amount of the reservation.
• Cancellations received by email 14 to 0 days prior to arrival are charged a $10 cancellation fee and you will receive a 50% refund only if we are able to rebook  your Miller’s Landing camping, cabin, fishing, kayaking, watertaxi, or other activity. If we are not able to rebook your reservation then no refunds will be issued and you must call or e-mail Miller’s Landing after your cancelled stay in order for us to research whether or not your site/seat re-booked. Sites/Seats that were re-booked qualify for the 50% refund, sites/seats that were not unfortunately do not.
• In some situations a gift card may be issued at the discretion of Miller’s Landing management instead of the applicable cancellation charge. If this option appeals to you please suggest this at the time of cancellation.
• A 100% refund, reschedule, or gift card will be issued for any activity that was cancelled by Miller’s Landing. Miller’s Landing reserves the right to determine weather cancellations. Rain does not constitute cancellations.

Please note:  Miller’s Landing encourages only guaranteed prepaid reservations. Unlike many other states, Alaska has  a very short tourist season which can make it  difficult for us to re-book when we have cancellations without ample notice.  

If you are booking a charter and lodging and your charter, water taxi, or kayaking is cancelled due to weather you are still responsible for the lodging or camping reservations and the normal cancellation policy applies. All of our activities are possible during rain, so rain does not constitute a cancellation.  Miller’s Landing is not responsible for vehicle break downs, personal emergencies, flight delays,  health issues or other unforeseen hardships.  We will try very hard to work with you but the cancellation policy will need to be applied  if we cannot issue a raincheck or find an alternative solution that appeals to both parties.

Please understand that Miller’s Landing also incurs a hefty financial merchant fee from our bank  for the cost of charging your credit card and again for the cost of refunding it, and there is also administrative cost involved for the time involved in processing and refunding your reservation. Our goal when taking your reservation is to have a solid, guaranteed, prepaid reservation. We strongly discourage the practice of making reservations without having an airline ticket or making tentative reservations.  Thank you for your understanding.

Barrio is a coffee shop located inside Miller’s Landing office. They have a clean, certified, and well-maintained modern kitchen. Barrio does not only prepare food for our kayaking trips but makes delicious beverages, breakfast and lunch for our customers, and caters to weddings as well as special events such as birthdays! Our guides as well as Barrio’s staff takes all measures to maintain a clean and well-run kitchen so you can not only enjoy Alaska but enjoy your meals.

The guides who teach our lessons are all certified ACA L2 instructors. In fact, these are the same folks training all of our guides. You can read about our guide training here:

Our Guides are all experienced in kayaking and in outdoor leadership before joining our team. They often come from all different backgrounds; from being ski instructors, snowmobile guides, backpacking guides, or passionate outdoor enthusiasts. Which we believe helps build a strong diverse team with many skills who are all able to thrive and learn from each other. Everyone is trained for two weeks to refine their skills together and learn all they need to know to safely guide our clients. We instruct and certify our guides as ACA L2 kayakers, practice cold water rescue techniques, spend 6 amazing but gruelling days in the backcountry as a team, and require that all guides have an up-to-date Wilderness First Responder Certification.

Check it out here: Kayak Guide Training Summer 2022 | Miller’s Landing (millerslandingak.com)