With the ACA’s Paddlesports Guide experience, get ready to lead clients and groups on your next multi-day paddling expedition. The Guide certification prepares you to plan and lead multi-day trips across a spectrum of basic to intermediate scenarios and remote environments. Whether you’re looking to obtain professional certification for longer trips or you just want to equip yourself to take groups on longer adventurous paddling trips, the Paddlesports Guide experience is for you.
Dive into a dynamic learning experience that covers on-the-water leadership and facilitation techniques, extended trip itinerary and resource planning, scenario-based decision-making across a wide spectrum of environments, excellence in communication and conflict resolution, risk management, expedition camp management, and complex rescue solutions.
The Paddlesports Guide offering is designed to focus on building your leadership and group management abilities on the water in basic to challenging environments. The program offers a hybrid structure for those who need additional experience with paddling and support with paddling skill development.
The Paddlesports Guide pathway has two course options - River Guide or Coastal Guide. These options prepare and certify you to lead groups in the environment of your choice, to your level of ability. The leadership content of each course is similar, so once you are a certified leader in one environment you can cross over and challenge another environment, or upgrade your skills, fluidly upgrading and gaining new levels of certification.
*The training portion of the course is three days & the exam portion is two days. Each may be delivered continuously or separated by a period of time.