General Aims

The Level 1 Kayak Instructor Qualification aims to enable candidates to:

  • Become qualified to run static site introductory kayaking sessions on flat water with groups of up to 6 students.
  • Train and assess for the Level 1 Kayak Skills Award
  • A Level 1 Kayak Instructor is specifically not qualified to journey with groups and is restricted to static sessions only (i.e., same entry and exit point). Static site means travelling no more than approximately 300m from the get on point and no more than 50 metres offshore.

Attendance Requirements

Before applying to attend a Level 1 Kayak Instructor Training Course, a candidate must:

  • Have begun training for the Level 3 Kayak Skills Award
  • Be registered as a member with Canoeing Ireland.
  • Be at least 14 years of age at the time of application.
  • Have unrestricted access to a fully equipped kayak, personal equipment, and additional equipment as listed for a Level 1 Kayak Instructor Assessment.
  • Submitted your Garda vetting form.

Course Outline

The Level 1 Kayak Instructor Qualification requires that a candidate attend a registered Level 1 Kayak Instructor training programme and a half day assessment.

There are two types of training programmes available:

  1. A 16-hour Level 1 Kayak Instructor training course plus a log of 30 hours practical experience.
  2. A 32-hour, 8 module training courses. Trainee Instructors who have completed the 32-hour training course have no requirement to log additional experience.

The training course is delivered in as practical a manner as possible, giving the participant’s lots of practical hands-on experiences to develop and explore learning opportunities on the course. The course is usually a mix of indoor base sessions and outdoor and on the water sessions.

Where possible each course is tailored to the group of participants on the course, all courses cover similar knowledge areas that can be broken down as follows.

  • Personal Skill and technical Skill knowledge
  • Communication
  • Logistics and session planning
  • Safety and rescues and risk assessments
  • Professional Practise

Course Documents

Please consult the following documents prior to applying for an assessment to ensure you have complete the relevant training and certification, and for details on the format of the assessment –