Sea Kayak Adventures and Responsible Tourism

Sea Kayak Adventures has been taking responsible travel seriously since our first kayaking trips in 1993. After all, paddling a sea kayak is the ultimate minimal-impact approach to traveling. But we also recognize that any travel has an impact, so we do everything we can to reduce our footprint.

Sea Kayak Adventures is committed to protecting the environment of the places where we operate.  We actively promote awareness, understanding and appreciation of the natural environment to our guests, we hire and source locally, and we support local conservation organizations. In addition, we follow leave-no-trace minimum impact practices on all of our tours.

When you travel with a company that is helping to address climate change, protect nature, and promote conservation; you are investing in your own rewarding travel experiences now and for future generations.

Practicing and Encouraging Sustainable Travel

We have choices at home, and when travel. How we travel and move through the world has invisible impacts that we try not to forget about. At Sea Kayak Adventures, we adhere to the following list of travel principles to help sustain the destinations and communities we travel to.

  • We minimize motorized travel on our adventures, preferring to see a small geographic area well rather than hustling through a large area.
  • We are sensitive to wildlife and help people understand what they are seeing. Our guides receive training on sharing natural and cultural history in a meaningful and relevant way. We believe that by knowing more, we care more.
  • On all our trips with camping, we practice “Leave No Trace” techniques, and we have been since our beginning in 1979. 
  • We give back - We do this in a number of ways. We positively impact dozens of businesses from whom we purchase supplies and services wherever we operate.
  • We donate goods and services to various charities, environmental groups and NGO's in many of the locations where we operate our trips.
  • We hire local staff and guides. We believe that local people are the best guides to show you their communities and we strive to hire locally as much as possible. 

Hiring and Sourcing Locally:

We believe that sustainable travel is as much about protecting the Earth, as it is about supporting the local communities we travel to.  At Sea Kayak Adventures we take great pride, and genuine interest, in supporting the people and cultures of the places to which we travel.  We strongly believe that our local guides add a level of authenticity to our tours, and help to create a personal connection for our guests to the countries that they are visiting. Our international guides are all bilingual, certified, and trained in interpretive guiding.  Many of our guides hold degrees in marine biology, geology, or related fields. We also believe in supporting the local communities which we visit, by choosing to source many of our supplies and services locally.  Not only does this provide an authentic feel to our tours, it helps to provide commerce to communities who depend largely on tourism.   

Supporting Conservation Organizations:

While we work hard to do our part in supporting the destinations which we travel to, we also believe in the value of supporting local organizations, that more directly help to conserve and protect these environments.  We are actively involved with, and financially support, a variety of conservation groups.  We encourage all of our guests to visit their websites to learn more about the important work they are doing to preserve our environment.  We deeply appreciate the support of these, and any other conservation organizations, by all of our guests.  We all have a part in protecting the natural resources of our beautiful planet.

Conservation Groups:

Eco Alianza

Eco-Alianza Loreto A.C

Eco- Alianza Loreto A.C. is a non-profit group located in Loreto, Baja California Sur. The Sea of Cortez and Islands of Loreto Bay are one of the many UNESCO World Heritage Sites we have the pleasure of visiting in Baja. Through responsible travel and our partnership with local conservation groups, we are working hard to do our part to ensure they are protected and preserved for future generations. “The mission of Eco-Alianza is to protect and conserve our natural and cultural environment, by empowering civil society and government, to jointly create healthy and prosperous communities. Our vision is to foster communities who believe their quality of life is related to the health and vitality of the environment, and where citizens act accordingly.”

Magdalena

Vigilanted De Bahia Magdalena

Beautiful Bahia de Magdalena, is host to many of our Baja whale watching tours. This incredible lagoon, stretching along the Pacific coast of the Baja peninsula, serves as a breeding and mating ground for hundreds of gray whales each winter. Our eco-camp, located on Isla Santa Margarita, puts you in the heart of this magnificent lagoon. We look forward to helping conserve and maintain this incredible environment, so that we can continue to share this experience with travelers for years to come. “Magdalena BAYKEEPER was founded in 2005 to protect the natural resources of Magdalena Bay for the benefit of the communities that use the Bay, as well as the ecosystem itself.”

Grupo Tortuguero

Grupo Tortuguero

Grupo Tortuguero is an organization close to our hearts, as several of our Mexican Sea Kayak Adventures guides (Vladimir and Charo) work closely with this group during our off season in Baja. Grupo Tortuguero is a grass-roots conservation organization working to protect and advocate for endangered populations of sea turtles. Their efforts can be seen in many of the fishing villages and local communities in Baja California Sur. We are proud to supprt their efforts and the fight to save the turtles!

Baja Travel

San Ignacio Lagoon Conservation Alliance

San Ignacio Lagoon Conservation Alliance is a non-profit organized to support Laguna San Ignacio. "Hundreds of gray whales use Laguna San Ignacio, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, as a mating and calving destination every year. Unfortunately, land speculation and unregulated urban sprawl threaten to destroy Laguna San Ignacio, one of the last undeveloped gray whale birthing lagoon on the planet. Join the Laguna San Ignacio Conservation Alliance and be part of a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to save a global treasure and the gray whales that depend on it."

World Cetacean Alliance

World Cetacean Alliance

2013, we furthered our conservation and responsible tourism efforts by becoming the first kayak tour operator to join the Responsible Whale Watch Partnership. We represent the organization, with just 30 other companies in an effort to raise the standards of whale and dolphin watching worldwide. As proud members of the WCA we pride ourselves on operating by the established Minimum Standards for Dolphin and Whale Watching.

Save our Salmon

Save Our Wild Salmon

Save Our Wild Salmon is a nationwide coalition of conservation organizations, commercial and sport fishing associations, businesses, river groups, taxpayer and clean energy advocates working collectively to restore healthy, sustainable wild salmon to the rivers, streams and oceans of the Pacific Salmon states."

Leave No Trace

Leave No Trace

The Leave No Trace Center for Outdoor Ethics is an educational, nonprofit organization dedicated to the responsible enjoyment and active stewardship of the outdoors by all people, worldwide."

Cetus Society

Cetus

Cetus is a non-profit conservation society which operates in the waters around Victoria and Alert Bay, British Columbia. Since 2005 they have worked to reduce disturbances to marine mammals on the BC coast and promote respect for the surrounding marine environment through on-water and land-based education, outreach and direct monitoring of activities."

Whale Shark Mexico Logo

Whale Shark Mexico

The mission of Whale Shark Mexico is to promote and contribute to ocean conservation and sustainability by the integration of scientific research, sustainable management, environmental education and inter-institutional collaboration. Director ScD Dení Ramírez Macías started studying whale sharks in the Gulf of California and over the last ten years has built a whale shark network with the vision of promoting regional conservation of the species."

Whale Fest

WhaleFest

As part of our allignment with the WCA, we have also become regular atendees at WhaleFest, an annual conference aimed at raising awarness of cetaceans around the globe. "In 2011 Ian Rowlands and Dylan Walker had a dream: to create the biggest, most popular event of its kind and touch the hearts and minds of a huge audience, inspiring them to be an army of ambassadors to defend whales, dolphins, marine life and oceans. That’s WhaleFest. Now run by a small team and 500+ amazing volunteers, with profits going to a global partnership of organizations working together: the World Cetacean Alliance (honorary president, Jean Michel Cousteau)."

NIMMSA Logo

The North Island Marine Mammal Stewardship Association

The North Island Marine Mammal Stewardship Association, NIMMSA, is a platform from which members conduct stewardship activities aimed at benefiting marine mammals, the marine-based tourism industry and their respective shared environment. NIMMSA members consist of marine-based tourism companies that operate in the waters off north-eastern Vancouver Island between Campbell River and Cape Caution. Members fit one of three membership tiers based on the nature of their business activities and abide by a shared Code of Conduct while engaged in marine mammal viewing."

BC Marine Trails

BC Marine Trails

The spectacular coastline of British Columbia provides a backdrop to many of our kayaking tours, which is why we are passionate about supporting the work of BC Marine Trails. This non-profit collaborates with First Nations peoples and local stakeholders to protect and promote the province’s coastal landscapes and temperate forests for the enjoyment of future generations. It’s run by a team of people who understand the beauty of exploring coastal waterways under their own steam, accompanied by some of the world’s most majestic marine life. In addition to conducting site assessments, shoreline cleanups, and removing invasive species, BC Marine Trails installs tent platforms, food caches, and composting toilets. 

Adventure Travel Conservation Fund

Adventure Travel Conservation Fund

The Adventure Travel Conservation Fund (ATCF) believes in the power of travel to conserve and protect our planet. The ATCF provides adventure travel communities support and resources to initiate solutions towards the ongoing challenges our natural world faces. The ATCF funds projects and organizations in the travel industry working toward biodiversity protection, climate resilience and community resilience. We are a proud member of the Adventure Travel Conservation Fund working with them to achieve the collective goals of conservation through travel.