I’m looking for some advice on who to be looking at to work for this winter, either down south or in the southern hemisphere. I guide fairly low intensity sea kayaking in Maine, have a Maine guide license, and multiple years of experience.
Anyone have any personal experience, either as a guide or a client, with a company they liked that they could direct me towards? I’m willing to relocate just about anywhere.
Thanks!!
Sydney Harbour Kayaks (Australia) runs a top notch business doing rentals, tours and lessons. They always seem to be looking for guides in the summer season, but I don’t know their policies for hiring non residents. Definitely worth checking them out though.
I’m in Florida, but oddly I can’t think of any places off the top of my head that look for seasonal guides. Maybe check out Florida Bay Outfitters in Key Largo. Most of the tour operators here are rec kayaks only (or those dumb clear “kayak” barges).
The Virgin Islands (both the US and British) have seen a rapid growth in kayak touring outfits over the past decade. The last time I was down there (on St. Croix in the USVI) we booked the Salt River Kayak Center mangrove tour which also took us out to the north coast of the island, but it was in early Spring and the winds and waves were too high for us to venture past the surf break in the sit on top tandems they had. Checking their on line presence, they seem to have expanded the offerings including night tours to see the bioluminescence and there are other outfitters on the island with similar offerings.
With the USVI you don’t need a passport or special work visa – if I was younger and untethered, the VI would be my choice for a seasonal gig. Though I am not generally a fan of the tropics or beachy locations (I detest Florida and found the Bahamas creepy), I have loved my repeated trips to the VI over a 40 year period. Photos from Virgin Gorda (my favorite BV island)>
I worked as a transport nurse and St Thomas Medical Center for eight years, I like the Virgin Islands a lot also. I probably favor the BVI (Tortola) more (lower crime rate)
I would check out Loreto, Mexico. It isn’t touristy but has a fairly large enclave of California snowbirds with several flights weekly (Alaskan) from LAX to Loreto. (Geni?). They do trips to the islands in the Sea Of Cortex, whale sharks, etc and we had a great experience with her.
(Calm, ethical, competent, no drama)
https://seakayakbajamexico.com
It’s a beautiful traditional old Mexico kind of place!
