Pelee Wings Nature Store, Leamington

Rented kayaks here, great price and very very friendly service. Super convenient rental process. Less one star only because upon return the waves were extremely tough (no fault to them, obviously) which made it extremely hard to get out and unfortunately there were no staff available to assist. Luckily there were a few strangers very willing to help so it was fine.

Took a Kayak Level One class through this store (teacher was Van and safety person was Roger). Excellent. I’ve taken one class before (at a totally different school), and this one was far superior. The class delivered everything that was promised: types of kayaks (including their uses, pros and cons), paddles (with a bit of testing each type), safety gear, etc. We had lots of time in the boats, launching at a quiet location near the shop. We spent a few hours learning and practicing different strokes: forward, backward, stop, a couple of ways to stay in place, sideways. The teachers encouraged a bit of friendly competition among the students through a game of tag so we could practice our strokes without over-thinking things. In the afternoon, we learned a couple of different assisted-rescues: for this we went into rougher waters on Erie. I came away far more confident that I could actually practice this sport safely and with increasing competence.