Reviews of Purple Hayes School of Kayaking (Travel Agency)

Aleta Dengler

I took the Intro to Whitewater Kayak course and LOVED it! Class was fun and educational. Both instructors catered well to the varying skill levels in our class. I felt very welcomed, safe, and left with a solid base to continue learning upon. I'm keen to come back and level up my skills with future courses.

Ermio O

The best days of my life , the environment and the intractor was the best , it was real adventure which I will never forget in my entire life, please believe me go and try it is so amazing , I have no word to explain. My God every body who were supported me to be like a pro within two days lessons ????. I love it hope I will go back winter lessons too. Until then....peace and love .

Peter Budden

Kai, Ashley and the team were super kind, chill as they taught us. Thank you for an amazing experience!

Anthony Baisi

Had an awesome time doing the two day intro course. The instructor was great and so was the group I was paddling with. Definitely doing it again!

Aidan W

Great instructors, great company, very good prices, and a lot learned in a short amount of time. Highly recommended.

Gwenda Woodbury

Just took the beginner course with a friend and totally enjoyed it. Kay and his assistants were all great to work with; encouraging, and knowledgeable. The course is geared around safety first and building a solid foundation of skills. I whitewater kayaked many years ago before a shoulder injury wiped out my confidence. Kay was so supportive and gentle, he actually had me working on my roll again - something I never thought I would ever do. Thanks Kay. See you in the spring! :)

Bora Youn

My boyfriend and I took the Intro course last year and returned for the follow up program this year. The course is well priced and included all the gear, but the follow up program is where we found the most value. We paid a small rental fee for the equipment , and received two full days on instruction in return and learned some new strokes and braces. We haven’t been paddling much and I was especially nervous on day 2 (river day) . The water level was different than I remembered and there were a lot of logs and obstacles. I was going to skip this day after seeing this, but the instructor Kay had additional helpers and persuaded me to try. He was able to breakdown each bend and section to us before I actually paddled it. I felt very safe and the nerves went away quickly! Kay is a great instructor who has wealth of knowledge and experience. While he made sure safety was the utmost important thing, he also knew how to loosen up and assure people so we could all have fun. In the end, I still didn’t master the roll, but we had a lot of fun and we are hoping to take another follow up course before summer ends!! As a tip: Use nose plugs!! They look funny, but made a huge difference!

Susan Rochefort

Excellent school for learning to kayak or to increase your kayak skills. Kay-Uwe is extremely skilled and knowledgable and has a great talent in being able to teach those skills to others. You will feel safe and comfortable in these classes. There is exceptional value here for these classes.

Ben Graeter

I took the beginner kayak course this weekend and had the best time. Thanks for all the individual support and tip's so everyone in the group was able to achieve their goals and was challenged on their level. Will definitely come back for some of the other courses

Alison Hogg

Highly recommended! You think you know all about kayaking because you do it recreationally. You would be wrong. There's so much to learn about White Water Kayaking. Kai, Ashley & Sophia were exceptional instructors. Very professional and took Covid restrictions and precautions very seriously. I would recommend this to anyone that wants a little adventure in their lives.

Ryan

Such an amazing time!!!! I don’t know why I waited so long to try. Kai is an awesome instructor with great laid back way of teaching. He took our group from just below Tamihi to just before the Vedder bridge in 2 legs. We hit some great water, enough to feel in control but gnarly enough to feel the adrenaline. I’ll be honest, I thought I was the guy, but I found myself swimming twice but with a quick recovery and back on the water. Great way to spend the weekend, learn some skills and do something exciting!!! I highly recommend!!

Teressa Luciw

The two day intro course starts on the lake and ends on the river. A comfortable way to build confidence and hone in on these unique (and at time uncomfortable) boat skills. This team is very ‘safety first’ and have covid processes in place. Thank you Kay, Ashley and Sophia for pushing my limits and building confidence. Will refer you and will be back!

Craig Stanhope

My wife and I took the 2-day whitewater intro class last weekend. It was a busy 2 days, the class started off with the basics and an emphasis on safety. New techniques were introduced as we progressed, our instructor Kai was very good at pushing the class forward with new skills and then drilling them so we could practice. The second day was the most fun and the most challenging, we worked on stuff we had learned the first day plus new skills that made sense to teach on the river. Kai and his staff were helpful and encouraging, we could tell they knew what they were doing (my wife and I felt safe through out the whole course). We had done plenty of lake and ocean kayaking but wanted to try out something different. We feel we got a good/solid intro to whitewater kayaking, it was challenging and fun. We both highly recommend the 2-day class and the school.

James Nasmith

Kayaking seems to breed congeniality but Kay has to be unique for his selfless attention to bringing newcomers into the sport: gently, safely, conscientiously ...and economically. He takes a personal interest in getting people over apprehension and techniques. His staff all reflect this spirit. Not really a business, this a gateway to a healthy, exhilarating fraternity of good fun.