Explore Secret Cove Via Kayak

Imagine the peaceful tranquility of kayaking in and around Secret Cove. Because kayaking is silent it allows one to come in to close contact with the shy marine creatures that live in the area.

Secret Cove Hideaway has two Mainstream Rhumba kayaks for your use. These 10 foot rudderless, recreational kayaks sit low on the water and are both stable and comfortable. They come with a hatch cover, spray skirt, paddle safety kit and lifejackets. Everything needed under the small vessel regulations is included with your kayak.Sorry, charts not included.

Kayaks for your use.

The Secret Cove Hideaway kayaks are located at the Jolly Roger marina on the kayak rack. Simply unlock them from the rack, and enjoy a lovely paddle where you may encounter many fascinating sea and land animals in the area.

Hop in off the dock.

Drop your Secret Cove Hideaway kayak into the water off the dock and climb in right off the dock. It's as simple as that.

Beach flowers in Smugglers Cove

Always Kayak Safely

While kayaking is a very safe water sport, safety on the water involves knowing and interpreting marine conditions. Having the basic safety equipment and learning self-rescue is paramount to kayaking safety. Following are some basic safety guidelines.

Check the marine conditions in Georgia Strait either from a marine radio forecast, by phoning the marine weather office, 1-888-292-2222 or view Environment Canada online for the Marine Weather Forecast . Remember the winds vary considerably in the Georgia Strait.

Know The Tides!

There is a tide book in the rack at Secret Cove Hideaway. Tides may determine your destination and timing. Tides also cause currents. Determine the flood and ebb for the area where you are planning on paddling. Remembering flood is the tide rising and ebbing is the tide lowering. You can travel about 3 to 4 knots per hour in your kayak. Paddling against a 3 knot current is no fun. Although this area seldom has fog, having a compass can be important if it does get foggy or dark. Marine charts are available from many marine stores and specialty marine chart shops. Check the wind direction compared to tide flow. If tide and wind are traveling the same direction, water conditions are often somewhat calm. When the wind is traveling against the tidal current, waves will be created.

What To Take

Take at least one litre of water for a day's kayaking and a snack. Have the water accessible while paddling. It's too easy to get dehydrated, which can cause problems. Up to three litres are recommended for warm days.

Have at least the basic safety equipment for a day's paddling that is required by the Coastal Regulations These things are in the kayaks at Secret Cove Hideaway.A small first aid kit, toilet paper, extra warm clothes and other items are also recommended.

Stay with your group. Always kayak with at least 1 other person. Stay within calling or whistle blowing distance of each other. A two-person rescue is much easier than a self-rescue. Lone kayaks are hard for other boaters to see. By staying in a group, other boats are less likely to run into you and large boats have a better chance of seeing up a group of kayaks on their radar.

Know how to perform a self-rescue and an assisted rescue. You should be aware of how to wet-exit your kayak if for some strange reason you should tip and how to use a paddle float to reenter your kayak (self rescue). Wet-exiting is scary to most people, but it is very easy.

File a Float plan. Let someone know where you're going paddling and approximately when you will return.

Basic Tips for Novices

Always wear a Canadian-approved life jacket that fits you well (matches your weight or size). The proper term for lifejacket is "personal flotation device" (PFD).Secret Cove Hideaway has PFDs for your use. It may not save your life, but it will keep you afloat.

For your first few outings, go with an experienced and knowledgeable kayaker who can teach you the basics of paddling including rescue (wet-entering). This may be a friend, adventure guide or kayaking instructor.

Reference: Island Paddling, Mary Ann Snowden, Orca Book Publishers, 1997

Please keep in mind that the Secret Cove Hideaway Kayaks are small recreational kayaks not meant for any rough open seas.So paddle safe and have fun!!

If you want to venture further, perhaps to Thormanby Island Shannon and Cam at Halfmoon Sea Kayaks on site at Rock Water Secret Cove Resort, will provide kayakers with the most convenient and ultimate holiday experience. They would be happy to talk to you in person or by telephone to help you plan your day of kayaking. Call them toll free at1(877)885-2948.

Seastars

Seastars Also known as starfish, seastars are spiny, hard-skinned animals that live on the rocky sea floor. These invertebrates are NOT fish, they are echinoderms. Sea stars move very slowly along the sea bed, using hundreds of tiny tube feet. There are over 2,000 different species of sea stars worldwide. Most species of starfish expel enormous numbers of eggs and sperm into the ocean; fertilization is external. After fertilization, the tiny, transparent, baby sea stars travel many miles as they are swept along by ocean currents for about two months. As they develop, the tiny larvae swim in the sea, eat phytoplankton, and are a component of zooplankton. Sea stars are carnivores. They eat clams, oysters, coral, fish, and other animals. They push their stomach out through their mouth located on the underside of the sea star to digest their prey. Big seastar!

Most sea stars have five arms (or a multiple of five) that radiate from a central disk. Sea stars do not have a brain, they have a simple ring of nerve cells that moves information around the body. Eyespots, primitive light sensors, are at the tip of each arm. If a sea star's arm is cut off, it will regenerate.You will be sure to see these fascinating creatures in your Secret Cove Hideaway Kayak as you glide through the gentle waters of the cove.

Jellyfish

Jellyfish are fish-eating animals that float in the sea. They have soft bodies and long, stinging, poisonous tentacles that they use to catch fish. Venom is sent out through stinging cells called nematocysts. A jellyfish is 98% water. They occur in a wide variety of sizes, shapes and colors. Most are semi-transparent or glassy and bell-shaped, measuring less than an inch to over a foot across the bell, although some may reach 7 feet. The tentacles of some jellyfish can reach lengths greater than 100 feet. Regardless of their size or shape, most jellyfish are very fragile, often containing less than 5% solid organic matter. Jellies go through several different body shapes in the course of their life cycle. Adult, free-floating medusas produce eggs and sperm. Newly hatched larvae float in the currents until they find somewhere to attach. After a short time living attached to a hard surface, the polyp divides into many ephyrae, which peel off and float away. Ephyrae float and feed and grow until they are medusas, and the cycle starts anew.

The Moon Jelly (Aurelia aurita) is the most widely recognized jellyfish on the Sunshine Coast. It has a transparent, saucer-shaped bell and is easily identified by the four pink horseshoe-shaped gonads visible through the bell. The animal is translucent, and can be 25-40 cm across. It feeds by stinging small medusans, plankton and mollusks with its tentacles and bringing them into its body for digestion. It is capable of only limited motion; like other jellies it drifts with the current.

Lion's Mane (Cyanea capillata) Also know as the winter jelly, the lion's mane is another jellyfish we often encounter in our coastal waters. This jellyfish is seldom found south of 42�N latitude. It�s best not to get too close to the Lion's Mane jellyfish as it has a nasty sting that can produce blisters, irritation, and muscular cramps. Fragments of tentacles, left on buoy ropes for example, retain their stinging power.So don't poke at the dead ones either! Lion�s mane jellyfish are predators, eating zooplankton, small fish and moon jellyfish.

Return to Secret Cove Hideaway from Kayaks