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| NOTICE |
English language tour is NOT AVAILABLE from June
2006 to April 2007.
All tours are operated in JAPANESE. Sorry for this inconvenience.
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Well, this is a very good
question. Actually, it's very hard to answer in a word, because
there are lots of opinions about it. However, generally speaking,
we can safely say that "a kayak is a closed boat with the
deck" and "a canoe is an open boat without the deck".
But many people call a kayak a canoe as well, and that's not
a misuse at all.
Anyway, you don't have to worry about how you should call it,
but just have fun with it! |
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| Basically, a canoe is made
for flat or calm water and it is ideal for the lake. On the
open sea, the water condition would be more complicaterd, and
a seakayak should be easier and safer to paddle than a canoe. |
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| Yes, you will. Seakayaking
is a water sport, indeed. You will get wet on your arms, legs
and bottom as well. Please refer here for instructions of what
to wear while on our tour. |
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Yes, definately. The purpose
of the school is to give students seakayaking skills. Therefore,
the instructors will teach you lots of correct techniques.
However, our goal is to give holiday makers some help so that
they can have a nice time on the water. So, our guides will
teach you the basic paddling and safety techniques, and leave
time for as much as fun as possible. |
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Well, honestly, we can't
guarantee that you won't capsize. However, a tandem kayak that
you'll use on your tour is very, very stable and capsize is
really rare.
And even if your capsize happens, your guide will rescue you
immediately. No problems. |
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Yes, even if you have problems
on your lower body, hearing or seeing, we welcome you to join
our normal guided tour if you can paddle for yourself. However,
we will ask you to paddle with your partner(s) to minimize the
risk of incidents.
If you need some special preparations, please tell us prior
to the tour, and we will try to arrange as much as possible. |
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| We have 8 tandem kayaks,
so we cannot accept bookings for groups of 17 or more people.
If you are planning to tour with a group less than this number,
but still quite big, please book your tour as soon as possible
to avoid disappointment. |
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| No problems at all. You
can still join our tour, and you will have fun meeting new people. |
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| Most of the people who
join our tour have no experience. We do minimum technique instruction
that you'll need to finish the day safely and happily. |
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| We provide you a life jacket. |
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| The tours are designed
to provide a relaxed sea kayaking experience for the beginner
or inexperienced paddler, with frequent rest stops. If you are
still concerned about your level of fitness, we recommend you
choose one of our half day options, the Morning Tea Tour or
Afternoon Tea Tour. |
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| Sure, no problems at all.
The view of sea and islands from our base is quite beautiful.
Feel free to come and visit us. |
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If your child is a junior
high school student (12-year-old) or older, he/she is welcome
to join our normal guided tour.
If he/she is younger, we have to arrange the special family
tour, and it would be more expensive. Please contact us. |
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When you paddle the chance
of getting sea sickness is smaller than when you on the power
boat, generally.
However,if you are still worried about motion sickness, you
should take motion sickness pills. |
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| We are afraid, you can't.
This is our safety policy. |
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| We have an English-speaking
guide, Ryu. Though he is a Japanese, he is a New Zealand resident
and working for the NZ largest seakayak tour operator as a top
guide. Please request Ryu's tour. Mitsuko can also speak English
quite well. She spent one year in New Zealand on a working holiday.
Please request Ryu or Mitsuko for an English speaking tour. |
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Swimsuit
(Not for swimming, but for kayaking. It is essencial even it's
not hot enough for swimming, because you'll get wet when paddling.
We recommend ladies to wear separates that are convenient for
the bathroom!)
Shorts
(The synthetic materials are faster to dry than cotton. Your
bottom will be wet!)
T-shirt
(If you don't want to get suntanned or sunburned, better to
wear long sleeve one. Of course, the synthetic is better than
cotton.)
Warm clothes
(Fleece jacket or vest is ideal. The polypropylene outdoor underwear
is also great. You don't need them in hot summer.)
Sunhat
Sun cream
Insect repellent
Towel
Water bottle
Camera
(Waterproof is essential. See below.)
Sunglasses
(Essential in summer.)
Dry clothes for after the tour
<< For More Information, please
refer to "For Beginners"page. >>
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| The garbage plastic bag
is the maximum size. (Have you seen a Japanese garbage bag?
Check it out at the supermarket or on the road!) Your seakayak
has some watertight compartment and everything listed above
will fit in there. |
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| No problems, you can paddle
with glasses or contact lenses. However, like as other outdoor
sports, there is always a chance to lose or break them. We strongly
recommend you to bring the spare ones. One of our guide has
weak sight and takes the spares contact lenses, too. |
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| We provide you wetsuit,
paddle jacket and neoprene boots. |
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Yes, it will. You have
to bring it in the plastic bag, Zip-Lock, Tupperwear, or special
waterproof camera case. You'd better wrap it with a small towel
or handkerchief before putting into the case.
We don't have the camera insurance unfortunately, therefore
we don't recommend to bring your precious and expensive SLR.
Waterproof disposable cameras are available at our base. |
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| Please come to Vessel Ochi
and park your car at the car park, follow the red brick path
to Noasobiya base. Meeting time is 9:00 for Morning Tea Tour
and One Day Silk Isle Tour, and 13:00 for Afternoon Tea Tour.
Be on time, please. |
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| Yes, we do. No worries,
mate! |
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| Yes, we have them at our
base. However, only few beaches have toilets on there. Your
guide will make a trip plan considering that, but sometimes
we have no choice to land on the beach without the toilet facility
and ask you to go to the bush. |
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Yes, we do. As your safety
is the top priority, we sometimes cancel the tours just before
launching from the beach in front of the base. Please understand
our safety policy.
There are details on "Terms & Conditions" page. Please read
them before booking. |
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| Of course, you can enjoy
snorkeling, beach combing, sunbathing, taking a nap, etc. However,
you would be short of time on the half day tour. If you keen
to try them all, you should join One Day Silk Isle Tour! |
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