Best East Tennessee Kayak Teachers

Knoxville is located at the eastern end of Tennessee right at the edge of the beautiful Cumberland and Smokey Mountain ranges. There are many rivers and streams in the area where outdoors enthusiasts can canoe or kayak to their heart's content. The Ocoee, at the border of North Carolina and Tennessee, was even the venue for the 1996 Winter Olympics. Area outfitters can supply kayaks and canoes for those who don't own their own, and they head guided runs through some of the most exciting rapids and chutes in the Eastern U.S.

NOC (Nantahala Outdoor Center) is one of the most famous and respected of outdoor centers in the Country. They have 7 centers scattered around various locations in Eastern Tennessee. These centers are sales sites for all sorts of equipment, including a huge selection of river craft. They also conduct river trips and training out of the centers. They even train for instruction certification there. Their training ranges from beginner to world-class Olympic whitewater competitors. The training at these centers is from true industry professionals who are certified and licensed to train here and even abroad at their Adventure Travel. One three-day course that they offer to advanced paddlers trains students to qualify for paddling the U.S. National Whitewater Center course. This course is an overnight lodge stay, with dinner provided, and intense instruction during the day and into evenings with videos and discussion. The price for the course is $675 and has two weekend classes each month in the summer. Their learning classes teach all levels progressing from the beginner to advanced. The pricing can be downloaded in pdf file form or call to inquire about this and ask any questions.
888-905-7238

Ace Outfitters have a program set up to instruct and coach intermediate kayakers in the finer arts of wave wheels, eddy wheels, flat wheels, stalls, rock spins and even bow stalls--all the latest tricks of the craft. These instructors are all ACA-certified. Their lessons are five hours and they guarantee a 2:1 student-teacher ratio. Often there is one teacher to a student, an almost unheard of ratio. Their prices are $25 per hour for one student, $20 for two. They provide the kayaks and include the newest Perception models. They also do video reviews of performance with students to tackle problem areas. They don't have an online registration for classes, so call or email them for information on pick-up and drop-off or other questions.
1-888-FUNYAKS (386-9257)

Southeastern Expeditions, Inc. is the oldest canoe/kayak outfitter in the entire southeastern U.S. They run beginning, intermediate and advanced kayak clinics on the Chatooga River in northern Georgia during two weekends in May and three in June. Their web site is not updated for the 2007 season yet, so please call or email them for updates on schedules and pricing. They run Class I, II, III, and even Class IV rapids for those qualified. The price per day for individual instruction is $142. Lake/roll clinics are $55 per person. They have suggestions for lodging in the immediate vicinity on the FAQ section of the web site.
5637 Hwy 411 South
Benton TN 37307
Phone: 800-868-7238