About

Welcome to GoPaddle.ie !

GoPaddle.ie was born out of a passion for kayaking, coaching, outdoor education and a love for the natural world.

GoPaddle.ie was established in 2015 with just one full time staff member and has grown to be one of the leading kayak coaching providers in Ireland with a team of highly experienced coaches backing us up. 

Back in 2015 we had a vision for sharing the River Slaney, one of the hidden gems of County Wexford with as many people as possible and today we are delighted to have realised that dream. You can now join us on one of our many tours, explore the river on your own terms on our self guided tours and learn to kayak in our Kayak Academy.

We pride ourselves on maintaining exceptionally high standards. GoPaddle.ie guides and Coaches are always experienced and fully qualified. 

Our clients are a huge part of our story and we are committed to providing individual attention to each person who joins a Tour, Class or Kayak Camp. To ensure this we adhere to strict instructor/client ratios that are inline with our National Governing Body Canoeing Ireland guidelines.

We have a strong vision for our GoPaddle.ie Kayak Academy students and take great joy in actively helping them to achieve their goals. 

One of our main motivations to grow and constantly evolve GoPaddle.ie is to create work opportunities for the paddlers who come up through the GoPaddle.ie Kayak Academy. This allows them to further their coaching experience, generate income for themselves which then allows students to fund equipment, training and opens up travel with kayaking opportunities. In return, they give back by helping to develop new students and by showcasing their local area on our tours to local and international tourists.

As part of our continued commitment to be as Inclusive as possible this year GoPaddle.ie signed up to the Cara Sports Inclusion Disability Charter 

We have made a promise to:

  • Be open to and understanding of all people with disabilities
  • Access training for our staff/volunteers to facilitate the inclusion of people with disabilities
  • Develop and deliver inclusive activities
  • Review our facility/venues/equipment to make our organisation more accessible
  • Promote the inclusive nature of our activities, in a variety of formats

We love to support organisations whose mission and ethos align with our own. 

Last Summer we began a collaboration with Seal Rescue Ireland. They trained our kayak instructors and trainee instructors as Seal Rescue Network volunteers. SRI were also instrumental in helping us to ensure that our Wicklow Harbour Kayak Tours are inline with responsible ecotourism. We are also working on developing educational materials that our instructors will communicate to guests, with tailored information relating to the seals in Wicklow Town, for our Wicklow Harbour Kayak Tours. 

Every June bank holiday weekend, we hold an annual GoPaddle.ie Open Day, processes of which are donated to Slaney Search and Rescue.

 Slaney Search and Rescue is a voluntary organisation based in Enniscorthy. Their aim is to search for, rescue or recover missing persons in County Wexford waters. They are an invaluable asset to the local communities who live along the Slaney and we are very proud to be able to support them.

Meet our

Team

David

David

Senior Kayak Instructor
Shannon

Shannon

Senior Kayak Instructor
Emma

Emma

Instructor

Massive thanks to Susan and her team from @gopaddle.ie for a fantastic outing for Ferrycarrig Rowing Club yesterday.

We split into 2 groups and done a 2 hour scenic tour of the Slaney and Boro rivers.

Everyone had a great time and really enjoyed the tour in a safe and relaxed atmosphere.

Ferrycarrig Rowing

I would say that it's worth every second of your time, and if you didn't want to try it then I guess you're one of those people that don't like FUN because you're guaranteed to have a blast.

Kayak Academy Member

The GoPaddle Academy is a real community of paddlers with awesome support from Sue and all the instructors. Always willing to help with skills and done with amazing patience 😊
Actually the paddling community that I have met in the South East are all amazing, warm, friendly, welcoming, encouraging, pretty awesome 😊

Kayak Academy Member
meet our

Partners

I Canoe
Visit Wexford
Visit Wicklow
Canoeing Ireland
IAAT