We were looking forward to this kayaking trip that was planned for our family vacation. There were four of us. We all felt the same way at the end of the trip. The guides did a great job preparing everyone for the experience; dressing, instructions, etc. Taking off out of the cove was easy, but keeping up with everyone soon became a challenge. There were 3 guides. My thoughts would have been, one for the front, one for the middle and one for the end of the group - which was often my daughter and myself. My daughter and I are hearing impaired somewhat. We both suffer moderate hearing deficient.
First, we had to cross the harbor which was very rough and windy. It was raining and cold with choppy seas. We managed to get across without incident with one of the guides help. The lead guide, Angie or Angela, not really sure, was the only one doing the talking. Because we were always in the rear of the group we never could hear anything she was saying. No other guides repeated or relayed what she said until I got so frustrated and said loudly to my daughter, I can't hear anything the guide is talking about from back hear. Not realizing the rear guide's kayak was across from ours she spoke up and repeated what had just been said like magic! Once and only once during the entire trip did this happen.
Second, paddling back against the current was frustrating when the rear guide kept passing us or running into our kayak and pushing us out of the way breaking our momentum. It was constantly putting us farther behind the group and we had to regain our momentum. It was frustrating to say the least.
Third, crossing the harbor in choppy seas in kayaks was a little scary. I know these people do it every day but to a visitor it definitely wasn't on my bucket list of things I wanted to do.
My son in law who kayaks all the time didn't enjoy this trip either. So we weren't alone in our thoughts. As far as the hearing issue with my daughter and myself, I didn't realize it would be a problem in this situation until we were out and so spread apart.