ACA Certification Courses
Kayak ANT offers ACA certification programs for Instructors, Leaders and Guides
We can support you or your group with:
Skills training and formal assessment course prerequisites
Instructor, Leader and Guide development programs
Certification exams — standalone or built into development workshops
Instructor updates
Assisting instructor opportunities to keep refine your skills after certification
Travel-to-you services to host a workshop at your location
Which ACA Certification is right for me?
ACA Instructors: An instructor is someone who teaches skills and techniques in a structured manner. Their main goal is to educate participants and help them develop the necessary knowledge and abilities to perform an activity on their own. Instructors typically provide lessons, demonstrations, and feedback to improve their students’ proficiency.
Focus: Teaching skills, techniques, and safety
Setting: Often in a classroom, a controlled environment or practice area
ACA Leaders or Guides: A leader or guide is someone who leads and assists participants during a paddling trip. Their main goal is to provide an experience while ensuring safety and navigating the waterway. While they may offer some tips and tricks along the way, their primary job is to lead rather than formally teach.
Focus: Leading, assisting, and ensuring a successful experience
Setting: Out in the field (e.g., lakes, rivers, oceans)
Key Differences:
Teaching vs. Leading: Instructors focus on teaching skills, while leaders and guides focus on leading and facilitating a paddling experience
Structure vs. Flexibility: Instruction is often more structured, while leading and guiding is more experience-based and adaptable to conditions
Goal of the Interaction: Instructors prepare clients to become independent, whereas leaders and guides provide a service to enhance the outing
Should I pursue Leader or Guide?
Briefly stated, Leader certification is designed for day trips while Guide certification is designed for multi-day trips.
Leader: The Leader certification program is designed to meet the needs of paddlesports groups or individuals who want to conduct simple day trips (Community Paddlesports Leader or Coastal/River Paddlesports Leader) or more complex day trips (Advanced Paddlesports Leader).
Leader certification is ideal for:
Paddling Clubs
Camps and community centers
Outdoors organizations
Casual meetup groups and individuals
Guide: The Guide certification program is designed to meet the needs of organizations and group leaders offering longer, more remote and complex trips. Earning professional credentials through this program will improve quality of services and facilitate quality assurance for clients.
Guide certification is ideal for:
Nonprofits, camps, and outdoor experiential education organizations
Guiding companies and outfitters seeking to train and benchmark their staff teams with a trusted certification.
Leader and Guide Certification Programs
Community Paddlesports Leader
Hybrid Skills + Leader Certification Workshop
Dates:
May 16-17: skills assessment weekend
May 30-31: certification course
Venue: Tampa Bay Area
Resources:
Overview: Community Paddlesports Leader is your entry point to leading on the water. Whether you’re seeking certification for work or club outings or simply want to share your passion for paddling with friends and peers, the ACA Paddlesports Leader program provides a perfect blend of support, challenge, community, and play. Gain the confidence you need to safely and effectively lead day excursions on calm waters. Dive into a dynamic learning experience that covers technique, decision-making, communication, planning, risk management, and rescue solutions – all while having fun. Join us and develop the skills you need to become a confident and capable paddlesports leader.
Skill Level: Level 1 to Level 2
Mixed Paddlecraft Note:
Mixed paddlecraft is one of the unique elements of Community Paddlesports Leader. We are able to support, and even encourage, a variety of different vessels on the water for this program, including:
Kayaks, either sit-inside or sit-on-top
Canoes
Stand-up-Paddleboards
Coastal Paddlesports Leader Workshops
Dates: We will post more workshop dates soon. Use the contact button below if you or your organization would like to work with us to set up a workshop.
Venue: Tampa Bay Area
Travel to you services also available
Resources:
Paddlesports Leader Overview
Paddlesports Leader Certification Criteria
ACA Paddlesports Leader - Candidate Course Workbook available in print or digital formats
Overview: The ACA Coastal Paddlesports Leader certification prepares you for a range of environments for short, mild outings to more challenging and adventurous day trips. This program dives into a dynamic learning experience that covers on-the-water management techniques, decision-making, communication, planning, risk management, and rescue solutions—all while having fun and exploring a range of natural environments.
Skill Level: Level 2 to Level 3
Hybrid Option: We can offer a hybrid skills training and assessment plus paddlesports leader certification course for paddlers missing the prerequisite skills assessment.
Paddlesports Guide Workshops
Dates: We are exploring Paddlesports Guide Workshop and expedition trip opportunities. Use the contact button below if you or your organization would like to work with us to set up a workshop.
Venue: Various
Travel to you services also available
Resources:
Overview: The ACA Paddlesports Guide certification helps prepare you to lead clients and groups on your multi-day paddling expeditions. The Guide certification prepares you to plan and lead multi-day trips across a spectrum of basic to intermediate scenarios and remote environments. Whether you’re looking to obtain professional certification for longer trips or you just want to equip yourself to take groups on longer adventurous paddling trips, the Paddlesports Guide experience is for you.
Dive into a dynamic learning experience that covers on-the-water leadership and facilitation techniques, extended trip itinerary and resource planning, scenario-based decision-making across a wide spectrum of environments, excellence in communication and conflict resolution, risk management, expedition camp management, and complex rescue solutions.
Skill Level: Level 2 or higher
Hybrid Option: We can offer a hybrid skills training and assessment plus paddlesports leader certification course for paddlers missing the prerequisite skills assessment.
Kayak Instructor Certification Programs
Level 2 Essentials of Kayak Touring Instructor Certification Workshop (ICW)
Dates: In development. See below.
Venues: Tarpon Springs, Florida, and other destinations in Greater Tampa Bay/St Pete.
Travel to you services may also be available.
✦ Building the Workshop: We are gathering input from prospective candidates about dates and venues. Complete the interest survey below to help us plan a workshop soon.
Overview: This instructor certification program equips kayakers with the teaching, assessing, and leadership skills to provide safe and effective learning experiences in sheltered water. It is an entry point in the ACA Coastal Kayaking instructor scheme and, therefore, appropriate for paddlers who may not have prior experience as an outdoor educator. This course is a combination instructor development workshop (IDW) and instructor certification exam (ICE).
Resources:
Level 3 Coastal Kayaking Instructor Certification Workshop (ICW)
Dates: In development. See below.
Venues: Tarpon Springs, Florida, and other destinations in Greater Tampa Bay/St Pete.
Travel to you services may also be available.
✦ Building the Workshop: We are gathering input from prospective candidates about dates and venues. Complete the interest survey below to help us plan a workshop soon.
Overview: This program equips coastal kayakers with teaching, assessing, and leadership skills to help students improve and provide safe and effective learning experiences in moderate water. Level 3 is an entry point in the ACA Coastal Kayak instructor scheme. It is most appropriate for paddlers with a higher skill set and some experience as an outdoor leader or educator, having the goal of teaching on the Great Lakes or coastal areas. This course is a combination instructor development workshop (IDW) and instructor certification exam (ICE).
Resources: