Meditation Kayak and Camping Tour
$899
Per person- Duration
- 3 Day Tour
- Season
Join veteran Outdoor Odysseys guide, Sam Mayor as he leads a group on a mindfulness themed three day kayaking and camping tour through through the San Juan Islands. In addition to the typical adventuring, camping, and delicious cuisine you can expect; we're adding in pauses to get ourselves grounded, and guided meditations all to help us take in the beauty and peace of the islands around us. Check below for a more detailed day by day itinerary. More about your guide: For Sam, meditation and mindfulness have been the key to living a fulfilling life. This summer will be his sixth year guiding in the archipelago where his grandfather’s grandfather settled. Sam traveled extensively until the San Juan Islands likewise halted his wandering and he now finds joy in sharing their magic with others. Sam has six years of experience practicing Vipassanā meditation and has formally sat more than 200 cumulative hours on silent retreat. The islands, he says, are the closest thing to the peace of a meditation center that he has found.
Start
Friday Harbor Ferry Terminal 8:30 AMEnd
Friday Harbor Ferry Terminal 1:30-4:30 PMPrice Includes
- All meals
- Kayaking instruction and guiding
- Tour naration
- Kayaking gear
- Dry Bags: 10L to carry and 30L for packing
- Tent
- Transportation to and from launch site
You Provide
- 15-20% gratuity for your guide(s)
- Water bottle
- Sunglasses and/or hat
- Sunscreen
- Headlight or flashlight
- Extra layers
- Sleeping bag & pad (rentals available, add "rental" when booking online or contact us directly)
Meditation Kayak and Camping Tour Itinerary
Your Outdoor Odysseys guide will meet you in Friday Harbor on San Juan Island. The trip will be framed from the outset with an explanation of the Zen concept of Beginner’s Mind: a sure way to have an engaging time as our van takes the group to the launch site on the island’s west side. After packing all gear into the kayaks and getting everyone comfortable with boat safety and paddling techniques, we’ll have a short meditation and let the paddling commence! The day’s paddle boasts beautiful views of the Canadian Gulf Islands and explores prime territory for whales, pinnipeds, diving birds, and other wildlife. After our long lunch on Posey Island, we’ll enjoy the day’s most dramatic and expansive stretch of open water paddling in silence, falling deep into the rhythm of the paddle blade’s catch and release, letting the rest of the world fall away as we make our way to Stuart Island. Our destination for the night on Stuart is Reid Harbor, a long, thin bay hiding a handful of campsites in the forest of its farthest shore. After camp is set up, you can take in the calm of this secluded inlet from the beach, look for otters and herons, and enjoy a three course dinner prepared by your guide. Before bed, join in that most human of traditions and gather around the fire, watch sparks float into the night, and converse with your fellows about mindfulness, meaning, and what it takes to live a good life – something you’re well on your way to doing. You made it.
Begin your second day with a silent Vipassanā meditation on the beach for sunrise (with coffee, of course). Settled in mindfulness, spend the morning paddling out to John’s Pass, the site of a centuries old fishing tradition that is still in use! Examine the striking cliffs’ rock formations, soak in the sweeping views of Mt. Baker and the outer islands, and lunch on a tiny gumdrop of an island with white shell beaches. Back on land, hike out to the Stuart Island light station at the most Northwestern tip of the United States and spend an evening on the wide, sloping lawns watching sunset and taking part in an optional lesson and practice of Mettā meditation. It doesn’t get more beautiful than that.
Don’t get ahead of yourself; the adventure is far from over on the final day. Pause on the beach for a mindful moment before launching the kayaks to reflect on the trip and the power in moments of transition. Venture once more into whale territory in the Haro Strait and enjoy one last delicious lunch while you flex your freshly developed paddling muscles and exult in a calm and quiet mind. With the chance for one last on-water silent meditation to close out the trip, watch thoughts pass like waves through the sea of the mind on the final scenic straightaway to your starting beach, your waiting luggage, and the dawning realization: we’ll be seeing you again, next year.
Guide Profile
Tom Murphy
Tom Murphy graduated from Lawrence University with a biology degree in 2003. After graduation Tom spent a year and a half overseas. He traveled through India, worked for an NGO in Nepal, and taught elementary students science in the…
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Peter Yacobellis
Peter, a lifelong New York City region resident, now lives full time on San Juan Island, helping to run Outdoor Odysseys. Peter has a long and storied career in government, tourism, and in corporate America. Peter has a graduate…
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Lily Keziah
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Laura Montanari
Born on the coastal islands of Georgia and raised in the marshes and swamps of the south, Laura has always maintained a deep connection to the ocean. Her earliest memories are paddling canoes through the Okefenokee Swamp with her…
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Hayden Peck
Hayden’s roots are in Colorado and Central Oregon. She ventured out to the Pacific Northwest when she started school at University of Oregon, where she studied human physiology and business. These days, she finds joy in connecting others to…
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Eli Todaro
Eli Todaro grew up in Southeast Louisiana. Eli is a NOLS Wilderness First Responder alumni with specialties in swift water and high angle rescue. He has always had a great passion for the outdoors. Growing up hunting and fishing…
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Carl Cain
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Tiff Pendergrass
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Caroline Seto
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Hunter Bennion
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Vanessa Elliott
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Sam Maylor
Sam grew up outside Seattle, WA, with the Cascade Mountains and the Puget Sound as his backyard. After getting a degree in Environmental Studies from the University of Washington, Sam vagabonded through Europe, Australia, and the US before finding…
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Maddie Hollister
Growing up in Seattle, Maddie Hollister gained a love for outdoor recreation and education attending a summer camp on Puget Sound, where she eventually became a lifeguard and outdoor educator. She studied marine biology and science communication at Quest…
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Patrick McEvoy
Boston bred, Georgia grown, and Seattle seduced; Patrick remains as footloose as his “military brat” childhood would deem but continues to rebound back to the San Juan Islands. In Georgia he attended both high school and college where he…
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Duncan Smith
Duncan will be returning for a second season to the San Juan Islands as an Outdoor Odysseys guide and adventure filmmaker. Born in San Mateo, California, Duncan grew up SCUBA diving, backpacking and sailing. After college he spent a…
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Christina Deierling
Born in Snohomish, WA, Christina grew up mushroom picking, squid jigging, crabbing, traveling, backpacking, fishing, clamming, skiing, frog catching, climbing, and everything else outdoorsy. Christina made her way down to Orange, CA to attend Chapman University as a Business…
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Zoey Smith
Born near the ocean cliffs of northern California, Zoey was raised just as much by redwoods and harbour seals as she was by her parents. She is currently going into her 4th year at Quest University, focusing her studies…
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Elliott O’Brien
Elliott grew up in sunny Seattle and spent countless days exploring the Cascades, Puget Sound, and the forests and deserts throughout Washington. He studied environmental science and policy down in California, and uses his emphasis in ecology daily while…
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