Proper stuff (albeit for a beginner), not the gentle paddle round the mangroves sort. Any options other than http://www.dskc.hu/portal/ ?

1. Go to Adventure HQ
2. Buy a kayak
3. Adventure, fun and excitement

I'm not sure if they offer adult lessons, but try the Kite Beach.

http://noukhada.ae/

Have been with them before. They have been in the Entertainer Abu Dhabi the last couple of years, haven't seen the 2013 one yet.

That seems a bit much, no? Not even a day of rest, just two days where you have a little time off.

Seems so extreme.

Yeah. Looking elsewhere on the site it seems that do starter lessons, but the site hasn't been updated for ages.

It's something that I've been offered to do once or twice but by the same bloke and I'm not confident he has a clue about the currents and stuff out here. Avoided it but someone did the AD mango swamp stuff and said it was brilliant.

I did the mangrove (mango?) one in AD and it was great, but I fancy the sea kayaks but without the fanaticism that seems to go with the serious club. Just been looking round the Noukhada site which seems good...

Sorry, thought mangrove, typed mango...bizarre.

There must be a club or something that have it somewhere in the middle...will let you know if I hear of anything as a lad in the office goes kayaking.

Do you really need lessons? Unless you're going to get an actual, enclosed kayak where you will need know how to eskimo roll, I really can't see the point of lessons. A sea kayak (which you sit on, rather than in) is dead simple.

That's what I was thinking. Then I saw all the various levels of courses on Noukhada and thought, shit, this is like preparing for a round-the-world voyage. Reckon as a first off I'll go and rent one from down on JBR, try it out for an hour or so within striking distance of the shore, and see how it goes. If I don't post for a couple of days, please send out a seach party...

Seriously, unless you're completely inept, it will be a doddle.

Where are you going? Still water or currents? You need training and strength to go where there are currents. (remembers with horror a day on an overflowing river in Calendar where I literally capsized my canoe and swam to shore after 2.5 klicks when my nerves and strength reserves had simply had enough.)

Presumably the Arabian Gulf. In which case your biggest problem is likely to be jet-skiers, for which I presume there is little preventative training*

* Though one fun thing is to string a piano wire between two kayaks and see if you can get a jet-skier to scoot between the two.

I've always found pulling the paddle all the way out the water and positioning it like a baseball bat tends to send them a clear message.

You think coming near me is funny... I don't think the end of this in your face will be.