This award is all about keeping safe on your craft in sheltered water venues, this includes canoes, kayaks and stand up paddleboards. So, whether you are paddling with friends or your club, this practical course is packed with safe practical solutions. It doesn’t matter about your age or whether you have limited paddling experience, this course supports your knowledge and raises your awareness of your personal safety.

If you needed any more convincing, the course is completely based around training and raising awareness, with no assessment. Structured to support you, our experienced tutors will ensure you have plenty of time practising, as well as understanding how you can develop skills and experience after the course.

The SUP Safer course is designed for anyone new or relatively novice to Stand Up Paddleboarding, wanting to gain knowledge and raise their awareness of their personal safety in a sheltered water environment.

The SUP Safer course is based on the British Canoeing Awarding Body Educational  Philosophy and, as such, the ethos of ‘supporting the paddler’ is the main focus of the course, encouraging individuals to consider where they paddle, the equipment they use and provide practical solutions if they get into difficulty.

The 4-hour programme is delivered within a sheltered water environment where you will explore and learn to appreciate the potential hazards you might encounter and be prepared to avoid or deal with them.

The Paddler Safer course gives new and novice paddlers the opportunity to develop their safety skills when taking to the water.

The Go Paddling Paddle Safer course is designed for anyone new to paddling, or relatively inexperienced to paddling, wanting to gain knowledge and raise their awareness of paddling safely in a sheltered water environment, in or on the craft that they paddle. Typical craft would include kayaks, canoes, stand up paddleboards, sit on tops and inflatables.

The support modules are aimed at anyone wanting to gain knowledge and develop in the specific areas of interest and cover a range of topics. 

The Weather module is for any paddler, whether paddling on inland or coastal waters, wanting to increase knowledge of weather forecasting and how different conditions can affect trips. 

The support modules are aimed at anyone wanting to gain knowledge and develop in the specific areas of interest and cover a range of topics. 

The Navigation for Paddlers module is ideal for anyone navigating on the water, including sea and river paddlers, stand up paddleboarders, clubs, coaches and leaders. This module introduces both pre-trip planning and on-the-water navigating, including when you may need to change your plan. Topics covered include handrailing, collection points, and aiming off and attack points. 

The support modules are aimed at anyone wanting to gain knowledge and develop in the specific areas of interest and cover a range of topics. 

The Tides module is for paddlers in any craft who want to increase their knowledge of how tides can impact paddling in estuaries and coastal waters.  

The support modules are aimed at anyone wanting to gain knowledge and develop in the specific areas of interest and cover a range of topics. 

The Surf and Swell module gives paddlers an introduction to ground and wind swell, as well as surf forecasts. The eLearning also explores how different environmental considerations can affect surf and swell including tide races, overfalls and rip currents. This module also covers how to consider surf and swell in your trip planning.  

The support modules are aimed at anyone wanting to gain knowledge and develop in the specific areas of interest and cover a range of topics. 

The Open Crossings module is designed for more experienced paddlers planning crossings in both tidal and non-tidal waters. Topics include dead reckoning, calculating set and drift, and working out position. The module also delves into potential dangers and considerations, as well as example trip planning.