FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Paddling on the sea, like all outdoor sports and many other hobbies, involves certain risks. These risks range from experiencing discomfort or fear to serious injury and drowning accidents that can be fatal or cause serious damage. There's no sugarcoating this. Anyone who doesn't want to accept this, which we can understand, should rather look for another sport, just like people who are terrified of water.

However, we believe that with training and following safety rules and practiced rescue protocols, the risks of our sport can be largely (although never completely!) calculated and that sea kayaking is overall a very healthy sport whose benefits for your physical and mental well-being far outweigh the potential dangers.

We believe that it makes no sense to transfer systems that we know from whitewater kayaking, climbing, skiing or mountain sports to the sea. No matter how hard you try, in the end the sea alone dictates how difficult a day on the water will be. From mirror-clear to heavy seas, anything is possible anywhere at any time.

Even though we as sea kayakers basically all know that this is the case, levels make it seem as if we somehow had the whims of the sea under control and could predict what difficulties await us – as if we were talking about the inclination of a slope or the degree of a river section.

At Salty Cosmos, we formulate for each programme what skills we expect from our participants and what specific “safety parameters” apply (see explanations below).

By the way – there is an important exception to the above: we formulate levels in our rolling courses. This also makes sense, because the only factor to be taken into account here is the participants' previous skills. Because no matter what level: all of our rolling courses take place on the lake in the simplest conditions.

In every individual programme description, we communicate in the “Skills” or “What we expect from you” section which specific skills you should have (at minimum) in order to take part. Of course, these skills required for a sheltered archipelago trip differ from a rock hopping camp on an exposed coast on the Atlantic. To make sure a programme is right for you and your current skills and fitness level, you should read this list and honestly ask yourself whether you meet it. Fits 90%? Go for it! Everything fits, but to be honest you can do a lot more than what is required? Then you might want to look for another programme where the requirements are a little higher; especially if it is a course that you are looking at. Otherwise there is a risk that you will get bored.

As an additional help and to give you a very quick and rough initial overview, we have introduced the graphical "Skill-o-meter", which should actually be self-explanatory: From left to right, it provides you with an initial rough classification somewhere between "suitable for beginners" and "only for experienced paddlers". But do us a favour and always read the “What we expect from you” section in every course description before you register. Because here is what really counts and is relevant.

At Salty Cosmos we basically differentiate between three different types of programmes:

Courses, tours and sea kayak holidays

A course is always a programme with learning content on one or more specific aspects or subject areas from the world of sea kayaking. They are defined in the text of the respective programme description. It doesn't matter whether this course takes place by the sea or in Switzerland or perhaps simply online. At Salty Cosmos there is a large selection of courses on all sorts of topics related to sea kayaking: week-long programmes at the sea, beginner courses on the lake, rolling courses, safety courses, theory courses, paddle building courses, etc. The aim of every course is: you learn something. So our focus is clearly on coaching.

A tour is always a travel and experience-oriented programme, very similar to a hike, but in a sea kayak. Our tours are all multi-day programmes that are carried out with luggage, tent and sleeping bag and where a different place to spend the night awaits you every evening. These are often campsites, but it can also happen that we bivouack in the wild on the coast or on a deserted island, unless this is expressly forbidden. After all, that's the appeal of the whole thing.

Finally, we also have sea kayak holidays in our program. Sea kayak holidays are neither tour nor course. Instead, these are programmes with a fixed base camp that are simply about fun, application and cool day trips or other activities, such as rock hopping or (kayak) surfing sessions. Here you don't have to learn anything or achieve anything, you can just join in and have fun.

At the moment, for technical reasons, it is not possible to show on the website how many places are still available for a particular program. However, we will endeavor to mark a fully booked program as "fully booked" as soon as possible.

For all of our offers (courses, tours, camps, etc.), Salty Cosmos' service is limited to the organisation and implementation of the advertised programme. There are no other services, such as arrival and departure, local transport, accommodation or meals. Salty Cosmos is NOT a package tour operator.

In addition to our organisational services, it is particularly our work as guides or coaches in which our services manifest themselves. In addition, if necessary, we provide ordered equipment and ensure that it is in well-maintained condition.

No. You are absolutely free to organise your overnight stay and your vacation outside of our course times as you wish. But of course it makes sense for logistical reasons to at least stay near the base camp.

Catering during all of our programmes is fundamentally the responsibility of the participants and must therefore generally be organised privately. Salty Cosmos is not a catering company and does not offer package tourism programmes.

However, in our multi-day programmes with a fixed base camp (courses and sea kayak holidays), there is the possibility of organizing yourself within the group as a kind of "camp community" that cooks together on a private basis and organises the shopping. We are happy to participate in such communities, but this is on a completely private basis and after our duty. Under no circumstances should cooking be seen as a service provided by Salty Cosmos. You can find out more about this topic here!

As a basis for our (multi-day) courses, we have a group tent, which we also use as a “classroom” for theoretical course units. There is also a table, stove and cooking equipment that can be used by the group. However, you should definitely bring your own personal cutlery, crockery, a cup and a camping chair.

Unfortunately no. We do not have a license for commercial passenger transport and are not allowed to bundle services for legal reasons.

All of this also applies to shuttles on day trips that do not start and/or end at base camp. If you are traveling by train or plane, you are responsible for arranging your seat in a fellow paddler's car or renting a car. But you can organise all of this in advance by communicating with the other participants.

No. For customs reasons this is not possible under any circumstances. However, if you are paying the regular price, you are welcome to get a kayak and paddling equipment from us. However, if you want to benefit from the reduced price, you will have to bring your own kayak and all of your equipment.

When you book something with us, you will receive an invoice from us, including a QR code for bank transfers. Other payment options are not currently available. Swiss customers receive an invoice in Swiss Francs. Customers from abroad usually receive an invoice in Euros and can pay the invoice amount into our Euro account.