Groupon: Collective Buying Power

A question… or two, before I purchase:
How long is the lesson? (Is it just 1 lesson?)
Also, would we be able to have an intermidiate class instead of the beginners?

web site describes a 3 hour lesson.. you might want to call to see if they’d let you do intermediate.

If you call, please post answer – also looking for intermediate…

If I wanted to sign up with a group of 7 friends, would VMKS allow us to go all at once, or would they split us up to meet the 5-student cap?

Our standard beginner lesson is 3hrs, but if we have a large (of 10 to 20) group we often make it a 4hr lesson . The ratio of students to instructors is never more than 5 to 1. We will not have more than 20 in a group, but our usual beginner lesson group size is about 10 students on average.

Thanks!
Jim Buley
Valley Mill Kayak School

Sara L.

Jim Buley
Valley Mill Kayak School

Su J.

Thanks
Jim Buley
Valley Mill

Can a 9 year old be in the standard lesson? (He has had kayak experience at Callava Camps)

I also have a 9-year-old who is interested. No kayaking experience, but he’s a swimmer and has paddled canoes, etc. Also a 7-year old, same (lack of) experience – swim team member. Can they be in the standard introductory lesson? They’d like to do it with their dad.
Thanks.

I have the same question as Pamela F. I too have a 7 and 9 year old. I was thinking of buying 4 and having my husband and I take a class with the kids.

We can have kids as young as 7, and do a family group lesson, seperate from our normal adult group lesson. We just need one week notice prior to the lesson date. The minimum group size for this type of lesson is 3, with at least one parent or legal gaurdian needing to be present.

Thanks!
Jim Buley
Valley Mill

Anthony C.

Thanks!
Jim Buley
Valley Mill

Can this be used for any beginner lesson 1, 2, or 3?

Alex-

Yes, as long as they have the prerequisite experience of the previous lessons. You must have a roll to take the third beginner lesson.

Thanks
Jim Buley
Valley Mill

We have never done kayaking. Are there any other costs involved not included in this groupon (gear, materials, etc)?

Do I have to take all three lessons before I can kayak on the potomac?

Nailah G.

The only additional costs might be for noseplugs (to keep the water out of your sinuses when you are rolling-$10) .

Jim Buley
Valley Mill

Vivian,

No- but if you plan on running whitewater, lessons are advised.

Do you need to be a good swimmer?

Selia,

You don’t need to be Michael Phelps, but you need to be comfortable in the water. You will wear a pfd which will float you, but you will need to know how to swim enough to get your kayak to shore.

I see that you have 20 dates for beginner 1 classes this year, and you restrict the classes to 20 students, and there have been 550+ purchases so far. So how will this work?

Marc M.

We have done this promotion before, and have no problem meeting demand. We schedule classes as needed, and can do up to 4 beginner classes ina single weekend, for a total of up to 80 students, but have never had to do more than two in one weekend.

Are classes only held on weekends, or are there Friday classes available (say, for a group of women looking to skip work for the day)?

Shauna H.

We encourage skipping work to go outside to play! We can do a group lesson on any day of the week, as long as we have at least one weeks notice to schedule our instructors. We are flexible, given enough notice.

Thanks!
Jim Buley
Valley Mill