Who We Are
Sharing Local Knowledge & Untamed Adventures
Our History
Sitka Wild Coast Kayaks has its origin in the late 1990’s as Sitka Sound Ocean Adventures. Alison and John Dunlap took it over in 2009 and added into the day trip offerings an expedition outfitting and guide service. Michael started working for the company in 2018 and took over the expedition outfitting in 2021.
Our goal is to provide all the gear and local knowledge adventurous kayakers need to be able to arrive in Sitka and outfit themselves for a day or overnight paddle, a week out in the islands, or a month-long expedition.
Meet Michael
Michael has been involved in paddle sports all his life. He grew up paddling on the Atlantic where he spent summers paddling and sailing open boats on the ocean and bays and winters in canoes on rivers. In the mid-80’s, he moved west and became a certified class 5 and open water instructor.
A move to the Puget Sound region in 1999 brought him back to the ocean full-time. Since then he has paddled and guided in Chile, Central America, Canada and New Zealand where he earned the NZ Level 5 Guide Certification. In 2018, after 10 years living, teaching and guiding in New Zealand he embarked on a 6-month kayak journey with one other person that took him all over SE Alaska. Sitka became a beacon for his paddling designs and he relocated to SE Alaska in 2020.
In Feb of 2022 he took over the expedition outfitting portion of Sitka Sound Ocean Adventures where he had been employed previously as their expedition guide. He has rebranded it as Sitka WIld Coast Kayaks and still works closely with SSOA.
Michael has decades of experience presenting information to all levels of people in numerous disciplines. In addition to his experience as a kayak instructor he has been a certified mountain guide/instructor, a whitewater raft guide/instructor, and is a currently certified yoga and tai chi instructor. His diverse background in these disciplines allows him to adapt his teaching and guiding style to suit any situation with ease and efficiency.
