Photos
Unsolicited photos taken by students on our trips to Big Sur, Mendocino, Baja and others.

Weather and Tide Information for Our Local Waters and Beyond
Know before you go. Useful for pre-paddle planning, these are our favorite sites for finding out about wind, swell and tides. 

River Flow Info
Now that we've also expanded into teaching, playing and cross training on rivers, here are some of our favorite sites for river and flow information

Magazine Articles on Line
Good information on paddling technique, and kayak and gear reviews from Sea Kayaker magazine.

Environmental Links
ESK's strong support of local and national environmental organizations--like Save Our Shores, Surfrider, the Elkhorn Slough Foundation and more than a dozen others--is perhaps less altruistic than it is selfish: we want to paddle in clean water. It is our hope that by introducing our students firsthand to this area's world-class marine environment, that they will be more likely to care about it and, hopefully, to support those organizations working to protect it. 

Frank's Fine Photos: Mendocino Sea Caves Newly Updated! (Sept. 02)
Many thanks to Frank Lucian, veteran of most of our classes and now part-time instructor, for taking these photos and posting them on his web site. 

Sarah's Best Baja Pics
Muchas gracias to Sarah Richards of Iris Publishing for her beautiful pictures and prose chronicling our 7-day San Nicolas to Loreto journey in January 1999.

Coastal Marine Forecast
Updated every three hours, this is essentially the same information you get from the NOAA Weather Radio broadcast. Gives the current and predicted wind strength and direction for selected locations (e.g. San Francisco Bay, Monterey Bay, and coastal areas) and buoys (see buoy map link below). Also includes info on sea conditions, i.e., height and direction of swell and wind waves, water and air temperatures. 

Buoy Map of Northern California
A very cool graphic that lets you see the location of the buoys on the Coastal Marine Forecast to get a better idea of which ones are closest to your planned paddling area. It also shows up-to-the-minute wind speed and direction at the buoys, as well as swell height, direction and period (number of seconds between swells).

Extended Forecast for Central and Northern California
NOAA's best guess at "big picture" weather patterns for the area over the next 3 to 5 days. 

Monterey Bay Wave Forecast Map
Color-coded maps showing predicted swell size, direction and period for our area. (This is the map we often bring to our surf classes.)

3-Day Coastal Wave Forecast Maps
Color-coded maps showing predicted swell size for our area, similar to above but covering the a 3-day period. 

Call of the Wind
Designed for wind surfers, this private site gives excellent "wind reports" for a variety of specific West Coast beaches not given on the NOAA broadcast. 

Satellites
Direct link to GOES 10 weather satellites showing approaching Pacific storm systems with links to a variety of other satellite imagery.

Tide Info for Monterey Bay
Gives tides at Santa Cruz and links to hundreds of other sites on the West Coast and around the world

National Weather Service Home Page
A veritable sea of excellent information with links to local, regional and national weather forecasts and satellites, marine weather, tides, etc., etc., etc.

Paddler's Guide to Elkhorn Slough with Map
Great info specific to kayaking the Elkhorn Slough: tides, currents, weather patterns, mud, wildlife, a map and more.

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Save Our Shores
A major player in getting  the Monterey Bay Marine Sanctuary established in the first place they now focus on a number of programs to help protect it. 

Surfrider
With strong local chapters in the Monterey Bay area, this national organization focuses on clean water and access issues.

Elkhorn Slough Foundation
This small organization has had a big impact on protecting Elkhorn Slough and its watershed by purchasing land around the slough and by working with local farmers to minimize agricultural runoff.

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