If you want to be using the best equipment, ask your outfitter what they use, then ask around to check on that equipment's quality and reputation. Single kayaks are fine for competent guides, and fun to try out, but aren't appropriate for groups of novice kayakers in most conditions. If you want to try a single, look for an outfitter whose guides use them and will let you try them when they feel that water conditions are appropriate for your skill. In waters where wind is often a factor, fewer paddlers per guide is best. Guides' Work Schedules Guides' work schedules is perhaps the most overlooked issue in the sea kayak outfitting business.
Guides usually work very long hours for weeks at a time.
If any of your guides has worked more than two or three weeks without a few days off, he or she is likely too tired to make the best decisions or to give you the best trip they are capable of. Most companies allow guides to work at least three weeks without a day off. Some work as many as thirteen weeks in a row. Many outfitters are not. This is a good measure of the standards by which an outfitter operates.