Our Team

EJ went into kayaking by starting to play kayak polo in 2004. From there, he was hooked on kayaking and has since been on many trips ranging from short weekend to 3-week kayaking trips in Europe, BC and Mexico.

EJ has been a kayaking instructor for 15 years and has been running the kayaking school and operations at Ecomarine and now Jericho Beach Kayak for the past years.
He loves kayaking as a sport but he also loves that kayaking can be a vehicle to discover oneself, to grow, and to build connections, whether it is to the outdoors, to each other, or to oneself. Running the Operations and the School at Jericho Beach Kayak for EJ is as much about kayaking as it is about the community and about supporting new staff and instructors in their development. As a member of the 2SLGBTQAI+ community, EJ is especially passionate about EDI and is actively working towards creating a welcoming and inclusive space for both staff and customers.

Outside of work he loves to kayak as well and loved to take his 3 young kids on trips around BC. Being able to discover beautiful places in the wilderness that are only accessible by boat, camp on serene beaches, listening to the ocean while falling asleep, watch and enjoy the wildlife, as well as playing in rough waters and testing his skills and boundaries is what continues to draw him onto the water over and over again.

This is Alex's 8th year with the team at Jericho Beach- in her opinion the most beautiful and welcoming place in the city.
As a Level 1 Paddle Canada Instructor, she enjoys teaching beginners through to the Complete Series, as well as bridging fun, exploration-based paddles for youth and is a regular face on the Social Paddle scene, appreciating the perfect mix of new and familiar faces.
A few favourite local paddling locations under her tow belt include oyster-filled Desolation Sound, the dramatic changing landscapes of Bowron Lakes and the magical waters of the Broken Group. Abroad, she has ventured through mangrove forests in Belize and sandy beaches in Cambodia, and yet sea kayaking at home is a greatest privilege.
Alex believes that the connection to community and nature on the Ayyulshun/English Bay waters is unparalleled- a bold statement in our special city.

Andaya has just finished high school and is planning a gap year, volunteering on marine conservation projects around the world, before studying engineering at UBC. Andaya loves paddling! She started with JBK in a summer camp, then helped out as a volunteer youth leader with JBK before getting her Paddle Canada Level 2 and Basic Instructor certifications. She has also done some kayak camping trips, including one where a humpback surfaced about 5 m from her kayak. When she is not on the water, Andaya performs in musical theatre productions, plays soccer and learns languages.

Annie is a kinesiology graduate of the University of Alberta, passionate about lifelong health and wellness through engaging in leisure activities. She enjoys a variety of activities both on and off the water, including kayaking, stand-up paddleboarding, and beach volleyball. Annie is excited to join the Jericho Beach Kayak team this year to share her love for kayaking with youths and adults, including those who are brand new to the sport.

Ariana is a born and raised Vancouverite with a love of nature. She is currently studying Outdoor Recreation Management at Capilano University with the goal of working as an outdoor educator. She is trained as a sea kayak guide and instructor and is excited to share her love of the outdoors and blue spaces with other paddlers. When she's not on the water you might find her practicing yoga or walking her dog

Cara was born and raised in Vancouver and the Gulf Islands in a very boat-loving family. She has been sailing and kayaking since before she could see over the gunwales. The VSB’s outdoor education program TREK piqued Cara’s interest in the outdoor industry and she joined JBK as a Youth Camp Coordinator in 2020.
As well as kayaking, Cara is a lifeguard, enjoys a good book, and competes provincially and nationally in nordic skiing for Hollyburn XC Ski Club’s race team. She is graduating from Kitsilano High in 2021 and is looking forward to a post-secondary life that will involve outdoor adventures, skiing, and eventually studying Journalism and Humanities at Ottawa’s Carleton University. She’s sure that the West Coast and the Salish Sea will always be home, though!"

Chris grew up in Vancouver, BC. Although he had gone on a few kayaking tours as a kid, he didn’t start seriously paddling until he started working at JBK on the rentals team in 2020. After taking his Basic Certification in 2021, Chris was hooked, and started working as an instructor in the summer of 2021. Since then, he has gotten his Level 2 cert, and is now a Level 1 instructor.
Although Chris hasn’t ventured on many longer-distance trips, he loves simply paddling around the English Bay area and just getting on the water. He also loves working on skills like rolling, paddle strokes, and re-entries, and is passionate about sharing his love of the water with guests
and students at JBK.
This summer, he is guiding tours, teaching Basic and Level 1 courses, teaching intro to surfski clinics, and will be assisting/shadowing as a rolling instructor for the first time.
In his spare time, Chris is an avid gravel cyclist, plays basketball, and recently started weight training again after a hiatus of a few years.

Chris Ladner was the owner of Ecomarine Paddlesport Centres for 27 years. He began his paddling career in 1973 with his own homemade skin on frame kayak. Since then he has been on dozens of kayaking trips on the British Columbia coast, a few of over a month long. He has also organized kayak trips to the Solomon Islands, Tonga, Fiji, Cook Islands, Australia, New Zealand, Cayman Islands, Bahamas, and Holland.

Chris has a background in sporting goods design, manufacturing and distribution. He teaches kayaking skills regularly and is a Paddle Canada Level Two Instructor, Level One Instructor Trainer with Level Four Skills. He can often be found hanging out in the waters of English Bay. He loves to share his passion for paddling.

Deanne moved to Vancouver 4 years ago and she has loved being a part of the sea kayaking community at Jericho Beach Kayak as a paddler. She is looking forward to her third season as a staff member and sharing her love of kayaking with others. Deanne enjoys getting ouside all year long. Her favourite outdoor activities outside of kayaking are skiing (both cross country and downhill), hiking, cycling, and backcountry camping.

Ethan is a kinesiology graduate from Seattle, Washington, who has lived and studied in Vancouver for the past 3 years. Passionate about the benefits of exercise and the joy of the outdoors, Ethan is excited to share his love of the sport of kayaking, and show everyone the beautiful waters around Vancouver. As well as kayaking, Ethan enjoys indoor bouldering, skiing and ultramarathon running. Ethan re-found his love of kayaking from when he was younger after a trip kayaking last year, and is excited to join us for his first summer at Jericho Beach Kayak.

Georgia grew up on the North Shore and spent summers as a child playing in the waters of the Southern Gulf Islands. She fell in love with kayaking in 2001 while whitewater paddling in New Zealand, and began instructing for Paddle Canada in 2008. Georgia loves sharing her passion with others, and along with teaching kayaking she also teaches high-school Social Studies/Geography. Georgia spends as much of her free time as possible outside SUPing, multi-day kayak touring, biking, hiking, and enjoying the natural world.

Grace grew up in Prince George and Kamloops before moving to Vancouver to pursue a degree in English Literature at UBC. Grace is excited for her first season with the Jericho Beach Kayak team!
As a lifelong believer in the mental and physical health benefits of exercise, she is excited to develop her sea kayaking skills while also connecting with members of the community.
Outside of studying, Grace is a competitive Highland dancer and casual CrossFitter. In her downtime, she enjoys spending time with family and going to the movies.

Ladan started paddling in 2020. Her passion for paddling, adventuring in the untouched wilderness, Orcas, humpbacks … and appreciation for nature was tripled after visiting Telegraph Cove in 2022 and continues to enjoy exploring the breathtaking landscapes of British Columbia through sea Kayaking Tours every year.

Lyra’s love for kayaking started through the YMCA of Vancouver Island, where she did several summer kayak trips in and around the Gulf Islands, Clayoquot sound and the Broughton Archipelago. Born and raised on the island, she has a deep love for the west coast, from the peaks to the tide pools and everything in between.
Currently she is studying music education, with the end goal of teaching high school music and outdoor education.
Trained as a guide and an instructor, she is happiest when able to introduce others to the beautiful sport that is kayaking, and helping to form a deeper appreciation for nature.

Madison is a middle school teacher and moved to Vancouver from Montreal three years ago.
Since moving to BC, she loves spending time exploring the outdoors, whether it's hiking, paddling, skiing, or simply enjoying the beauty of nature. She also enjoys crafting in her spare time.

Mark only began paddling in 2021, but it has taken hold and become a huge part of his life!

Named one of the Globe and Mail's "Canadian Arts Heroes of 2020" for his pandemic leadership and community building, Mark's work centres on connection, community and innovation. Mark is also the Composer-in-Residence at Mountain View Cemetery and Managing Artistic Director of Little Chamber Music, and is best known for his 2010 album Aim for the Roses and the 2016 feature length musical docudrama of the same name by John Bolton.

Mika is in her 7th season with the team since joining with Ecomarine back in 2018. She is currently a Computer Science student at BCIT. Having grown up in Vancouver and spent summers on the Island loving the outdoors and spending tons of time on (and in) the water, her favourite place to hang out in the summer is at Jericho: paddling, beach combing, meeting new and returning students and teaching kayaking. Mika's favourite programs to teach at JBK are the super cool Try Surfskiing Clinics and the Complete Kayaking Series!
For the past couple years, Mika has also been progressing towards becoming an instructor trainer under the masterful guidance of EJ as her mentor. As of 2024, she is now officially an Instructor Trainer!
In her spare time, Mika is very passionate about playing ultimate frisbee with the VUL (Vancouver Ultimate League) as well as hiking, party shirts, spending time with family and friends and helping plan elaborate and funny themed parties.

Mike started paddling in the summer of 2016. Sea kayaking quickly became a major passion. Current Credentials: Paddle Canada Skills L-4, Paddle Canada Instructor L-2, Paddle Canada Rolling Instructor. You can find an ongoing series of kayaking videos on his YouTube channel: youtube.com/mmcholm1

Natalie is finishing up her undergraduate degree in Political Science and French Literature at UBC and moved to Vancouver four years ago from Hood River, Oregon. In her spare time, she loves staying active outside by hiking, backpacking, paddling, and climbing. In the summer especially, she loves watching the sunrise or reading at the beach, and even brings her cat with her! With a love of the outdoors and a passion for ecology and environmentalism, Natalie is very excited to be returning as a Basic Instructor and Youth Camp Manager at Jericho Beach Kayak!

Philip has been messing about in small boats since he was a kid, and got into sea kayaking in the late 1980s, long before it was trendy. (He likes to imagine he helped make it trendy.)
Over the years, Philip has paddled on the Great Lakes, the eastern and western Canadian Arctic and through Norway’s beautiful Lofoten Islands. He’s also paddled most of the Inside Passage between Vancouver and Alaska on the installment plan, often on multi-week solo trips.
Philip runs westcoastpaddler.com, an online community for sea kayakers of all experience levels, especially those from BC, Washington, Oregon and Alaska. He also blogs about kayaking, kayak sailing and kayak mods at philiptorrens.com. You can follow him on Instagram, where he’s kayakwriter.

As a Kinesiology student at UBC who was raised in BC, Rhia enjoys kayaking as a way to combine her passions for physical activity, movement, and the outdoors. Because she grew up participating in and coaching sports like figure skating and sailing, she is excited to be spending her first summer at Jericho Beach Kayak working with students and running camps.

Rho is a Master’s student at UBC researching honey bee health. Her affection for outdoor adventure and the ocean brought her to kayaking.
Her favourite part about JBK is the community it fosters - from co-workers to our paddlers.
When she is not beekeeping she likes to backpack, bike, read, and cook vegan food. Rho is excited to return to the kayak hut as a basic instructor after spending a season with the rentals team.

Kayaking:
- Grounds me
- Connects me to nature and beautiful places
- Helps me unwind

I can relax while being physically active
AND I absolutely love to infect my students with the “KAYAKING BUG"

Rose has a deep love for the ocean and has been exploring that environment since childhood. In the past she travelled to warmer waters and instructed surfing in Australia before returning to Vancouver. Due to the lack of local waves, she began sea kayaking instructing in 2012. Since then, Rose has worked as a director, manager and instructor in various outdoor recreation and education organizations. She has had the privilege of supporting people to achieve personal and professional goals and is excited to help you achieve yours. During the last decade, she also enjoyed exploring the BC coast by kayak, most memorably in 2015 when she paddled with her partner from Bella Bella to Port Hardy one rainy September.

Born and raised in Egypt, Shahd spent her summers growing up by the ocean, where she developed a love for being in the water. Shahd's favourite activities include baking, reading, watching Netflix, and spending time outdoors. She moved to Vancouver two years ago after graduating with a BA in Psychology from UBC. She is looking forward to a summer of paddling, hanging by the beach, and working alongside all the fantastic people at Jericho.

This is Shams' first season joining the team at Jericho. The thing she loves most about sea kayaking? How it helps you to slow down, and appreciate nature from a different perspective - on water instead of on land. In her free time, you can find her reading comics, learning languages, or basket-weaving.

Growing up in Vancouver, Tomo was able to appreciate the various activities, between the mountains and the sea, that the city had to offer. After spending a decade in landlocked Alberta and several more years of indentured servitude to a family business, Tomo reconnected with Vancouver and the sea through kayaking. It was a serendipitous connection and Tomo was instantly hooked. Many kayaking trips and adventures later, Tomo's appreciation for kayaking was further enhanced when the opportunity to guide and instruct came up. For Tomo, Kayaking is a gateway to new experiences and self-examination.

Tony first fell in love with the outdoors in her early childhood in Bulgaria where she spent her summers by the Black Sea and the Balkan Mountains. If you ask her “mountains or sea?”, the answer is always “both” (which is one of the reasons BC feels like home to her). She first started to paddle on the Grand River in Paris, Ontario (her beloved home province). For her, the outdoors are a place to challenge herself and a gateway to self-discovery and self-knowledge. Recognizing that sports can be inaccessible, inclusion and equity are her north stars - she’s deeply committed to making the outdoors accessible and inviting to others. She’s excited to share her love for paddling and welcome others to the sport.

Warren discovered his love for kayaking when he and his family went on a guided 2 day trip in Johnstone Strait in 2020. Seeing humpback and orca whales, sea lions and intertidal marine life from a kayak hooked him.
Since then he has paddled in Desolation Sound, the Broken Group Islands and Howe Sound. A graduate of UBC Geology, he has been known to spend a bit too much time checking out rocks exposed along shorelines.
Recently retired from teaching high school Science, Warren is excited to be working with the Jericho Beach team to learn and to share his passion for paddling in the natural beauty of BC.