Celebrating over 35 years of " once in a life time" moments
HAPPY ANNIVERSARY! – 2024 will be Ocean Sound Kayaking’s 35th season of offering exceptional travel to amazing people from around the world – read their reviews.
Ocean Sound Kayaking began in 1989 with an incredible passion for the many cultural treasures and natural wonders of Haida Gwaii, British Columbia. We have spent well over 30 years – learning, listening, and connecting with the culture and people who have called these islands home and it is with great respect and honour that we acknowledge the unceded territory of the Haida Nation in which we operate our tours.
Ocean Sound Kayaking is a small family-owned business that prides itself by offering engaging, educational, and safe kayak tours on Haida Gwaii. We understand that the journey is as important as the destination, and it’s the small details that add to your experience. We don’t cut corners. We simply put our best effort into what we do. We always strive to improve, and this attitude mirrors us!
Meet the Owners
Steve: Since 1996, I have been calling the small town of Sandpit on Haida Gwaii my summer home, and after more than 25 years of guiding Haida Gwaii sea kayak tours, I am still as passionate as ever about the natural beauty of Haida Gwaii and its people. I am proud to say that over this time, I have logged the most kayak days in Gwaii Haanas than any certified kayak guide, while knowledge, familiarity, and safety are a few attributes that I pass on to my guests and OSK team annually.
The outdoors has always been a catalyst for me. Whether it is global travel, or at home in my backyard, I strive to embrace the importance of people, community and our responsibility for wild places.
Since my first visit to Haida Gwaii, I realized that I had found the ideal place to express these values, and I have never looked back…
I am one of only a few guides in BC to hold a Level 4 Lead Guide Certification with the Sea Kayak Guides Alliance of BC, and in the winter months I find rewarding work as a Heli Ski Guide and as an Avalanche Technician throughout western Canada. I am also a certified Ski Guide with the Association of Canadian Mountain Guides and a professional member of the Canadian Avalanche Association.
Lise: Having spent a large part of her youth being carted around from one adventure to another by her family, there is no doubt where Lise finds her inspiration for an active lifestyle. Her global travels have installed a passion for people, places, and wilderness. Today Lise maintains these passions and pays her upbringing and travels forward, not only to her own family, but to her classroom, where she teaches in our local community.
Over the past 20 years Lise has traveled on many adventures throughout Haida Gwaii. From these experiences, she has developed a deep appreciation for the wilderness, history, and culture. Lise can be found in the office where she holds the fort with logistics, meal planning, or answering that particular question you may have.
Our People
You are only as good as the people you surround yourself with. We are the perfect combination of people who love sharing with people, and people who simply love what we do!
Knowledge, familiarity, and safety are advantages we deliver from the most comprehensive guiding team on Haida Gwaii. The OSK Guide team represents over 5 decades of combined guiding in Gwaii Haanas, which is unmatched in Gwaii Haanas, and we have the reviews to prove it…
You will be engaged by people that do what they love and love what they do.
ABBEY WEISBROT
Lead Guide
Calling Haida Gwaii home since 2011, Abbey has been guiding in Gwaii Haanas since 2009, and with Ocean Sound since 2012. Over the years she developed an incredible passion and love for Haida Gwaii and enjoys sharing the natural and cultural beauty with others through guiding.
Abbey follows her passion of kayaking in beautiful places during the winter months in places such as the Southern Chilean Patagonia, Abel Tasman, New Zealand and Antarctica. For the past two seasons Abbey has also taken on the role as Expedition Leader thru the Canadian Arctic, and Antarctica.
When not spending time being active in the outdoors Abbey enjoys traveling, learning languages, cooking delicious meals and knitting handmade toques.
JANE WHITNEY
Lead Guide
Jane is a seasoned wilderness leader, and has been with OSK since 2012, although she started guiding in Gwaii Haanas well before the National Park was established, under her own company Whitney and Smith Legendary Expeditions. She has over three decades of guiding sea-kayak and hiking expeditions on Ellesmere Island, Baffin Island, Haida Gwaii, as well as in Patagonia. Experienced in expedition travel, she has led several private expeditions in the Canadian High Arctic, in Northwest Greenland, Tibet, and on the coast of southern Chile.
She has called the Canadian Rockies her home for more than 30 years and has explored extensively throughout the Western Mountains. She is also very fun to be with and has been lauded by many as a superb naturalist.
She is also a positive mentor for her daughter Navarana.
NAVARANA SMITH
Assistant Guide
From a young age, Nav could be found manning the food dehydrator or trying to keep up with her parents on self-propelled trips. A child of two biologists who ran an eco-tourism company, Nav grew up paddling in Patagonia, Haida Gwaii and Canada’s Arctic, before her first day of school.
Following her influences and passion, Nav has led biological fieldwork from Madagascar, Africa to Bella Bella, BC but not without fitting in opportunities to return as often as possible to Haida Gwaii!
Today, Nav is a wandering guide and biologist, who stores her dehydrator, skis & extra charts in Smithers, BC.
If you are lucky this summer you may have Nav and her mom – Jane Whitney as your guides!
Finn Steiner
Lead Guide – SKGABC Guide Trainer & Examiner
Apart from looking for new standing waves and exploring, Finn’s enthusiasm for paddling can only be matched by his passion for storytelling as a photographer and writer. With a primary focus on persecuted wildlife and expedition narratives, Finn can often be found behind the lens with a big smile on his face. Using photos as a medium to connect people with their environments has resulted with his work appearing on the cover of Ocean Paddler, with articles published in Paddle World, Sea Kayak Magazine, and Canadian Geographic. Finn lives in Ucluelet, Canada, mere minutes from the surf.
Rowan Jones-Pardy
Lead Guide – SKGABC Guide Trainer
Rowan Jones-Pardy grew up paddling with his family on Vancouver Island and across Canada, where he logged many hours in the middle seat of a triple kayak before graduating to his own boat. The time spent on the water in his childhood evolved into a love for all things water related and eventually into a career. After almost a decade of guiding and instructing under his belt, Rowan is a Level Three Guide, and Guide Trainer with the Sea Kayak Alliance of British Columbia, and has worked up and down the west coast of Vancouver Island, and in Haida Gwaii.
Rowan currently lives in the traditional territories of the lekwenjen and WSANEC peoples, where he spends his time surfing, and writing. Rowan’s many talents include telling long, dry jokes and remembering obscure facts about intertidal creatures.
Arron Slacker
Lead Guide – SKGABC Guide Trainer
Arron has always had one foot out the door. Growing up in a military family, he did his fair share of moving around Canada – getting to experience our nation from coast to coast to coast, before he was eligible for a driver’s licence. From these experiences – he was hooked, by the wonders of British Columbia’s west coast and has never looked back.
Creating a successful career in kayak guiding over the past decade, has provided him with numerous expeditions throughout Canada, New Zealand and Tasmania. Arron, shares his passion for kayaking as a mentor to other guides as a Guide Trainer with the SKGABC, an organization that instructs and certifies kayak guides in our industry.
Arron joined the OSK Team in 2022, and feels Haida Gwaii has presented him the ideal environment to express himself through the many natural wonders and cultural treasures found within the islands of beauty. Most recently Arron has decided to combine his passion for guiding with the pursuit of a biology degree at the University of Victoria. He’s always keen to share any and all the information he has about the world around him, the hard part is getting him to stop!
Arron will be Solo kayaking around Vancouver in May of 2024 raising money for his friend seeking life changing surgery. You can follow and donate his journey through his site – Slack Off Outdoors
Bryan Mac Donald
Assistant Guide
The OSK Team refers to him as B Mac. This local Haida Gwaii resident, works a few weeks a summer, when not playing the drums, hence why he’s the rock star of the team. This local has intimate knowledge of flora, fauna and the waters of Haida Gwaii.
Bryan grew up in Victoria, BC. He began his guiding career in 2011 at the age of 18, running water taxis and small boat tours in Gwaii Haanas during the summer. His work has taken him up and down the coast of BC and as far south as Antarctica, where he works as a kayak guide and zodiac driver in the Austral summer. He now lives full time on Haida Gwaii where you can usually find him on a stoke-filled adventure on the water, in the woods or in the mountains.
Marina Fabris
Assistant Guide
Marina grew up in Victoria, BC, and has been looking for sea anemones in the intertidal zone and dancing in rain boots for as long as she can remember. Having guided on both the East Coast and West Coast of Vancouver Island, Marina’s excited and feels grateful to be spending her summer with you in Haida Gwaii.
When she’s not paddling, she’s studying Marine Ecology and Environmental Studies at Quest University in Squamish where she’s pursuing her love of the ocean and its seaweeds.
Each day guiding, Marina’s honoured to bring people together on and off the water, and help them connect with the balance and peace of the natural world.
DISCOVER • DREAM • EXPLORE
Call: 403-609-5576 | Email: info@oceansoundkayaking.com