The late June sun beats down on Scott Cunningham’s face as he hikes to the top of a cliff, guiding his
group of kayakers to a peak that overlooks the Bay of Exploits in northeast Newfoundland. Just as they reach
its crest, a deafening crack echoes through the silent bay — the side of an iceberg has split off, dropping
from the gargantuan glacial island and crashing down into the water below. Watching the iceberg — some 10,000
years old — equilibrate and seeing the waves roll in every direction from the sheer weight of the broken
chunk is one of the most vivid memories Cunningham can pull from his reservoir of the hundreds of kayak
excursions he’s taken off the coasts of Atlantic Canada.
“We watched as the iceberg started to roll and roll and roll,” says Cunningham, a wilderness enthusiast and
director of Coastal Adventures in Nova Scotia and Newfoundland. “To see it just roll over in front of us...
it’s the sort of thing you can explain and describe, but words are a poor substitute for experiences.”
The icebergs that float down the current in the springtime are just some of the many wonders that kayakers
experience while navigating Newfoundland’s shorelines, and Cunningham says that the majestic floes are simply
breathtaking up close. To witness the icebergs’ texturized surface that he compares to reptilian skin, watch
the glistening freshwater flow off as they melt in the sun and hear the hissing sound as the air escapes from
the compressed ice is a feeling that can’t be evoked by the cameras of any documentarian or National
Geographic photographer.
“People see icebergs as a picture, but really they’re like a movie — constantly in motion,” says Cunningham.
“The water is bouncing, and you might hear them sloshing back and forth. It’s amazing that I don’t have to go
to Greenland to paddle with icebergs. It’s like another world.”
From paddling alongside sunbathing seals lazing on rocks to exploring the little villages tucked away in the
coves that can only be accessed by sea, kayaking is one of the most up close and personal ways to experience
Newfoundland’s wilderness and age-old geology.
“Sea kayaking is not just about getting in a boat and paddling as fast as you can,” says Cunningham. “No,
it’s about exploring the natural history of Newfoundland. Away from the masses, you feel like you’re
discovering it for the first time. In Newfoundland, I can live under the delusion that I’m the only person
that’s ever been there.”
However, Cunningham says that kayaking in Newfoundland is not as popular as one would imagine — in fact, it’s
a bit of a well-kept secret to those outside of the province. But for those who have heard of Coastal
Adventures through word of mouth or stumbled upon its modest Paddler’s Retreat Bed & Breakfast in
Tangier, N.S., marked with a hand-painted wooden sign, it can be anything from an annual getaway from
bustling city life, to a once-in-a-lifetime adventure.
“Not enough people know about it, and that’s a shame,” says Cunningham, who notes that kayaks are dwarfed
both in size and popularity by the tour boats filled with vacationers itching to spot a whale in the
distance. “If my little business had 100 people a year, that would overwhelm us. But that closeness with
nature you can’t get in a bigger boat, it’s a different experience altogether. It’s more intimate.”
Cunningham describes paddling along with groups and having humpback whales pop up 30 feet from his boat — a
sight he’ll never be jaded by or take for granted. After a life-altering canoe trip decades ago, the
molecular biologist decided that he wanted to spend the rest of his life exploring the wilderness and passing
down the paddle to budding kayak aficionados.
“I realized I like being outside more than I like being in a lab,” he says, reminiscing about his decision to
leave his position at Laval University 30 years ago, trading in his pristine lab coat for a weather-beaten
lifejacket. “In a kayak, the history is right in front of you. I love reading the inscriptions on the
gravestones in the villages, romanticizing about the past.”
Those who think the kayaking experience is all Eskimo-rolling and braving white-capped rapids are in for a
pleasant surprise after climbing into their fibreglass vessels. Under the direction of Cunningham and the
rest of the Coastal Adventures team, excursions are equal parts socializing with the rest of the group around
a campfire, and mingling with the people who inhabit the villages that dot Newfoundland’s history-riddled
coasts. No matter how long the trip, the group members establish a bond with their guide, who takes pride in
showing them the lay of the land as well as playing witness to some of the province’s less predictable
happenings for the first time — like Cunningham’s unforgettable iceberg experience.
“You go to Newfoundland and the flavour of the culture is different. It’s bigger, it’s rougher, it’s wilder.
I know there are more people out there that would love this stuff that just don’t know about it or don’t
think they could do it. But if someone thinks that they’d like it, they would,” says Cunningham, every word
resonating with his passion for the sport and his home province. “They’ll find it more interesting than they
ever expected.” •
Photo courtesy Coastal Adventures (above)
