Meet the Kingfisher Team
It is truly our kayak guides and support staff that make the company. They turn a good trip into a fantastic trip. Most of our kayak guides have been with Kingfisher for years and it is because of them that we have many guests returning year after year.
“It actually felt more like being on a trip with friends than with guides. They were of course great guides, cooks, and paddlers, but it was other things that really made the trip special.” K.A. from USA
All of our kayak guides are certified with the Sea Kayak Guides Alliance of British Columbia. As a company we encourage and support our guides in continually improving their kayaking, interpretive and leadership skills to in turn offer you the best kayaking vacation possible.
Considering joining the Kingfisher team? Check out our employment opportunities page.
Andrew Jones
Owner and Level 3 Kayak Guide
With over 30 years of kayaking on both the east and west coasts of Canada, Andrew eagerly shares his passion for kayaking and the wilderness with our guests. As owner of Kingfisher, Andrew’s goal is to ensure all guests have a fantastic time on whichever trip they choose.
Andrew is a past president of the Sea Kayak Guides Alliance of British Columbia, is president of the North Island Marine Mammal Stewardship Association, chairs the Vancouver Island Tourism Advisory Committee, and is a board member of Tourism Vancouver Island.
Andrew is a Certified Level 3 Sea Kayak Guide with the Sea Kayak Guides Alliance of British Columbia and a Level 1 Sea Kayak Instructor and hold Level 4 Sea Kayak Skills with Paddle Canada.
Austyn Arseneault
Operations Coordinator
Austyn is a student at Capilano University, going into her third year of a Tourism Management Bachelors Degree with a diploma in Outdoor Recreation Management under her belt. Originally from Alberta, she grew up surrounded by the mountain, lakes, rivers and vast prairies. Yearning for adventure – she found herself here on the beautiful west coast of British Columbia.
Austyn has previous experience working in an operations position at the Broken Islands Lodge and is excited to apply and expand her knowledge along side a team of likeminded individuals! Aside from her previous experience in operations, she is also certified as an Assistant Overnight Kayak Guide.
Laurel Archer
Level 3 Kayak Guide
2023 is Laurel’s eigth season guiding with Kingfisher. She’s always super excited to head to the Broughtons, the Great Bear Rainforest and Haida Gwaii to share some of her favourite BC trips! Currently living on Vancouver Island, Laurel’s paddled rivers and coasts from Central America to Asia, and the Arctic and South Pacific over the past three decades. Besides writing a thesis for her Masters degree in Education, she’s penned three guidebooks. She’s a member of the International Explorers Club and Royal Canadian Geographical Society, inducted for her work exploring and documenting historic and lesser-known waterways and promoting their conservation.
A SKGABC Level 3 Sea Kayak Guide with a Class 4 Waters Endorsement, a Guide Trainer and Examiner and a Paddle Canada Level 2 Skills Sea Kayak Instructor, Laurel also works as a river guide and teaches canoeing and kayaking for a number of adventure guide programs.
Carter Arlette
Level 3 Kayak Guide
2023 is Carter’s fourth season working with Kingfisher, and he is excited to be out on the water in the traditional territories of the Kwakwaka’wakw and Haida First Nations. A lifelong paddler, he migrated from the lakes and rivers of the Rockies to pursue his love of the ocean and coastal exploration. Since landing, he has explored much of the west side of Vancouver Island and the Central Coast.
With a focus on personal connections to wildlife, natural environments and historical spaces, Carter looks to promote our respectful and informed interaction with the peoples, lands and animals we visit on our trips.
A certified Level 3 Kayak Guide and Guide Trainer with the Sea Kayak Guides Alliance of BC, Carter also holds a degree in Eco-Tourism and Outdoor Leadership from Mount Royal University, has had a thriving career as an outdoor educator, and is a pre-service teacher at Vancouver Island University.
Kelly Uren
Level 3 Kayak Guide
2023 is Kelly’s sixth season with Kingfisher and 10th season kayak guiding. Living and playing in the mountains and ocean of BC is where she thrives. Her passion for adventure, outdoor recreation and environmental pursuits has allowed her to curate a diverse life as a guide, educator and instructor. Conservation through education and celebration is a value Kelly oozes in her daily life. From culturally significant plants to breaching humpbacks, Kelly’s enthusiasm for the natural world is contagious and unwavering
While not paddling in British Columbia, Kelly can be found guiding in the polar regions, teaching in schools and in outdoor education, hiking along BC’s coastline or in the Rockies, snowboarding or snorkeling, organizing a mountain film festival or attending a music festival, and spending time with family and friends.
Kelly is a Level 3 guide with the Sea Kayak Alliance of BC and a certified Paddle Canada Level 1 instructor. She has a diploma in Outdoor Recreation Management, an under graduate degree in environmental studies and a Bachelor of Education in education for sustainability.
Joanne Nicolson
Level 3 Kayak Guide
2023 is Jo’s second season guiding with Kingfisher.
Jo is a true barnacle, having lived on Vancouver Island all her life. Her passions include kayaking anywhere and everywhere around Vancouver Island and coastal BC, camping, hiking, teaching, cooking, and her cats. She enjoys sharing her enthusiasm for observing and learning about the diverse wildlife we observe on our trips. Jo teaches in an elementary school in Victoria, and coaches kayaking on her ‘days off’. She has been guiding for 14 years.
Jo is a Level 3 SKGABC guide, Level 4 Paddle Canada skills, and Level 2 Paddle Canada instructor. She is a member of SISKA (Victoria kayak club).
Renée Baron
Level 2 Kayak Guide
2023 is Renée’s sixth seasaon guiding with Kingfisher. Renee Baron has been working for Kingfisher since 2013. In addition to guiding, she is also a BC certified teacher with an Environmental Education Master’s in Curriculum and Instruction, owner of DV8 Education (which offers nature connection opportunities), and outdoor environmental educator. She loves to travel internationally, explore wild places, and take on community building initiatives. Maintaining a solid yoga and meditation practice are essential to her daily routines as are activities such as gardening, writing and spending quality time with her family.
Brenda Blakely
Level 2 Kayak Guide
2023 is Brenda’s third seasaon guiding with Kingfisher.
Alex Howard
Level 2 Kayak Guide
2023 is Alex’s second seasaon guiding with Kingfisher.
Kelsie Maas
Level 2 Kayak Guide
2023 is Kelsie’s seventh seasaon guiding with Kingfisher. Born and raised in Alberta, Kelsie came to British Columbia in 2010, exchanging seas of wheat for the cold, dark seas. What draws Kelsie to paddling on the British Columbian coast is the incredible life that is found here. From the depths of the oceans to the overgrown forests to the people, both past and present, life is rich and abundant. When she is not kayaking, Kelsie can be found in Kamloops, British Columbia, enjoying life in the mountains and working for the Thompson Rivers University’s Adventure Studies Program.
Kelsie is a graduate of Thompson Rivers University’s Adventure Studies Program and is a certified Level 2 guide with the Sea Kayak Guides Alliance of BC.is
Level 2 Kayak Guide
Zachary Taylor
Level 2 Kayak Guide
2023 is Zac’s fifth season guiding with Kingfisher.
Lauren VanderPloeg
Assistant Overnight Kayak Guide
2023 is Lauren’s first seasaon guiding with Kingfisher.
