Who we are
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Odysea
We are a local, sea kayak outfitter operating all year round at Kefalonia, Ionian Sea, and Attica, Aegean Sea, Greece. Here, a range of customisable experiences & sea kayaking adventures, such as sea kayak multi-day trips, expeditions, skills development courses, as well as British Canoeing (PaddleUk) Sea Kayak Personal Performance and Leadership training & assessment is available.
Our approaches, which foster participants’ learning and development, have always been some of the remarkable qualities that proudly set our experiences apart as exceptional.
Odysea’s premises have been chiseled by participants’ experiences, feedback, and inspiring takeaways through the years, nowadays focusing on delivering authentic, developing, inspired & inspiring sea kayaking experiences.
Our gear quality and range reflect and support this ethos of providing vision, support, and challenge to all participants.
Established in 2012, we are excited to consistently exceed participants’ expectations ever since!
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George Gazetas
Every new day in the outdoors keeps making me more passionate and fascinated with guiding and supporting paddlers’ development!
In a nutshell, born and raised in Athens, Greece, I grew up with a passion to race go-karts, and I initially followed studies in mechanical engineering. I’ve worked as a team-building, corporate, outdoor event facilitator and, soon after, as a white-water raft guide in the mountainous western Greece (Epirus) in my early 20s. Falling for the charm of outdoor activities, adventure sports coaching, and sea kayaking, in particular, was meant to be!Driven by perpetual urges for deeper understanding, I keep up with learning and professional development, now gratefully holding the British Canoeing Coaching Diploma along with an MSc in Sport Performance Coaching (with distinction) from the University of Stirling (2025). My prize-winning project (UoS, research-based learning) “Presenting as a Guide, Thinking as a Coach: An Autoethnographic Investigation of a Sea Kayak Leader’s (Meta)cognition and its Implications”, has admittedly fuelled my interest in further research in the fascinating world of adventure sports.
Sea kayaking has taken me to incredible places, blessed to frequently experience the special moments of the coastal environment’s natural, often even mesmerising and mystical beauty. Even more rewarding prove to be the unique moments of mutual appreciation, inspiration, learning, and growth between students, guests, participants, and colleagues along this journey of many nautical (s)miles and meaningful interactions.
As the former Head of Sea Kayaking committee (2021-2024) and current board member for Hatta Outdoors (Hellenic Association of Outdoor Activities Companies), I have been significantly involved in the development of the professional Sea Kayak Guides’ (animators) accreditation scheme in Greece, endorsed by ESYD (Hellenic Accreditation System).
I invite you to our world, full of special moments, deep learning, and life experiences, while I pursue exciting opportunities in navigating a philosophy, which I nowadays center on embracing the dynamic nature of all fascinating dimensions that define a great sea kayaking experience, and life itself.
Why
We seem to do particularly well at:
Leading paddlers as active, informed, and engaged participants (rather than passengers) in the experience.
Supporting and facilitating participants’ learning and development in every experience we offer.
Coaching and mentoring the whole, diverse range of individual performers, leaders, and coaches.
(Re)organising to share with our participants the best possible experience, a particular day and venue can deliver
Doing so with a smile, deep passion, and… some very questionable sense of humor!
Providing a range of top-notch british sea kayaks
As well as a big range of glass & carbon Werner paddles
Top quality camping gear from MSR, Marmot, 7H
ensuring a comfortable camping experience
gear from PeakUk, Marmot, MSR, HF, Palm and other leading manufacturers.
Paddling kit from PeakUk, Palm, Kokatat, HF
Sharing Well maintained and perfectly functional equipment
Equipment
At Οdysea we strongly believe that quality, in all respects, is fundamental. Therefore, we do our best to supply with paddling and camping equipment that meets our high quality standards: Selected based on suitability / best performance, reliability and comfort, our fleet from top manufacturers like P&H, Necky, Valley and Prijon, paddles from Werner Paddles and kit from PeakUk, Hf, Lomo, Kokatat, Palm, Reed and other top suppliers contribute to ensure that we offer you sea kayaking experiences the way we want them to be shared. Our camping equipment from MSR, Marmot, Thermarest, 7H means that tents, sleeping bags, mats and the rest of the kits make our wild camp nights exceptionally pleasant and comfortable.
Testimonials
Les & Kathrin, UK
My wife and I did not have any sea kayak experience. We are both active, in our sixties and needed to be more comfortable in kayaks ready for an adventure we have planned. Immediately before the 3 Star course with George at Odysea (Greece), we started with two one-day trips with Kefalonia Kayaks which were very enjoyable and well run, and can also be highly recommended. We then did a 4 day course with George plus the assessment day. George lived up to his reputation as a passionate kayaker who really wants his students to develop skills and the enjoyment of kayaking. From the start he set the appropriate pace, was patient, informative, and not time constrained. He stretched those in the course as appropriate whilst not pushing those who were uncomfortable going too far out of their comfort zone. He is both very competent and very likeable. His student assessment notes were comprehensive and useful. A highly rewarding 5 days and we had a great time. We will plan to kayak with him again if the opportunity arises.
George Ladyngakis, North Greece
I wanted to thank you for the beautiful come-together, as well as the whole educational process and of course the successful outcome. During the days of the training, your balancing between being a serious coach and having a friendly attitude, as well as your high level of expertise, all contributed positively both to my learning as well as to my mood. Congratulations also for the new equipment that you offer (clothes, boats, paddles, etc.), as it contributes to the respect and the value of the sport.
