Paumanok Tours was started out of a love of Long Island and a passion for kayaking. Every one of our guides is a local Long Islander, with a life-long affinity for paddling here. Both friendly and knowledgeable, our staff is guaranteed to make your time with us safe and enjoyable and to keep you coming back for more.
Our Staff
Kevin is the owner of Paumanok Tours and also their main guide. A native of Long Island, Kevin has been paddling its waters for over 20 years. He is an author of two kayaking guidebooks, is certified in American Red Cross First Aid and CPR, is an ACA-Certified Level-II kayak instructor, and teaches high school biology whenever he is not on the water.
Our Name
How did “Paumanok Tours” get its name? Well, Kevin would love to take credit for coming up with it. But the truth is “Paumanok” was the original Native American name for Long Island. Walt Whitman also used the name to describe his beloved island in the well-known poem “Paumanok.” So, when tasked with coming up with a name for a tour company that would celebrate Long Island and its waters, Kevin came up with “Paumanok Tours” as a tribute of sorts to the island’s early inhabitants, Walt Whitman, and all who call it home.
Sea-beauty! stretch’d and basking!
One side thy inland ocean laving, broad, with copious commerce,
steamers, sails,
And one the Atlantic’s wind caressing, fierce or gentle—mighty
hulls dark-gliding in the distance.
Isle of sweet brooks of drinking-water—healthy air and soil!
Isle of the salty shore and breeze and brine!
-Walt Whitman