What Is a Wet Exit in Kayaking, and How Do You Practice One?

What Is a Wet Exit in Kayaking, and How Do You Practice One?

Kayaker paddling a sit-inside kayak with a spray skirt across open water

Safety guide Kayaking

A spray skirt keeps water out. The wet exit is how you get out from under it when the boat goes over.

Updated October 5, 20266 min readHow-to

A wet exit is how you get out of a capsized kayak that's fitted with a spray skirt: lean forward, pull the skirt's grab loop, push yourself out of the cockpit, and let your life jacket float you to the surface.

Established safety guidance

What paddling safety authorities say

  • Practice it before you need it. The American Canoe Association's Top 10 paddle-safety tips include "practice the wet exit": learn how to exit, hold onto, flip and re-enter a capsized boat.
  • Learn it from someone qualified. REI says it's essential to learn the wet exit from an experienced guide or instructor, and to practice in a calm, safe environment with a partner or lifeguard present until it's second nature.
  • Wear the life jacket, don't stow it. The National Center for Cold Water Safety warns that most people find it very difficult or impossible to put on a PFD once they're in the water. In the Coast Guard's 2024 boating statistics, 76% of fatal victims drowned where the cause was known, and where PFD use was known, 87% weren't wearing one. Kayaks accounted for 16% of deaths.
  • Cold water changes everything. The NCCWS says cold shock occurs in water below 60°F (15°C), starting with a huge involuntary gasp. If your head is underwater when you gasp, you can drown immediately.
  • After you surface, stay with the boat. Pennsylvania's Fish & Boat Commission says that if you capsize, hold on to your boat, unless it presents a life-threatening situation.

Sources: American Canoe Association; REI Expert Advice; National Center for Cold Water Safety; U.S. Coast Guard; Pennsylvania Fish & Boat Commission.

Does it apply to you?

Which capsize do you have?

The wet exit is specific to boats you sit inside with a spray skirt. Here's how it compares.

Your boat What a capsize involves
Sit-on-top kayakOpen deck, no cockpit No skirt to release. You come off the boat, then hold on to it and climb back on.
Sit-inside, no spray skirtOpen cockpit No skirt to release, but you still have to get clear of the cockpit while upside down. Practice it like a wet exit.
Sit-inside with a spray skirtTouring, sea, whitewater The full wet exit: release the skirt, then push out. This is the one to practice with an instructor first.

Organized by SKÖ. In every case, the ACA's advice to exit, hold onto, flip and re-enter the boat applies after you surface.

Before your first practice

Set it up so the only new thing is the capsize.

  1. An instructor, guide, partner or lifeguard is right there with you (REI)
  2. A calm, safe environment to practice in (REI)
  3. Your life jacket is on and fitted, not stowed (ACA, NCCWS)
  4. The skirt's grab loop is outside the coaming and in front of you (REI)

Step by step

How to do a wet exit

The sequence as REI Expert Advice and sea kayaking instructor Wayne Horodowich describe it. Read it here; learn it in the water with an instructor.

Lean forward, pull the loop, push out.

  1. Hold your paddle and take a breath

    As you go over, REI says to try to hold on to your paddle, without obsessing over it, and take a quick breath before you go under.

    Why: REI's point is to hang on if you can; a lost paddle can be retrieved after you surface.

  2. Lean forward

    Lean as far forward as you can, the "kissing the deck" position in REI's words. Wayne Horodowich, founder of the University of Sea Kayaking, notes that a panicked paddler will typically lean back instead of forward, then struggle for the surface.

    Why: leaning back is the common panic reaction; leaning forward is the position REI teaches.

  3. Find the grab loop by feel

    The grab loop belongs outside the coaming, in front of you.

    REI says to slide your hands forward until you locate the spray skirt's grab loop. Horodowich teaches his students to find it by feel rather than depending on eyesight.

    Why: underwater, you may not be able to see it.

  4. Pull the loop to release the skirt

    Grasp the loop and pull. REI notes that even a super-snug skirt will pop off with a firm yank. Horodowich sums up removing the skirt from the coaming in three words: grab, push and lift.

    Why: the skirt seals around the coaming lip, and the loop is how it's meant to come off.

  5. Knees together, push out

    Place your hands on the coaming next to your hips, bring your knees together to free them from the thigh braces, and push off the coaming, propelling yourself forward. Horodowich compares it to taking off a pair of jeans.

    Why: with the skirt released, your knees under the thigh braces are what still hold you in the boat.

  6. Surface and keep hold of the boat

    Your life jacket floats you up. REI says to retrieve your paddle if it got away and grab your boat; Horodowich calls staying in contact with paddle and kayak vital. From there it's time for a rescue: righting and re-entering the boat.

    Why: Pennsylvania's guidance is to hold on to your boat unless it presents a life-threatening situation.

Two different skills

Wet exit vs. rolling

A roll rights the kayak while you stay in the cockpit. A wet exit gets you out of it. They solve the same problem in opposite ways, and the wet exit comes first: it's what you fall back on if a roll fails, or before you've learned one at all.

The ACA's Level 2 assessment describes a passing wet exit as calmly exiting the cockpit after a complete capsize, and marks panic or bailing out before the boat is fully over as below standard. That's the goal of practice: a calm, unhurried exit you've done enough times that it isn't a surprise.

Dressing for the water matters too, since a wet exit puts you in it. See what to wear kayaking and how to choose a life jacket for kayaking.

Practice session

Before you tip on purpose

  • Instructor, partner or lifeguard within reach
  • A calm, safe practice spot
  • Life jacket on and buckled
  • Grab loop outside the coaming, in front of you
  • Dressed for the water temperature, not the air
  • Phone, keys and anything else valuable left on shore

Organized by SKÖ from the REI, ACA and NCCWS guidance above.

Questions

Wet exit FAQ

Do sit-on-top kayaks need a wet exit?

Not in the spray-skirt sense. A sit-on-top has no cockpit or skirt, so a capsize means coming off the boat and climbing back on. You still need to practice holding on to it and re-entering.

What if I can't find the grab loop?

Keep leaning forward and run your hands along the coaming toward the front. If the loop is tucked inside, lift the side of the skirt off the coaming edge instead. That backup is worth practicing with an instructor, so it isn't new on the day you need it.

What should I do with my phone when I practice?

Leave it on shore. On regular paddling days, our guide to keeping your phone dry while kayaking covers the options. If you're weighing small sealed bags, see how waterproof crossbody bags compare.

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