About Us

Atlantic Kayak Company was founded in 1995 by Judy Lathrop, who had just moved to the area from the West Coast and discovered that very few people were enjoying the Chesapeake by kayak. Judy was doing research to write a guide book for the area and decided to start a small kayak business to help people get out and enjoy the beautiful and diverse waterways of the Chesapeake.

In 1995, sea kayaking was so little known in the area, that most people thought of kayaking as something you do only at Great Falls, involving death-defying acts. To Judy, kayaking is a thoughtful, leisurely exploration of nature. To help tame the notion of kayaking and to lure people into this gentle sport, she founded the business as Atlantic Canoe & Kayak Company. Once people started kayaking with us, the canoe part of the name was dropped, and we are now doing business as Atlantic Kayak Company and only occasionally sell a canoe!

In 1997 we started a small retail business in an attic above Café Marianna in Old Town, Alexandria. At the same time, we were trailering our kayaks to one of our favorite locations, Piscataway Creek, in Fort Washington, Maryland.  We liked the Piscataway location so much that we decided to create an on-water center on Piscataway Creek, starting with a floating base, the Kingfisher houseboat.

The Alexandria store and the Piscataway Kayak Center grew into two outstanding operations,with people coming from far away to take advantage of our great selection and service for tours, instructional programs, kayaks, and gear. Our Alexandria store housed over 100 kayaks for sale, with a fully stocked accessories shop. Our Piscataway Kayak Center includes a large fleet of kayaks to service our classes, guided tours and rentals.

We closed our Alexandria store at the end of 2005 to re-focus our energies to the activities we enjoy most -- being on the water with wonderful people, sharing a wilderness experience just 30 minutes from the Capitol.

Currently we are expanding our programs to emphasize natural and cultural history and team building. We work with many educational and not-for-profit institutions as well as corporations and the general public to provide quality experiences. 

Our staff come from various walks of life, which makes being part of Atlantic Kayak Company a great experience, from both the guest and guide perspective. We receive many compliments about the professionalism and thoughtfulness of our staff and are very proud to have them as part of our company..

Before founding Atlantic Kayak Company, Judy was an environmental and energy lawyer. 

See you on the water!