Sydney by Kayak paddles to third NSW tourism gold

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27 August 2026

Sydney by Kayak has become a favourite among North Shore locals and visitors looking to experience the harbour at sunrise.

Now the McMahons Point and Lavender Bay business has been recognised with the 2026 NSW Top Tour Guide award. Presented annually by the NSW Tourism Association, the awards recognise guides who bring the state’s destinations, stories and experiences to life. This year’s ceremony was held at Taronga Zoo.

It is Sydney by Kayak’s third gold award and the fifth time it has finished among the top three. The business has also twice won silver at the Australian Tourism Awards.

Founder Laura Stone established Sydney by Kayak in 2013 as a small operation focused largely on exercise. As its popularity grew, however, participants began swapping their Gatorade bottles for coffee cups. “People started sitting and enjoying coffee, and they stopped doing fitness,” Stone told the Sun. “I realised very quickly that there was a market for people who just wanted to watch the sunrise and enjoy coffee.”

Sydney by Kayak now runs up to six harbour tours a day and has become a popular attraction for locals and tourists alike.

NSW Tourism Association CEO Natalie Godward said tour guides did far more than lead visitors from one place to another. “They bring our destinations to life through their knowledge, storytelling, personality, passion and connection to place,” she said.

Environmental work has also become central to the business. “I was finding that we were all picking up rubbish in the mornings,” Stone said. “So I asked our kayak manufacturer to include a coffee cup holder on the front and a bucket holder on the back for the rubbish. We could enjoy a leisurely paddle, have our coffee, watch the sunrise and pick up rubbish.”

The team has since removed more than 43,000kg of rubbish from Sydney’s waterways and raised more than $103,000 for local conservation initiatives.

Earlier this year, Sydney by Kayak opened a shopfront at 208 Blues Point Road, formerly the Blues Corner Convenience store.

The site serves as the company’s operational headquarters and an environmental hub, featuring a waste station, educational spaces and an eco-products store.