Kay Lynn Hernandez is the owner of Wilmington Outdoor Adventures and has fifteen years of experience leading thousands of people on eco-tours in Wilmington and the surrounding areas. Kay Lynn is a certified ACA Kayak Instructor. Also certified in Wilderness First Aid for your safety, she is a seasoned kayak guide having guided in the Florida Keys as well.
Kay Lynn managed three nature parks (a Marine Park, National Park and botanical garden) on a tiny Caribbean Island for several years before moving to southern Louisiana where she worked as a Biologist/Project Manager for a major consulting firm. She directed environmental education and managed projects for a non-profit in southern North Carolina for over a decade before launching Wilmington Outdoor Adventures in 2021.
Kay Lynn received the YWCA's Women of Achievement Award (Environmental) in 2016 and currently serves on the Eagles Island Central Park Task Force and the Cape Fear Professional Paddlesports Association. She is on the Board of Directors of Muddy Sneakers, which is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit outdoor science education program serving North Carolina’s fifth-grade public school students. She works for the National Center for Outdoor & Adventure Education as a field instructor when needed throughout the year.
Kay Lynn worked for The Nature Conservancy in 2021 as Preserve Manager of Palmyra Atoll, one of the most remote and pristine places in the world. The preserve is established to protect an endangered marine wilderness and serves as a platform for conservation science.
Listen to WOA owner, Kay Lynn Hernandez, in this local NPR Interview: CoastLine: Palmyra Atoll, in the center of the Pacific Ocean, offers scientists a pristine ecosystem for study | WHQR
Alayna Moore
Lead Adventure Guide
Passionate about sustainability and climate action, Alayna believes that the more people connect with the natural world the more they will want to care for it. This sentiment is represented in her education. With a Bachelor degree in biology and a Master of Science in Climate Change and Society, she has developed skills for outreach and education that aid in her ability to provide knowledgeable eco tours that aim to leave paddlers with information about the history and ecosystems that they can take with them beyond the waterways.
With a deep background in water sports, she is stoked to get more people out in it! She grew up behind boats in the midwest wakeboarding, wakesurfing, skiing, tubing, and most of all falling off of the list of above items. She also spent summers kayaking and canoeing in Sugar Creek which runs through Turkey Run State Park in Indiana. Beyond boating, she swam competitively, ending her career upon graduation from Barton College in 2020. Alayna has also been trained as lifeguard and has provided swim lessons for a variety of skill levels ranging between those who can not swim to those entering the competitive swimming scene.