Alli and Justin are the owners and guides of Shurr Adventures Company, which they started 18 years ago in Everglades National Park. It has since grown to Yellowstone National Park and the newest National Park, their hometown park, the Indiana Dunes. They have safely guided and instructed thousands of people of all ages and experience levels on how to kayak on their tours in the Everglades and at Yellowstone. Both Alli and Justin have backgrounds in naturalist guiding and have guided throughout the country, even before they started their company, acquiring a lifetime of guiding experience that helps them plan the perfect adventure. The Shurr Adventures team of naturalists and adventurers strive to make lasting memories for our guests and to give our guests the vacation of a lifetime!
The Shurr's Story
They met on the romantic and beautiful island of Catalina while working as marine science instructors....
Justin started his guiding career around 20 years ago as a raft guide in Tennessee and never looked back. He got a Bachelor’s Degree in Geography and Photography at East Tennessee State University. In the summers he guided on some of the toughest Class V wild and scenic rivers in North Carolina, Tennessee, West Virginia, Colorado, and Costa Rica. When not on the river, Justin was a naturalist in the Redwoods, Michigan, Catalina Island, Costa Rica, Colorado and many other places. Alli and Justin opened up the Everglades operation within 6 months of getting married, then Yellowstone, and last but not least the Indiana Dunes National Park branch of Shurr Adventures.
Alli studied Ecology and Marine Science at Seattle University and worked as a naturalist for the Seattle Aquarium for over five years, where she taught visitors and student groups about marine life and Seattle's surround areas. During the summers she worked as an interpretive naturalist on whale watching cruises and as a tide pool naturalist at local Seattle beaches for many years. She studied Tropical Marine Ecology in the Turks and Caicos Islands for three months, diving and snorkeling for class. After she graduated college she continued working as an outdoor educator on Catalina Island where she met her husband Justin. On Catalina Island she led snorkeling, sea kayaking, and hiking trips. Alli has taught and guided outdoors for the past 18 years all over the U.S. and in Costa Rica.
After Catalina, Justin and Alli got into the car and drove to Colorado to work for the summer on the rivers in Colorado. After that summer, and 6 months after they met, the two wed in true outdoor fashion on the beach of Lake Michigan in the fall. Alli hiked through the woods with her parents to the wedding ceremony, and Justin wore rafting gear over his wedding attire and paddled to meet his parents on the shore as they walked him to meet his future wife and business partner. For over 14 years we have been able to live our dream of owning our own business and showing guests from all over the world the Everglades, Indiana Dunes, and Yellowstone National Parks the “Shurr Way”.