I'va hardly ever paddled a canoe, and I'm a relative beginner to kayaking, but I gotta say I love love love my kayak. Not my actual kayak as such, but the whole concept of this sleek, efficient thing you "put on" and steer by leaning and shifting, and that can pick up speed fast and pop happily through waves too. I don't think I'd be very happy in a canoe. The kayak I have now is already fairly narrow and fairly low-volume, but I'm still jonesing for a greenland kayak, very narrow and low-volume. I hate feeling like I'm sitting in the bottom of a bucket.