Sea Kayak Trips in Arisaig on the West Coast of Scotland

Open  

To join this trip -

• You should be interested in completing journeys in a sea kayak exploring wild places.
• You need to be confident that you have the fitness to paddle a sea kayak as well as carry kayaks to and from and the water. We’ll take breaks and paddle at an achievable pace but the activity inherently involves sustained physical effort.
• You need to be confident and prepared for the physical and mental demands of an adventure sport - being active for a lot of the day, being out in the elements, being prepared to take on both easier and tougher sections of paddling as they may occur as part of the nature of sea kayaking.
• No sea kayaking experience is necessary, we’ll cover basic skill and then help you develop your skill and knowledge throughout the trip.

These trips are open to all levels of experience. The locations and route choice will be based on providing an enjoyable journey that is within the capabilities of a beginner but could be enjoyed by those with previous experience looking to explore as part of a guided group.

Typical minimum number of days experience - zero to any

How an individual client reaches the above experience fitness/knowledge and skill will vary greatly. 

• You may have no paddlesports experience but are interested in kayaking and have fitness gained from regular exercise or other adventure sports.
• You may have sea kayaking experience and are happy to join a mixed experience group and enjoy completing sea kayaking journeys exploring a new place.
• You may have other paddlesports experience or other kayaking experience and know from this experience that sea kayaking is something that will work for you.
• If you have no other paddlesports experience and don’t do regular exercise then this may not be suitable for you.

Open  

To join this trip -

• You should be interested in completing journeys in a sea kayak exploring wild places.
• You need to be confident that you have the fitness to paddle a sea kayak as well as carry kayaks to and from and the water. We’ll take breaks and paddle at an achievable pace but the activity inherently involves sustained physical effort.
• You need to be confident and prepared for the physical and mental demands of an adventure sport - being active for a lot of the day, being out in the elements, being prepared to take on both easier and tougher sections of paddling as they may occur as part of the nature of sea kayaking.
• No sea kayaking experience is necessary, we’ll cover basic skill and then help you develop your skill and knowledge throughout the trip.

These trips are open to all levels of experience. The locations and route choice will be based on providing an enjoyable journey that is within the capabilities of a beginner but could be enjoyed by those with previous experience looking to explore as part of a guided group.

Typical minimum number of days experience - zero to any

How an individual client reaches the above experience fitness/knowledge and skill will vary greatly. 

• You may have no paddlesports experience but are interested in kayaking and have fitness gained from regular exercise or other adventure sports.
• You may have sea kayaking experience and are happy to join a mixed experience group and enjoy completing sea kayaking journeys exploring a new place.
• You may have other paddlesports experience or other kayaking experience and know from this experience that sea kayaking is something that will work for you.
• If you have no other paddlesports experience and don’t do regular exercise then this may not be suitable for you.

Improver

To Join this trip -

• You should have some prior experience in a sea kayak - this should be recent enough to influence your current confidence and skill level.
• You should be prepared to join a group that doesn’t require basic instruction but is ready to build on existing skill and knowledge.
• You should be prepared to take on progressive conditions and longer journeys compared to intro level trips, typically between 8 and 15 km per day (daily distances will vary greatly) and look to build experience in wind and waves.

Typical minimum number of days experience - 1 to 10+

How an individual client reaches the above experience fitness/knowledge and skill will vary greatly.

• You may have recently completed at least a day paddling a sea kayak for several hours and finished the day very confident and ready to step up your paddling.
• You may have done a recent introduction type course where you gained confidence and skill and experienced a range of conditions or you may have experience based on multiple day trips in a range of conditions.
• You may have a substantial bank of experience from multiple trips and expeditions and are simply wanting to explore somewhere new or learn at your own pace. 
• You may have little sea kayaking experience but have transferable knowledge and skill gained from a good level of experience in another paddlesport such as white water kayaking, paddleboarding or canoeing.

Expedition Open

This trip can be enjoyed by those with a range of different experience levels/backgrounds.

To join this trip -

• You need to be confident that you have the fitness to paddle a sea kayak for four hours (with breaks) each day or to paddle roughly 15km in a day (actual daily distances and paddling times will vary greatly) as well as carry kayaks to and from and the water, pack equipment and set up camp.
• You need to be confident and prepared for the physical and mental demands of an expedition - being active for a lot of the day, being out in the elements, being prepared to take on both easier and tougher sections of paddling as they may occur as part of the nature of expeditions.
• You should ideally have some fundamental sea kayaking knowledge and skill - how to launch and land correctly, how to paddle forwards effectively, how to steer and control the kayak in some wind and waves, what to do if you capsise.
• You don't necessarily need to have sea kayaking experience but you should not be a complete beginner with paddlesports or adventure sports.
• You should have knowledge and awareness of how to dress for sea kayaking and the outdoors and be able to look after yourself out in the elements.
• You don’t need to have wild camping experience but general experience of camping will help you know this is the right trip for you.

Expeditions are always potentially more challenging than a guided day trip or day trips based course depending on the conditions.

Typical minimum number of days sea kayaking experience - 0 to 10+

How an individual client reaches the above experience fitness/knowledge and skill will vary greatly (numbers above are a rough guide - numbers of days experience will vary greatly).

• You may have done a recent introduction type course where you gained confidence and skill, coped well with paddling 10km or more in a day and experienced a range of conditions or you may have experience based on multiple day trips in a range of conditions.
• You may have a substantial bank of experience from multiple trips and expeditions and are simply wanting to explore somewhere new or learn at your own pace.
• You may have no sea kayaking experience but have transferable knowledge and skill gained from experience in another paddlesport such as white water kayaking, paddleboarding or canoeing.
• You may have no sea kayaking experience but have some paddlesports experience and plenty of other outdoor sports experience and fitness to draw on in order to know that an expedition is the right trip for you.
• With any paddlesports experience it’s important to consider whether it is relevant to your current knowledge and skill and ability to transfer that to the demands of a sea kayak expedition in Scotland. Examples of experience that may not be relevant - historical experience such as paddlesports at school, very casual experience such as renting a kayak on a sunny holiday, using a paddleboard on flat water close to shore.

If the above doesn’t fit with your experience then take a look at our courses, some of which are open to a much wider range of backgrounds and experience levels.

Improver & Above

This trip is open to Improver level kayakers and above and can be enjoyed by those with a range of different experience levels/backgrounds.

To join this trip -

• You need to be confident that you have the fitness to paddle a sea kayak for four hours (with breaks) each day or to paddle roughly 15km in a day (actual daily distances and paddling times will vary greatly) as well as carry kayaks to and from and the water, pack equipment and set up camp.
• You should have as a minimum fundamental sea kayaking knowledge and skill - how to launch and land correctly, how to paddle forwards effectively, how to steer and control the kayak in some wind and waves, what to do if you capsise.
• You need to be confident and prepared for the physical and mental demands of an expedition - being active for a lot of the day, being out in the elements, being prepared to take on both easier and tougher sections of paddling as they may occur as part of the nature of expeditions.
• You don't necessarily need to have lots of experience to gain the above confidence and skill but sea kayaking should not be new to you.
• You don’t need to have wild camping experience but general experience of camping will help you know this is the right trip for you.

Expeditions are always potentially more challenging than a guided day trip or day trips based course depending on the conditions.

Typical minimum number of days experience - 2 to 10+

How an individual client reaches the above experience fitness/knowledge and skill will vary greatly (numbers above are a rough guide - numbers of days experience will vary greatly).

• You may have done a recent introduction type course where you gained confidence and skill, coped well with paddling 10km or more in a day and experienced a range of conditions or you may have experience based on multiple day trips in a range of conditions or a mix of the above.
• You may have a substantial bank of experience from multiple trips and expeditions and are simply wanting to explore somewhere new or learn at your own pace.
• You may have a small amount of sea kayaking experience (for example 2 days) but have transferable knowledge and skill gained from a good level of experience in another paddlesport such as white water kayaking, paddleboarding or canoeing or have plenty of outdoor sports experience and fitness to draw on in order to know that an expedition is the right trip for you.