Paddle, Forage & Wild Camp
3 day expedition Arisaig Wild camp
What to Expect Forage and paddle, journey and learn, drink some Elderflower champagne and watch the sunset - wild food and kayaking just work so well together. We are very excited to be collaborating with Mark Williams - one of Scotland's leading wild food experts. Journey by sea kayak to remote beaches where we'll explore on foot, learning about and harvesting wild food, ready to paddle on and prepare an evening feast at our chosen wild camp.
Trip Highlights A three day sea kayaking expedition exploring the Sound of Arisaig, combining a sea kayak journey with foraging led by wild food expert Mark Williams.
- Journey by sea kayak in the Sound of Arisaig - our home waters have some excellent spots to wild camp and some stunning coastline to explore.
- Learn about wild food from an expert foraging teacher.
- Sip wild cocktails, learn how to harvest seaweeds and enjoy incorporating wild ingredients into our freshly prepared expedition meals.
- Perfectly suitable for beginners as full sea kayaking tuition will be given or experienced kayakers wanting to learn more about wild food.
Trip Grade:
Open
Open This trip is open to all those who are interested in foraging and wild food and combining that with a 3 day sea kayak expedition.
- Open to all levels of experience.
- You should be physically prepared for a 3 day sea kayak expedition, on this trip the amount of time paddling will be less than a standard three day expedition.
- A combination of foraging and sea kayaking - to get the most from this trip you should have a keen interest in both of these things, but no prior foraging knowledge is required.
Dates and Prices
This trip isn't running in 2024. We may run it again in future seasons - 2024 expeditions
Scroll down or click to see the trip story or the detailed trip information
*Journey & Forage - The real beauty of foraging is it helps you connect to a landscape in a whole new way. it gives you reason to lie in the grass, to poke your fingers through the earth in search of a pignut, to scramble over rocks and pick through layers of dulse - mix it with the random weavings of a sea kayak journey and you have the ideal antidote to nature-detached-modernity, a perfect little moment of wild escape.
Over the course of the expedition, you will receive expert tuition on how to find, identify, mindfully harvest, preserve, cook and enjoy a multitude of wild edibles. Highlights include shellfish, seaweeds, coastal succulent plants and maritime herbs.
Day One *Journey & Forage
| Meet Banavie at 08.30
| Sea kayak - Sound of Arisaig
| Stay - Wild camp
*Wild Camp & Wild Food - We'll spend 3 days journeying by sea kayak in the Sound of Arisaig - weaving between islands, exploring sea lochs and camping above remote beaches. All the time our expert forager Mark Williams will guide you to discover new things - Seaweeds, shellfish and maritime plants. He will teach you about identification, poisonous lookalikes, mindful harvesting, folklore/traditional uses, modern gourmet/medicinal uses, nutrition, processing, recipes and cooking tips - he is a font of knowledge!
We'll prepare meals from our finds, supplemented with our own supplies. You'll finish the trip brimming with new knowledge and refreshed from three days of journeying in good company with good food in a beautiful setting - what's not to like : )
Day Two & Three *Wild Camp & Wild Food
| Explore by sea kayak
| Stay - Wild Camp
| Trip ends - Banavie 18.00
Accommodation For this trip we will be wild camping for two nights - the Sound of Arisaig offers some fantastic options for this and we can usually find ourselves on an uninhabited island or above a remote beach. Tents can be provided (see kit list for full details), if booking as an individual you will not have to share a tent.
Food Includes meals - lunch on day one through to lunch on day 3. We can accommodate any dietary requirements if notified in advance. We will be foraging for wild food whilst out on the sea kayak expedition, meals will be a combination of wild food and food we have brought with us - we'll cook up some fresh and tasty dishes whilst wild camping. Mark Williams is the foraging expert joining us on this trip - a member of the Association of foragers and a full time foraging teacher and consultant. He has a wealth of knowledge and is great fun to work with, his website is an excellent resource on wild food: Galloway Wild Foods
Start and Finish Meet at Banavie at 08.30. Finish at 18.00 Banavie.
Kit List Our expedition kit list applies to this trip. All specialist kayaking equipment and camping equipment can be provided.
Dates and Prices
This trip isn't running in 2024. We may run it again in future seasons - 2024 expeditions
Frequently Asked Questions
Individuals, couples or small groups of friends.
Yes - a lot of learning about sea kayaking comes from experience and is best done as individuals on the move and in context. We won't spend time on long instructional briefings or static group skills practice during an expedition but will give you hints and tips on the journey to make it easier for you and suggest improvements to your technique as we go along. We'll help you develop your knowledge and sea kayak handling skill throughout the trip but also allow plenty of time simply to enjoy the journey and the experience of sea kayaking.
The weather on the West coast of Scotland can vary through the course of the season and from area to area - Scottish islands and coastline can see dramatically better weather and more sunshine than more mountainous areas on the West coast. The wind speed and sea state are the primary factors that affect the trip - if the conditions are difficult then we will seek out a more sheltered section of coast to run the trip. You should note that it is very rare that we have to stay off the water on multi-day trips and the vast majority of trips run as planned. For full terms and conditions see the link below. You can read more about the weather/cancellation/booking on our FAQ page.
A 25% deposit is required at the time of booking, the balance is due 6 weeks prior to the trip, for cancellation policy please see our full terms and conditions.
We have a much larger FAQ page that covers all aspects of sea kayak trips with us.
