Loch Carron – A Sea Kayak Among the Mountains
A few hours.
The route
Loch Carron is one of the great sea lochs of Wester Ross, ringed by mountains and sheltered enough for a first go in a kayak.
Mountain and Sea Guides run short sessions from the golf club at Lochcarron: a lesson on the shore, then out along the head of the loch, with seals often close by on the longer trips. Children can come from the age of five, sharing a double kayak.
Before you go
Book accommodation nearby
If you are staying over: here are ours nearest where the day starts and ends.
The nearest of ours is Rhuroin, 11 miles away. Sleeps 3.
Then The Net Store in Ardheslaig, 12 miles away. Sleeps 4.
Book a Sea Kayak Taster (two hours, £35 a person at the time of writing, from age 5) or a half-day tour (£48, from age 8) with Mountain and Sea Guides by emailing first to check space on your date (the address is on its page), then the booking form; the short sessions run to late October.
The day
Lochcarron
Two hours among the mountains, in a stable kayak with a guide beside you.
About two hours
Mountain and Sea Guides
Mountain and Sea Guides meet at their kayak base in the golf club car park, at the east end of Lochcarron village, where parking is free and there's a café. The Sea Kayak Taster takes two hours, £35 a person at the time of writing: a lesson on the shore, then a short paddle along the head of the loch. For longer, the half-day tour (three to four hours, £48, from age 8) heads up the loch to the coves, beaches and islands, past the seal colony on Sgeir Chreagach. Those times include kitting up and rinsing the gear, not only time afloat. Children from 5 and adult beginners paddle a stable double kayak; anyone with a little experience can take a single. Sessions are shared with other people, and they go ahead in rain; if it's windy, the guides take the kayaks by trailer somewhere sheltered. The short sessions run through the kayaking season, which ends in late October, so from November to March ask before you plan on one.
If it rains
Sessions go ahead in rain, and the guides move to sheltered water by trailer when it's windy.
Photographs by Marja Vanderbaan and Rick Ford via Google