Loch Ness Charity Paddle
Canoe or Kayak the length of Loch Ness, whilst raising money for your favourite charity
Are you looking for an epic challenge to raise money for your favourite charity? Do you want to complete the challenge with a friendly company – one that will support you from start to finish, ensuring a safe and fun day has been had by all? Are you willing to put in some hard graft, but reap the rewards afterwards as you tackle one of Scotland’s biggest lochs? If so, the Loch Ness charity paddle is for you!
No previous paddling experience is needed as our guides will have you in control of your craft in no time! Just a resilient attitude and a sense of adventure needed.
We asked this group at the start of the day to pose in the position they think they’d feel about their canoeing partner by the end of the day. Scroll down to the bottom to see if this was how their day actually panned out…
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
How far is the paddle?
34km (21 miles).
The wind is usually coming from the south-west, so we start in Fort Augustus and finish in Dores to keep the wind behind us. Dores has a lovely pub on its shingly beach for your post-paddle celebrations. If the wind direction changes from the norm, we may need to swap the start and end. If this is the case, we will contact you in the days leading up to your paddle so we can adjust plans.
How long will it take?
Most groups will paddle at the speed of around 4km per hour, which equates to 8.5 hours of paddling. On top of this we need to factor in rest stops. If we have a good tail wind behind us, that will massively increase our paddling speed. When booking, we will discuss what time you would like to start the paddle.
Why do we need a guide?
We always have a guide present during our Loch Ness charity events. Although we hope for calm conditions, Loch Ness can quickly become a very lively body of water, behaving like the sea. Your guide will make a huge difference in the success of your paddle. They will enable you to continue your journey in stronger winds, share tactics for team success, and of course, keep you safe with effective group management and swift capsize recovery (should a capsize occur). Your guide is also on hand to support any nervous paddlers and to help keep morale up if tiredness kicks in.
We appreciate this is YOUR charity challenge and we will keep the balance right with the amount of involvement we have. For some groups, they like the guide to remain as part of the team, only stepping in if needed for safety reasons. Other groups like to be fully led with the guide making the bulk of the decisions. We will chat to you beforehand and check in throughout the event to make sure we are getting the balance right for you.
What happens if we are struggling?
Your guide will have lots of tools up their sleeve to help struggling paddlers. One method might be offering the group the opportunity to get the canoe sails up. These are great fun and will keep spirits high! Another option may be to tie the canoes together to form a raft. This will enable tired paddlers to have periodic rests whilst stronger paddlers keep the momentum going. Or it might be as simple as offering you some sweets for a sugar rush!
Canoe or kayak?
Canoes (pictured) are paddled in pairs and are more versatile than kayaks. They have the ability to be rafted together in more challenging conditions and sails can be used in a tailwind. Kayaks are paddled solo and are faster in calm conditions. Most of these events are done in canoe, however we will discuss the craft choice during the enquiry stage to make sure we have the most appropriate craft for your group.
WHAT TO EXPECT
“We had a great experience doing a charity canoe trip of Loch Ness on 4th August 2022. We hired the kit and Reece joined us as a guide. We would not have been able to complete the trip in aid of MacMillan Cancer Support without Reece’s expertise. A huge achievement for us all and a lot of fun along the way” – Antony Pilkington (TripAdvisor)
Fun facts
Loch Ness is the UK’s most famous and talked about body of water. It’s so big, if you emptied every single drop of water from all of the English and Welsh lakes into it, you still wouldn’t be able to fill it! That equates to over 263 billion cubic feet of water. Another way of looking at it, you could put every single human on earth 10x over in Loch Ness and still have some room to play with!
For more fun facts on Loch Ness, including why it is one of the few Scottish lochs that doesn’t freeze over during the winter months and why it’s the perfect breeding ground for Nessie, you will need to get yourself booked in…
PRICES
£100 per person (minimum booking of 6 people)
PLEASE NOTE
- Under 18s must be accompanied by a parent or legally appointed adult
- Minimum age 15
- You must provide your own transport to and from the start and finish. We will discuss the best way of doing this during the enquiry stages of your booking
BOOK NOW
To discuss and book your paddle event, please contact us.
