Scottish Canoe Association's website - the official Association for Scotland, affiliated to the BCU.

Bing Maps will help you find places mentioned.

Ministry of Defense contacts for some of the military exercise areas are to be found in this discussion and this one.

See Scottish Naval Exercise Areas Information for information about Naval Activity in Scottish coastal waters. The site is divided into sections dealing with the QHM Clyde (Gareloch and Loch Long), the Scottish Exercise Areas (SXAs), Gunfacts (firing activity, particularly at the Cape Wrath Firing Range) and Subfacts, (submarine movements). See also the Ministry of Defence webpages for contacts, also referenced on the SCA site here.

Scottish Outdoor Access Code - Statutory Access Rights and the Scottish Access Code came into effect 9 February 2005. The Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003 grants some useful Rights & Responsibilities. Please exercise them appropriately.

Scottish Marine Wildlife Code has some thoughts and ideas on enjoying our natural wildlife.

Scottish National Heritage publishes useful information regarding protected species in Scotland - which includes seals, otters and dolphins etc. Includes links to maps showing designated seal haul-out areas which are best avoided.

Planning your first multi-day trip? Mark Rainsley's article "a Special Kind of Freedom" is essential reading.

Midges - if you're coming to Scotland, you may care to know more about our "national pest", the midge. Midges are without doubt the scourge of the Highlands! - The Midge Forecast could be worth looking at, as would this discussion on midge repellant and other strategies to keep the little darlings away (or not). This article by Simon Willis is worth reading too. I've found it helpful to take anti-histamine to stop the itching. You have been warned!

Ticks are another nasty creature - potentially very dangerous as they can carry Lymes disease, which you really don't want!

Undiscovered Scotland is an essential reference for anyone planning to visit.

Visit Scotland (the Scottish Tourist Board) confirms that Scotland has "the best sea kayaking in Europe". Their website page on watersports has a lot of background, some trip suggestions and good general advice, including a list of "operators". (Outfitters / guides to you and me).

Anyone planning to kayak from Scotland to Northern Ireland might find this information and annotated images, from local paddler and Postman John Ruston, extremely useful indeed.

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Kayak Trails / Route Plans / Guides to specif areas

Argyll Sea Kayak Trail - runs between Oban and Helensburgh.

Bute and surrounding area. Article by Roddy McDowell in OP and available on Simon Willis' site. Roddy's Guide to Bute is no longer live on Simon's site, see here.

Loch Katrine - Mike Dales' guide to access and use of the Loch (PDF).

Scottish Canals - factsheets from Scottish Canals with a lot of useful info. Includes the Caledonian Canal route which, while not a "sea" trip in the true sense of the word, is a long way on what can be challenging waters.

Other sites with routes / trip reports

Sean Morley paddled round all the inhabited islands of UK in 2004 - a stunning trip, well documented here.

SimonWillis.net by Simon Willis - Simon's blog, with links to his other websites, including some good trip reports on Scottish Routes.

Douglas Wilcox also has some superb photography and route ideas on The Scottish Sea Kayaking Photo Gallery and on SeaKayakPhoto.com. He's also posted a list of his 2008 trips.

Many of the bloggers have excellent pictures and write-ups of their trips - check the Other Sites page.

NWSK's web site has some reports on Scottish trips.

Swaledale Outdoor Club has some excellent illustrated trip reports covering trips in a variety of locations.

Great trip photos from Bolton Canoe Club of Knoydart, Staffa, Hebrides, Jura, Treshnish, Mull and Summer Isles.

"Canoe Boys" - this discussion has lots of info and links to Simon Willis' superb Radio Scotland series about the Canoe Boy's journey on the West Coast.

Song of the Paddle, although dedicated to Open Canoes, provides a useful reference to places to paddle.

Local info

Local Centres & Kayak Hire

Weather & tides

"Easy Reference Sheet" - Scotland - Summary sheet with paddling speed calculators, wind speed chart, CG contact & MSI Broadcast Times, Marine VHF channels etc

Loch Lomond & the Trossachs National Park. Note that there is a Byelaw restricting camping on much of the East side of the loch.

Falls of Lora - an interesting diversion if you want to play on moving salt water - near Oban. See also this website with tide-times, info and pictures.

Hebridean Whale & Dolphin Trust.

St Kilda Trip - Slideshow - stunning pics from a supported trip to St Kilda by NESKY.

West Word - the Community Paper for the Mallaig area and the Small Isles gives an insight into this part of the West of Scotland.

Culture Hebrides - a portal to the Hebrides, "a unique spiritual, civilised culture, the true heartland of the Gaels and the Gaelic language"

Corryvreckan - whirlpool-scotland.co.uk has a lot of interesting info and includes a useful page with spring tide dates and the relevant pilot for the Corryvreckan. Douglas Wilcox has transited the Corry many times, and this article on his blog will also be helpful.

Photography - Aerial photographs of Scotland. See also the great photos in the Charles Tait photo gallery. The Geograph project aims to collect geographically representative photographs and information for every square kilometre of Great Britain and Ireland - there are some useful coastal shots. Scotland 360 is run by Sngus Mackie, a sea kayaker, and has some fabulous images.

Isle of Colonsay website

Isle of Rona website has lots of detail about this unique island.

Isle of Mull website

Isle of Iona website

St Kilda website - also have a look at these awesome pictures from Angus Mackie's 2014 trip.

Isle of Jura website has a lot of information about the island, including several thousand images.

Isle of Rum website. Lots of information about Rum.

Orkneys' Official Tourism Website - a wealth of useful detail.

Shiants - superb website with a mass of current and historical info.

Lonely Isles - lovely site with details of abandoned or sparsely populated Scottish Islands.

The Scottish Islands Federation website includes a "virtual tour" of many of the 95 or so inhabited Scottish islands, and a list of island websites and links.

Bothies - the Mountain Bothies Association maintains a variety of bothies throught the UK. The UKBothies forum provides a mass of useful information.