Trip Ref #10440
DURATION
LOCATION
ANNUAL LEAVE
SEASON
GROUP SIZE
MEETING POINT
ACCOMMODATION
Wild camping
DIFFICULTY
You'll need to be fit but no kayaking experience is needed. Just be sure to bring a love of wild camping and being out in the elements
Kayak through calm crystalline sea along Corsica's dramatic south coast to hidden coves and remote bays
Wild swim in dreamy waters, sleep in an old lighthouse and bivvy on white sand beaches under the stars
A wild week out in the elements, washing in the sea each morning and cooking dinners on the beach as the sun goes down
Day 1
Welcome to Corsica
Kayaking
Meet your host at Ajaccio Airport and head straight to the Gulf of Ajaccio. Load up the kayaks and go through a briefing with your guides before practising your paddling around the rocks of the Castagna peninsula. The expedition gets underway with a paddle to Arena Rossa, dinner and a night on the beach for your first taste of Corsican bivvying.
Day 2
To Cala di Muru
Kayaking
Wake up beneath your bivvy for the first time, grab an early morning swim and breakfast before paddling to Valinco Bay, exploring the coastline and reaching a little cala of sand in the heart of the rocky cathedral of Capo di Muro. Tuck into lunch and enjoy a short swim in the turquoise sea, then continue on between rock formations and small sandy coves before spending the night on the beach of Cala di Muru.
Day 3
Porto Pollo fishing village
Kayaking
In the swing of things now, set off for a day of paddling, alternating between the dark basalt rocky capes and turquoise bays lined with white sand. Relax for lunch in the shade of the Corsican pines in Cupabia Bay, before paddling on to the charming fishing village of Porto Pollo where you'll spend the night on one of its beautiful beaches.
Day 4
Cross the Gulf of Valinco
Kayaking
Paddling further south as the coast gets wilder, you'll cross the Gulf of Valinco enjoying an amazing paddle past cliffs and tafoni rock formations. Enjoy a relaxed lunch and swim on the gorgeous beach of Portigliolo. You'll pass some amazing granite rocks in the afternoon before reaching Campomoro for tonight's bivvy spot.
Day 5
Heading further south
Kayaking
Wake, swim, eat, paddle, repeat. Load up the kayaks and head south, stopping for a while at the picture-postcard beach of Cala di Conca. This afternoon the landscape changes radically as you approach the cliffs at Capu di Senetosa, a beautiful cape formed by thousands of years of coastal erosion. You'll spend the night in a former lighthouse on the cape with incredible views over the Mediterranean.
Day 6
Erbaju Beach
Kayaking
Wake up in the lighthouse, enjoy breakfast with a view and stretch your legs around the cape before hitting the water again, reaching Tizzano to stop for supplies before heading to the beautiful beach of Erbaju. This part of Corsica is famous for its crystalline waters which you'll soak up this afternoon, paddling around the coves for sumptuous swim spots and finding one last wild camp spot for your final night sleeping out beneath the stars.
Day 7
The final stretch
Kayaking
Wake up for the last time in a secret Corsican cove, and dive in the sea for a final morning swim before packing up and loading the kayak for the final push. You'll paddle past an amazing series of rock formations, including the famous lion of Roccapina and its wonderful bay. Kayak on to Olmeto Tower (a Genoese ruin) and your final stop, Fornello Bay, where your adventure comes to an end. Your host will drive you from here back to Ajaccio in time for your onward flight in the evening, or drop you off in town if you are staying on longer in Corsica (as you well should!).
Included
Guides
Local, English-speaking kayak guides
Accommodation
6 nights wild camping
Meals
Munch on tasty local food throughout
Transfers
To and from the airport and everything in between
Equipment
All your kayaking equipment and tarp setup for bivvying
Permits
All permits
Not Included
Flights to and from the meeting point
Travel insurance
Personal expenses
Tips for your guides
Some meals as described
Visas where required
Day 1
Breakfast
Lunch
Dinner
Day 2 – Day 6
Breakfast
Lunch
Dinner
Day 7
Breakfast
Lunch
Dinner
What is the food like?
Breakfast on the beach each day, with coffee and orange juice, bread with marmalade and honey, and 'quatre quart' - a type of classic French cake. Lunches are always a big salad with a rice, semolina or pasta base with various vegetables. Dinners at your beachside bivvy spot each night are always a hot meal, such as ravioli, potato gnocchi or seafood with rice and sauce. Vegetarians, vegans and other dietary requirements and allergies can be catered for with prior notification - please just request on your passenger info form. Note as you'll be camping on beaches the meal options can be limited and those with very specific dietary needs may wish to bring additional snacks with them on the trip.
What is the accommodation like?
Bivvying on beaches
Tents are forbidden on beaches in Corsica, so you'll be bivvying on this trip! Your host will provide tarps to set up each night to sleep beneath, however, if the weather is clear you can sleep directly outside, falling asleep beneath the starry skies with the water lapping at your feet. You'll be sleeping on sandy beaches, except on Day 4 when you'll sleep in a former lighthouse. You'll need to bring your own lightweight sleeping mat and all-season sleeping bag - see the kit list for more detail.
The Area
Logistics
Starts
Ajaccio Napoleon Bonaparte Airport
14:30
Ends
Ajaccio Napoleon Bonaparte Airport
16:30
Transfers
Your host will meet you at Ajaccio Napoleon Bonaparte Airport at 2.30 pm Day 1 and whisk you off to the Gulf of Ajaccio to start your adventure. On Day 7, your host will drop you back at the airport at 16:30 in time for any flights departing after 19:00.
Travel options
There are numerous flights to Ajaccio from across the UK and Europe, usually via Paris, Nice or Geneva.
For travellers who are keen to avoid flying, Corsica is reachable via a combination of train and ferry via a few routes. An example route would be taking the Eurostar from London St Pancras to Paris and then through France on the TGV high speed rail to Marseille St Charles. From Marseille, Corsica Linea operate an overnight ferry service from to Ajaccio, departing at 7.15pm. You can book either a seat or a cabin with beds. The journey takes 11 hours and you'll arrive at Ajaccio at 6.15am.
If you are arriving in Corsica before the adventure, or staying on longer at the end, there are local buses from Ajaccio Central Bus/Train Station to the Airport taking about 30 minutes for the journey.
Enjoy 12.5% Off Outdoor Gear
In need of a few more items? All bookings receive a 12.5% discount to use at Cotswold Outdoor, Snow + Rock and Runner's Need.
What's included?
- Single or double sea kayak
- Paddle
- Life jacket
- Sprayskirt
- Dry bag
- Safety equipment
- Tarp for bivvying
- Group cooking equipment
What do I need to bring?
BAGS
- Main pack
- Drybag for your phone, camera and other valuables
CLOTHES
- Windproof jacket for the odd windy days
- Fleece jacket or sweater for evenings
- Buff or neckscarf
- Lightweight trousers/shorts/skirts
- T-shirts
- Underwear
- Swimwear
- Sunglasses (with strap)
- Sunhat
- Something to sleep in
- Sandals/beach shoes
- Trainers/crocs or similar for the kayak
EATING
- Bowl and plate
- Camping cutlery or spork
- Flask
SLEEPING
- Cotton or silk sleeping bag liner
- Lightweight packable sleeping bag (all season)
- Lightweight packable travel pillow
- Lightweight packable Thermarest or sleeping mat
OTHER
- Power bank or solar charger
- Passports (and visas)
- Travel Insurance documents
- Insect repellant
- Suncream
- Sea water soap
- Personal first-aid kit
- Personal items (biodegradable toiletries, sanitary wear etc)
- Toilet kit (toilet paper, biodegradable bags to carry paper out to dispose of)
- Quick-dry towel
- Headtorch or torch
- Reusable water bottle (1 litre)
- Biodegradable wet-wipes
- Energy bars and snacks - read our article on Best Hiking Snacks
No optional extras are available for this trip.
The host/guide Jeremy, was so incredibly experienced that it made the trip come together almost unnoticed. He was always making adjustments and plans based on the weather and group attitude. He really made it the best trip possible. If all the MBA hosts are like this I'd gladly book every holiday I'll ever go on through them.
Excellent, well thought and and well managed trip. Stunning scenery
I had the most fabulous time kayaking around Corsica’s southern coastline with much better adventures, ticking off some personal bucket list items along the way. It’s very different to pick out my favourite highlights as the whole trip was so enjoyable, sleeping on the beach with the milky way so clear overhead, rock hopping along the coast, battling 4/5ft waves as we turned around the headland on our final day was exhilarating. The group dynamics were a mixture of diverse personalities and varying abilities that contributed to and created a wonderfully supportive functioning team. Jeremy our guide for the week was a true leader, knowledgeable, experienced, capable, considerate, supportive, kind and very entertaining within the mix. I felt safe and secure at all times, even in the more scary of times. I will carry the beautiful memories I made on this trip with me forever, I feel very grateful and blessed to have had this most amazing experience, I had a blast!
Brilliant trip along a fantastic section of coast with bivvies on quiet beaches. The local guide was superb - coaching us but also teaching us the local history and geology.
Amazing experience - learn to re-wild again !
Excellent tour, Jeremy a super guide. Remote beaches and stunning scenery
Great experience of Corsica's beautiful coast. Well planned, plenty of tasty food, decent equipment, learning along the way. Some degree of fitness, especially for anyone who hasn't kayaked before, is important, as you will paddle lots. But it's very worthwhile, as you'll also see lots, develop your paddling and have fun. And the swimming in warm seas is fab. Be aware - no luxuries! It is what it says it is - wild camping, with only occasional beaches with a cafe/bar. If you want lots of hot showers and a comfy mattress and bar meals every night with a few beers look away, but if you want to get away from it all in beauty with a great, like-minded group, go for it! The luxury is the space and place.
We've crunched the numbers to work out the total carbon footprint of this trip, and plant enough trees to suck 2x as much back out the atmosphere.
What's the number?
It works out on average at 65kg of CO2 emissions per person, including all local transport, accommodation, food, activities, guides, staff and office operations.
The only thing it doesn’t include right now is flights and travel to the destination. We do make an overall estimate across all our customers separately, but as we don’t book flights, have customers from all corners of the world, and no way of reliably knowing their travel plans, we simply can’t include an individual number in the figure on display here. We’ve got a goal for 2023 to fix that, so that when you book, there is a way to measure and mitigate the carbon emitted by your flight too.
But what does the number mean?
Yep, hard to picture eh? To give you an idea:
- Driving 1000miles/1609km would be approx. 281kg of CO2 in an average car (or 140.5kg per person if there was 2 of you in it).
- A return economy class flight London - New York would be approx. 1,619kg (1.66 tonnes) per person.
- 10 trees in a temperate forest are estimated to remove approx. 250kg of CO2 from the air in a period of 5-10 years.
What are we doing about it?
Our trips are relatively low-carbon by design, and we're working with all our hosts to develop long term carbon reduction plans. For every person booked with us since 2016 we’re planting enough trees to suck at least 2x more carbon out the atmosphere than is emitted by their trips. All native trees, as part of amazing projects that are re-foresting degraded land, tackling the biodiversity crisis and supporting local communities at the same time. We go further than that too, also funding re-wilding projects worldwide to help protect important keystone species from extinction. See the reforestation and re-wilding schemes we support. See our carbon action plan.
Want to know more?
Amazingly, no international travel company has ever publicly published their carbon measurements before, as far as we know. We believe that must change, quickly. So we’re openly sharing the method we used in the hope that other companies will be able to more easily follow suit and build on what we've done so far. You'll find it all here.
No previous kayaking experience is required, although you will be on the water for a few hours each day so a reasonable level of fitness is required. You must also be able to swim and should ideally feel comfortable in the open sea for extended periods (although the option to return to shore is always available). It's important to note that this trip involves 6 nights of consecutive wild camping. This is a wild adventure out in the elements for a full week, so do bring along a sense of adventure and be happy to forgo creature comforts. You'll be washing in the sea each morning with a sea soap bar!
Sure can! Over 70% of our travellers travel solo, it’s a great way to meet like-minded people.
Tips are not included in the trip cost. These are entirely at your discretion. Your guide will help with advice on how much to tip. Of course, you are free to tip more or less, and the amount should be reflective of your perception of service and quality - a tip is not compulsory and should only be given when you receive excellent service.
This is an expedition-style kayaking trip, so the group will distribute various essentials between the kayaks. Your host will provide large water containers which will be filled up at various stops throughout the adventure. Please bring along a reusable water bottle to keep filling up from the large water containers.
Corsica has a classic Mediterranean climate and is one of the sunniest places in France. May is a cooler month to visit, you'll see highs of 21°C/70°F. In June things are heating up to 24°C/75°F, while July and August are the warmest months with highs of 29°C/84°F. September is a cracking month to visit with highs of 26°C/79°F, fewer crowds and the sea temperature at its warmest. No matter how hot it gets, this trip benefits from the ever-present option of jumping into the sea to cool off. Water temperatures are very pleasant between May and October at 19°C to 23°C with peaks of 27°C during July and August.
Absolutely. Anything you don't need can be left with your host at their base in Ajaccio and collected when the trip is finished.
We recommend checking out the country specific information here and also talking to a travel nurse.
You'll be carrying all your gear with you on the kayaks as you journey from cove to cove throughout the trip. Each kayak has watertight compartments at the front and rear where the bulky items go (clothes, sleeping bag, tarps and sleeping mats) along with the shared group water and food. While the compartments are large, please try to pack only essentials for this trip, and be as lightweight as you can.
For current advice about travelling in France, have a read of the UK Foreign Office pages here.
Our recommended travel insurance provider is Campbell Irvine.
Travel insurance is compulsory for all of our adventures and you are required to provide your policy information before departing.
Your insurance should include adequate protection for overseas medical treatment, evacuation/repatriation, your baggage and equipment and the specific activities involved on your adventure. We also strongly recommend it includes cancellation and curtailment insurance, should you be unable to join your trip for specific reasons such as illness.
We fully endorse Campbell Irvine as their insurance offers all of the above, so get in touch with them or call on 020 7938 1734 to get your insurance sorted. We suggest that you book travel insurance as soon as you book your adventure, just to cover you for any last-minute life changes. We know you’re an active lot and injuries do happen!
We automatically convert prices from the local currency that a host receives to your chosen currency. We update our exchange rates on a daily basis so this does mean that prices displayed on the site are subject to currency fluctuations, which is why you may see them change over time.
If you wish to change the currency you pay in, head to the bottom of the page.
All of our group adventures are specially designed for adults to enjoy (18+) as we want these adventures to bring together outdoorsy people who are truly like-minded. Children can be accommodated on some private departures.
You're in good company. Our adventures are typically made up of a mix of solo travellers and small groups of two or three friends who simply love adventure, pushing themselves and meeting awesome like-minded people. See here for more info about our lovely bunch of Much Better Adventurers.
Want to book a private trip? Just tap ‘Private Group’ in the dates and prices tab.
Your trip is led by carefully curated local hosts and expert guides. See here for more info about the guides we work with.
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