Castaway Adventure in Scotland
4.6

Castaway Weekend on a Remote Scottish Island

Get marooned on an uninhabited Scottish island, build a camp on the shore and learn what it really takes to survive

What's Included?

  • Small Like-minded Groups

    Solo-friendly by design, join our small n’ sociable groups of up to 8 like-minded, active and outdoorsy people
From …
excluding flights

What's it like?

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Step aboard a 43ft yacht and sail up the west coast of Scotland while learning survival and seamanship skills on our Primal Castaway course.

Visit uninhabited islands and forage for food and wild herbs to use in dinner

Sleep under the stars or spend a night in your own castle and enjoy the thrill of speeding back to port on a high-power speedboat!

Kerry(September 2021)
I’m just back from an amazing weekend in Sc...
I’m just back from an amazing weekend in Sc...
I’m just back from an amazing weekend in Sc...
I’m just back from an amazing weekend in Sc...
I’m just back from an amazing weekend in Sc...

I’m just back from an amazing weekend in Scotland and experienced the whole Castaway and Survival experience. What an incredible time, I didn’t want to leave, building our signal fire to call the Rib boat to take us home was bittersweet!

As a female wannabe solo wild camper I needed this badly to give me the confidence and the ability to be safe, knowledgable and and brave!

Matt & Luke had everything covered, food & kit, you need to bring minimal items with you. We can now make shelter, staying dry and safe, we can build fires from using what’s around us, forage and identify trees, shrubs and food sources, find water and safely filter it. I loved the knife & axe skills session!

On the last night I had the opportunity to truly wild-camp with just my sleeping bag for company on the roof of a 16th Century castle, the sun rise was spectacular!

Thank you both, wonderful food, fantastic company, lots of laughs and for sharing your expert knowledge.

Jens(July 2021)

Absolutely amazing trip, 10/10. Matt, Andy and Luke were amazing guides. I feel as though I learned an awful lot about survival. Really enjoyed everything from the sailing, to the swimming and making fire

Lee(July 2021)
Probably the best weekend break I’ve ever h...
Probably the best weekend break I’ve ever h...
Probably the best weekend break I’ve ever h...

Probably the best weekend break I’ve ever had. Thoroughly interesting and enjoyable, with excellent hosts. It was well planned and adapted to suit people’s needs. I’d do it again in a heartbeat

Rachel(July 2019)

Scenery, wildlife, learning, sailing were great.

Michele(July 2019)

Overall the trip was a great experience and the host was extremely knowledgeable and helpful.

Itinerary

    Day 1

    Take to the water

    Wild camping
    Bivvy
    Lunch and dinner included
    Show Day 1 detail

    Meet your host at Largs Marina and hop aboard their 43-foot yacht. After a quick safety briefing, set sail up the Kyles of Bute to a wild and remote island – your base for the next few days. On the journey, you’ll learn sailing skills and work on your knot game, as well as enjoy some of the best coastal scenery in Scotland. There’s also a good chance of spotting charismatic marine mammals. Hop ashore on your island and spend the rest of the day exploring, building a camp on the shoreline and learning essential survival skills.

    Day 2

    Coastal survival training

    Wild camping
    Bivvy
    All meals included
    Show Day 2 detail

    After a seaside breakfast, get stuck into your survival training alongside your expert guide. Channel your inner Bear Grylls as you learn a range of essential skills, like foraging, building fires, finding fresh water, creating a shelter, fishing, setting traps and cooking over an open fire. Put your new found skills to the test as you search for dinner ingredients, prepare them over the campfire and end the day swopping stories and gazing up at the stars.

    Day 3

    Take the fast way home

    Breakfast and lunch included
    Show Day 3 detail

    Wake to the sound of lapping waves and take a moment to appreciate the sea air and awesome coastal views. Enjoy a last seaside breakfast, break camp and then simulate a real-life survival situation by building a signal fire and keeping watch for rescue. Help comes in the form of a high-speed rib boat, which will whisk you back to Largs Marina where you’ll say goodbye to your guides and fellow travellers before heading back home.

Getting There

Nearest airport
Glasgow International Airport (GLA)
Pick up
Largs Marina
10:00 on Day 1
Drop off
Largs Marina
14:00 on Day 3

Detailed Logistics

Transfers

Your host will meet you at Largs Marina.

Travel options

There are regular trains to Largs from stations across the UK, or if you prefer your host can pick you up from Largs Train Station at 09:30 upon request. If you’re driving, the postcode is KA30 8EZ. There is space to park at the Marina.

What is and isn't Included?

What's included

Experienced local guide

2 nights wild camping

Munch on tasty food throughout

Where You'll Stay

Private room upgrades are not available on this trip due to the nature of the accommodation.

Camping on the beach

On The Island

Stay

On The Island

You'll wild camp on the beach of a remote Scottish island. Waking up to the fresh sea breeze and the sound of the lapping waves is a memorable experience. Tarpaulin shelters will be built on day 1 as part of the survival course and there will also be a compost toilet in keeping with leaving no trace principles designed to keep this special place wild and clean. There is the option of sleeping in a hammock for those who prefer one.

What You'll Eat

Food consists of high energy items such as crackers, pate, nutty bars. Freshly foraged items such as mussels, fish, etc are also included if you are fortunate enough to catch anything! All dietary requirements including vegetarian and vegan can be ac…

Food and Dietary info

Food consists of high energy items such as crackers, pate, nutty bars. Freshly foraged items such as mussels, fish, etc are also included if you are fortunate enough to catch anything!

All dietary requirements including vegetarian and vegan can be accomodated: just let your host know.

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Got a Group of 6 or More?

Book the whole trip privately. We sort the details, you split the cost. Pure adventure, zero faff.

What to Pack

Backpack with hiking gear laid out

Know before you go! Some stuff we'll provide, other things you'll need to bring.

Kit List

What do I need to bring?

  • Waterproof jacket and trousers
  • Layered outdoor clothing
  • Warm hat and gloves
  • Sleeping bag
  • Waterproof bivvy bag
  • Sleeping mat
  • Camping cutlery
  • Camping plate, bowl and cup
  • Water bottle
  • Headtorch with spare batteries
  • Camera
  • Compass
  • Whistle
  • Personal washkit
  • Tea or coffee and whitener
  • Small first aid kit
  • 24-hour emergency rations
  • Notebook and pen

FAQs

Your host can store any excess luggage in their office for the duration of the trip.

Sure can! Over 70% of our travellers travel solo, it’s a great way to meet like-minded people.

Our team of Adventure Hunters co-create exclusive adventures which are run by highly vetted, specialist hosts. The trip is run by our trusted host partner in the destination. We only work with independent, local, in-destination experts who know the very best places to explore and how to stay safe. Read more information about the local teams we partner with. You’ll be introduced to the host straight after making a booking via the Much Better Adventures platform.

Much Better Adventures refer to the UK Government’s official travel advice when designing trips and monitoring trip operations. We recommend that all customers are familiar with the practical information provided on the Government’s FCDO website, where current travel advice can be found by searching for the applicable destination(s).

For customers joining this trip from other international destinations – please also read the official travel advice applicable to your country of residence/origin, as this may differ.

We recommend checking out the country-specific information and also talking to a travel nurse.

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 as we want these adventures to bring together outdoorsy people who are truly like-minded. You must be over 18 to join one of our trips.

You're always in good company on one of our adventures.

Our trips are typically made up of a mixture of solo travellers and small groups of 2 or 3 friends, with most in their 30s-50s.

Our sociable adventures are solo-friendly by design and naturally attract outdoorsy people with a shared mindset; a love for adventure, a desire to push themselves and meet awesome, like-minded people along the way. Check out our Community Values – a shared code to make sure that everyone's experience is safe, inclusive and brilliantly unforgettable.

It’s this camaraderie that has so often turned a great adventure into a life-changing one.

Don't just take our word for it:

  • 95% of people rate the group dynamics on our trips 5/5
  • 90% of people recommend joining a trip to make new friends
  • 75% of people have met people on our trips that they would now consider friends

See here for more info about the Much Better Adventures tribe.

We partner with the World Land Trust to ensure this trip achieves Net-Zero emissions. We also support their Buy an Acre programme, helping local communities to buy and protect natural habitats in perpetuity.

What's the number?
It works out on average at 28kg 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 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 1000 miles/1609km would be approximately 281kg of CO2 in an average car (or 140.5kg per person, if there were two of you in it).
  • A return economy class flight between London and New York would be approximately 1619kg (1.66 tonnes) per person.
  • 10 trees in a temperate forest are estimated to remove approximately 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. We partner with the World Land Trust to ensure this trip achieves Net-Zero emissions. We also support their Buy an Acre programme, helping local communities to buy and protect natural habitats in perpetuity, ensuring the protection of the reserve and its wildlife.

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.

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