UKC

After a long chat with some climbing friends we realised that some of us have different reasons for climbing. Personally I'm not much of a grade chaser so for me it's all about the day out to unwind and just enjoy the company. My wife is my main climbing parter and we do like an adventure.

Some time back we took the ferry over to Ireland, drove west and deployed our sea kayaks to get over to Gola Island just off the coast at Donegal. The rock there is granite and it was so rough compared to Peak grit that has in some areas become a victim of it's own success. The routes were so much fun and the scenery was wild.

Just getting over to the island was a project due to weather and rough sea but once we got over there, we pretty much had the place virtually to ourselves for 5 days. There must be other areas like this that are off the beaten track with amazing scenery and climbs.

Where are they?

Rockall? 

When staying on Coll earlier this year I could see the unmistakable outline of Bac Mor (Dutchman's Cap) in the Treshnish Isles west of Mull. There must be many dozens of uninhabited islands off the Scottish west coast that would fit your description of 'off the beaten track'? I'd recommend a read of 'Sea Room' by Adam Nicolson for a study of three such islands. Tread lightly.

I've been looking at some of the stuff N of the border. We had a kayaking trip to Rum from the mainland and a Rum traverse but the weather had other ideas.

The great Stack of Handa also popped up but I understand access to the stack is banned due to bird restrictions sadly.

I'll check out your info, I get the feeling theres a lot to go at up there but it's knowing where to look. Thanks.

I've been to Handa on the little tourist boat and walked the trail round the coast. It's very interesting and spectacular looking down the crags and at the stack but it's not adventurous! Going over in a kayak might be different.

Kayak to Mingulay or Pabbay from Barra? Lots of excellent climbing there.

Lundy might be sea kayakable? The climbing can feel quite adventurous.

I think there is an island in N Pembroke/ mid Wales with a tidal causeway which could be fun?

There are loads of Scottish crags that fit the bill, you could quite easily kayak into Cairnmore or the more remote bits of Reiff or Diabeg, camp there and likely have the place to yourselves for starters. I love a bit if a UK mini expedition and regular cart camping stuff and a few days if food up to remote Scottish crags (with a little imagination there's also plenty in England and Wales). Sometimes it may feel a little contrived but it's a great way to really experience a place, and all the better if I can make it logistically complex by chucking bikes or water crossing in the mix!

The UK never ceases to amaze me with the amount of mini adventures to be had. 

Your post kinda implies that your trip to Donegal was in the UK and you are looking for other UK destinations....not cool

Last year I was fortunate to be on Colonsay when the tides and weather allowed us to wade across the channel to neighbouring Oronsay. It adds a bit of an edge knowing that a cock up in timing might involve a stranding. There are quite a few tidal islands around. My Mum walked over to Hilbre Island off the Wirral a few years ago.

Lundy certainly is kayak-able, I've done it. You have to go with the tide, so planning is critical. 

Gola is amazing. Lovely chill Island with lots of varied climbing. 

There is lots more stuff around Donegal to tackle. 

Check out Iian Millar and his website https://uniqueascent.ie/ 

He does a lot of adventure climbing/new routing/sea stacking/kayaking

Also a film called Feather in the West is about new routing on Owey that is well worth a watch. ( youtube.com/watch?v=sg6tdnWbluM&)

I'll add that to the list thanks

In reply to OwenM:

Yes, we looked at Lundy but the size of the crossing is a bit long for us at the moment. We need more time on the water and some extra training to take that on. We're hoping to crack Staffa next year

In reply to Kylos:

Yes, his online material and PDF downloads are pretty much what inspired our trip. Love the NW Irish coast.

In reply to goatee:

No it didn't, the post was quite clear and accurate. My post was also very cool, in fact it is ice cold as it sits on an arctic glaciar towards the top of a mountain in a winter storm.

Someone posted on here a blog about a trip where they left their cars near Aultbea and (with a lot of portaging...) got their kayaks onto the Fionn Loch and the Dubh Loch to camp near Carnmore. They climbed A' Mhaighdean but there's climbing there too (I've forgotten the name of the crag).

For combined climbing/kayaking adventures in Scotland, I think you could do a lot worse than just having a good rummage through the 'find crags map' here and maybe cross-reference with the Pesda Press paddling guidebooks. 

Pabbay & Mingulay would be the obvious contenders in the Outer Hebrides, but they're pretty out there as a place to paddle to so you'd need a very good weather window.  There are plenty of less committing places you could find though, and a fair few crags that would be difficult or near impossible for you to get to any other way.

A paddle around Scarpa would be a rewarding trip (even without an overnight stay or any climbing).  For some proper esoterica, Campaigh, Bearasaigh and Seanna Chnoc (off Great Bernera) have quite a few routes listed here and not a single recorded ascent of any of them.  You would need some pretty solid 'rocky landing' skills to get yourself and your kayak ashore on any of those.

A bit less adventurous/foolish - I'm sure you could find plenty of sea cliff/stack climbing that you could approach by kayak instead of the more conventional approach.  Old Man of Stoer perhaps?
(Again potentially a rather challenging landing.)

How about paddling in to Knoydart, or across to Coruisk from Elgol?  Beats walking.

Regarding Handa - it's not a particularly adventurous paddle unless the weather/sea state is hairy, but it's absolutely spectacular.  If you're there in June, say, while the birds are nesting you wouldn't regret the bird ban at all - the bird life around Great Stack is astonishing.  (And ban or no ban, the idea of disrupting all those nests by climbing through them would be absolutely unthinkable.)  You could paddle around the island then land, have a quick chat with the warden and walk around the island - that's an extremely rewarding day out even if it is a bit tame.

Oh - speaking of bird life - as a sea kayaker you have the privilege of being able to get yourself across to Skomer (in Pembrokeshire) without needing to book the ferry months in advance.  You can only visit during 'opening hours' and there's a landing fee of twenty quid - sounds steep, but it's worth every penny.  (Take a change of clothes and some lunch, spend at least a few hours on the island and get your money's worth.)  A paddle around Skomer has the potential to be a little too exciting if you neglect the planning - there are significant tide races in Jack Sound and around the Garland Stone that could either be great fun or absolutely terrifying, depending on the conditions and your point of view.

On/off Mull, if you're looking at a paddle over to Staffa you should definitely give some thought to the Treshnish Isles as well.  It's barely any more committing really given a good forecast.  For example you could paddle out from Ulva Ferry along the Northern coast of Ulva and Gometra, explore the Treshnish Isles and spend the night on Lunga, then back via Staffa and the Southern Side of Gomtra/Ulva the following day.

There's a fabulous hostel on Ulva btw, couldn't recommend that place too highly as a place to stay: https://ulvahostel.co.uk/  It's a pleasant walk up from the ferry slipway, or a much shorter walk from the back of Soriby Bay (where you wouldn't want to land or launch too far off high water).

Regarding Lundy, a visit there has been on my to-do list for quite a while.  The issue with a climbing trip by kayak though, I think, would be the need to book camping to stay there well in advance.  Unfortunately it's impossible to do likewise with the weather for the paddle over (and back again), so you'd have to cross your fingers and hope to get lucky.

....

Edit to add (as if this post isn't already long enough)..

Got me looking now.  I found this in the logbooks here:  https://www.ukclimbing.com/logbook/crags/island_of_soa-22544/#maps

No photos, no guidebook apparently, no route descriptions, no recorded ascents - just rumours of a three star VS, a three star HVS and new route potential a short paddle directly off the beach at the excellent Fidden Farm campsite.

There are some islands with climbing to kayak to off the west coast of Lewis. Probably more to explore. 

Absolutely this.

In Scotland you don't even need to go to an island to find yourself alone, or almost alone at the crag.

If you do want sea kayak adventures, loads of places in Orkney and Shetland would see you guaranteedly alone at the crag (except perhaps if you are doing the Old Man of Hoy) and being clusters of islands, the kayak/climbing adventure is limited only by your imagination (and, well, I guess by the size of the island group...)

And I'm pretty sure the smaller islands of the inner Hebrides would be in sea kayak range if you were fit and capable. I don't know the climbing on most of them but there are plenty of routes in the guidebook. I'd be very surprised if you bumped into others at the crag.

I forgot to mention..  on the subject of paddling and adventure but not climbing, maybe have a read of this for inspiration.

Intro here: https://www.77islands.org/
Blog here: https://www.77islands.org/blog 
(The links at the top of the page seem not to be visible if you're looking at that website on a phone.)

Thanks for putting the time in on that. The Hebrides do look like a good call and those other small isles down the west coast do have lots to go at for new routers. I've noticed the islands seem to have been developed by climbers well into the e-grades which is above where we operate.

So much great info on the replies, extremely grateful to all.

The downside of the Western half of the Outer Hebrides is that you get the full benefit of the Atlantic Ocean!  You'll no doubt be familiar with the implications of that if you've spent some time kayaking on/off the West coast of Ireland.

Ooh..  I hope I'm not giving away anyone's secrets here but you sent me down a bit of a rabbit hole and I stumbled across something that you'll probably want to have a look at.  Much more protected from those big ocean swells and very amenable for those who don't climb, or paddle, especially hard.  (And given how recent some of these first ascents were, perhaps an indication of what might still be possible for new routes.)

Tanera Beag
https://smc.org.uk/climbs/newroutes/crag/7243

For a kayaking/climbing combo look at Guernsey. You're unlikely to meet anyone on the crags, and the kayaking is great if you've the experience to deal with strong currents and large tidal ranges. Happy to advise further.

I'm told it can be a fairly serious paddle, the routes are written up on the SMC database.

https://routes.smc.org.uk/crag/1201

Not even looked at that. I'll absolutely put it on the list of destinations. Had no idea there was even climbing on there. Thanks.

I feel theres some urban adventure. Maybe an indoor wall crawl by expensive bike or even on foot at night around some of our fine cities (Indoor walls so often seem to be in the less desirable areas). 
Joking aside, there must be a few adventurous challenges besides DWS and high tide approaches to tidal crags. Maybe interesting ways of getting between routes, or time challenges - first train of the day, then walk in, complete the multipitch, leg it back in time for the last train home kinda stuff. (I know devils slide for example is just about do-able in a day). 

Of course theres "adventure" routes - mostly traverses for type 2 fun. 

How about skeleton ridge or tusk (by inflatable boat)?

I heard skeleron ridge was now off limits, we did look at that earlier this year but ended up at Swanage instead.

I think pretty much all the routes are now in the logbook pages on here.  Ferry from Poole or Portsmouth with Condor/Brittany Ferries, although schedules may change as ferries to the Channel Isles are all a bit up in the air at present. Might be able to find you sea kayaks to borrow/rent if you wanted to fly (Manchester / East Midlands / Leeds with Aurigny probably easiest for you).

www.visitguernsey.com

Scarp has a good beach on the north side to land on but it is not so close to be best climbing that is a crag on the west coast, but maybe with a sea kayak you can land closer. Lots more scope for exploration, especially if you have a kayak and can look at cliffs from the sea rather than just down from the top. Its also a short crossing from the mainland of Harris.

Pabaigh Beag, in Loch Roag is very easy to access and has a sheltered camp site just off the beach, a handful of good routes with, enough to keep you bust for a week.

But for me the best location is Berasiagh, also in Loch Roag, no beach access but there is a sheltered bay on the north west corner which is the easiest place to land, with a steady scramble onto the island. Plenty of tidal and non tidal routes, campsite is on the top so it can be a bit exposed.

No running water on any of the above, take everything that you need and a little bit more just in case.

I wouldn't recommend Seanna Chnoc (old Hill), unless you have a boat, there is no easy landing place.

If anyone is interested in further info you can download a pdf topo from the SMC. Great adventures to be has off the west coast of the Hebrides.

That little beach on the North of Scarp is somewhere I got quite emotional on my first visit there in 2017, a bit overcome by the sheer beauty of the place.  (Perhaps helped along by a certain amount of relief that I'd survived my solo paddle around the island, because I'd not been kayaking long at that point and the sea state heading North past Manais was a tad more than I'd bargained for.)

The second time back (and thus far my last visit) I was determined to spend the night there and discovered it's a frustrating place to look for a little patch of grass to pitch a small tent on.  There was absolutely no shortage of running water on that occasion though!

(For anyone who doesn't know where this is and is wondering - grid ref NA962167.  The waterfall marked on the OS map there is a little stream that tumbles off a cliff and free falls about 20m or so onto the rocks below, or into the sea, depending on the state of the tide.  It was rather impressive in spate when I was last there after a few days of heavy rain.)

Whether or not the OP (and Mrs the OP) would fancy landing on the West side of Scarp I guess depends on how they get on with rocky landings in a bit of swell.  (I doubt very much it's ever flat calm.)  And how precious their kayaks are to them!

Pabaigh Beag wouldn't have occurred to me, that seems like a great idea.  I've spent a few hours exploring Pabaigh Mor, and would definitely recommend that.  (It's not an 'adventure', just a nice walk.)  Tucked in behind Gallan Head there it might be a good option with wind and sea rolling in from the West which would tend to make Scarp and those little islands North of Bostadh a bit hairy.

It's a relatively short crossing from Iona or Erraid in an area that isn't subject to strong tidal currents, but of course you're right - any open crossing always has the potential to be serious from the start, or become so very quickly if you're unprepared or unlucky.

I won't be taking a rack but I'm hoping to be back on Mull again next year and I'll visit if I can, looks lovely!  I passed by in my kayak back in June, barely a couple of kilometers from the island and completely ignored it - rather regret that now.

Cool.  Interesting that all of the routes recorded there were put up by a single party in a single weekend in August 2015.  (Perhaps it might be a bit birdy earlier in the Spring/Summer).  I wonder how likely it is that Mssrs Dickinson, Walker and Hood ticked everything on the island worth doing at an amenable grade while they were there...

Wow! 🙂

I got a group together to go to tanera beag last spring and updated that UKC page a bit. We had a great time but thought 3 days was enough on that island. Sron Slugaine Uaine had the best rock and plenty of pleasant low to mid-grade climbs and guaranteed solitude! There is probably a handful of other quality lines to pick off before you'd be onto the lower quality stuff. Lots of steep rock. And quite a bit of loose rock too. Also, ASBO looked absolutely phenomenal. Fair play to the Mackenzie Bro's on that. Well above my pay grade though!

If you want more adventure then maybe look elsewhere in the summer isles????

Cool.  The chances of me arriving anywhere by kayak with a rack and a climbing partner are effectively zero for the foreseeable future tbh, but the OP might be interested. 
(Are you still reading olddirtydoggy?)

An easy solo on good solid rock is probably about as far as I'm likely to get.  Or some messing about in the grey area between relatively easy deep water soloing and 'coasteering', love a bit of that.

The Summer Isles are definitely on my list of places to visit at some point though. 

They only stay off the beaten track if their locations aren’t posted about online. 

Still reading, absolutely.

Thanks for the post on tanera beag, I did have a look at that page the other week but noticed much was in the E grades. That said, a good couple of days on the steady stuff could work with a paddling trip.