Stand Up Paddle Boarding

• Stand Up Paddling is an emerging global sport with a Hawaiian heritage
• Master the SUP basics whilst surrounded by iconic Glencoe scenery
• All specialist equipment is included

After a bright and early drive up from Edinburgh to Glencoe, we arrived at our meeting point to be greeted by Mark, our instructor for our Stand Up Paddle boarding session.

We were first kitted out with wetsuits and buoyancy aids before Mark introduced us to our other vital pieces of equipment for our experience… our paddle and our board! It wasn’t the warmest of days (but then that is an occupational hazard of living in Scotland!) so we were a bit apprehensive of falling in to the water – which was inevitable as we were all complete beginners.

Lying on our boards, we pushed off from dry land in to a sheltered harbour area where we floated on our tummies around the bay. Our instructor then got us to rise up, on to our knees, and to use our paddles to propel ourselves about to get used to the motion of the boards whilst on the water.

Confidence on the up, we were asked to group together in a row and then, one at a time, to put our balance to the test and stand up! Unsurprisingly, we weren’t standing for long before we each went shooting off in to the loch. We needn’t have worried about the water temperature; it was warm and the wet suits ensured we didn’t get cold.

Once we were back up on our boards, we were initially wobbling all over the place while we adjusted to standing up and floating on the water. We soon got the hang of it and within no time we were gliding around the harbour, with only the occasional ‘splash’!

Our instructor was fantastic; he kept us laughing and taught us a few different manoeuvres for going forwards, sideways as well as a couple of tricks including jumps and 360˚ turns. Some of us demonstrated a better aptitude than others but it was great fun regardless.

The combination of a stunning backdrop and excellent tuition made this a brilliant all round experience for all levels of ability – I can’t think of a way I would rather spend my Saturday morning than Stand Up Paddle Boarding surrounded by the spectacular Glencoe scenery. This really was an AMAZING experience!