Loch Nevis, May 2026

Loch Nevis

Starting in the morning of Monday 4th of May 26.

From a beautiful white sandy Bay approx: 6km south of Mallaig harbour. (Car park and toilets allowing overnight stays for camper vans very close). Once out of the bay, the open sea was a little choppy and tiring until reaching the calm harbour waters at Mallaig. The entrance to Loch Nevis is wide and feels the effects of wind and swell but soon calmed down once we got further into the Loch.

Around 5km in, the Loch narrows to about 1&1/4km wide. We crossed this on our return and found it quite a rough crossing. It's obviously affected by the ebb and flow through the narrows and swell from the open sea. The deeper you enter the Loch, the more scenic it becomes as you approach high mountains to each side. To the north is knoydart and the charming village of Inverie, famous for being only accessible by sea or by a long classic walk-in.

Our first camp was spent at the small hamlet of Tarbet, where it's possible to trolly your kayak and gear across a neck of land to Loch Morar to the south. We weren't at all tempted to do this after walking the steep and rough 1 km track prior to packing up the tents and setting off again for the second day. Shortly after Tarbet, the Loch becomes very narrow, and the flow through it can reach three knots. We arrived just at the wrong time and had a short but hard paddle through the narrows to reach the inner Loch. Anyone who has never seen an otter ought to visit the area as we had several very good views of otters during our paddle. Common Seals were also errrr..... common (not grey seals), with many auks and divers and very surprisingly a porpoise close to the end of the loch. We were intending to stay in or camp by the bothy at the far end of the Loch but on seeing other people there (it was bank holiday week) we decided to be antisocial and paddled back keeping to the north east side of the Loch. 

The weather smiled on us on this day. The wind dropped away, and the surface of the Loch reflected the grandeur of the surrounding mountains. On each are clear signs of crofters ruined houses with the corrugated hillsides of "lazy beds," a historical reminder of the hard labour of many crofting families who eaked out a living from a harsh landscape. 

Our second night was spent next to a few of these now derelict crofts at a beautiful site with a small waterfall and flat ground, with plenty of wood for a good campfire. Luxury. We were going to take it easy the next day by splitting the distance back to our sandy Bay into a 2 day paddle, but a quick look at the weather report changed our plan and decided to get back to Mallaig the same day and hitch back to the van .

As mentioned, the crossing back across the Loch proved choppy but manageable, and we arrived back tired but satisfied at the Harbour where we needed to make a decision. Hitch back to the van or continue the paddle along the coast and the bay. The sea was calmer than our trip out, and the wind was on our backs, so we decided to paddle back. This 3rd days paddle was 29km. I would recommend this outing to anyone who enjoys paddling in stunning scenery with wonderful wildlife.