Information for Pupils

My school are coming to Ridgway Adventure. What will we be doing?

Six days of real adventure and fun with your friends, on the sea, around the shore and in the mountains…

Learn new skills from our friendly instructors and finish the week surviving overnight on an uninhabited island.

In the first few days your instructors will show you how to operate together in this wild and beautiful landscape and then you’ll start making more and more decisions for yourselves as we prepare you for your night on the island.

Westbourne School pupils between the two summits of Arkle during their mountain day.

Sea kayak on the sheltered sea loch

Paddle your own kayak on a mini expedition
Circumnavigate an island
Explore coves and bays looking for nesting birds, seals, otters and sea eagles
Jump in and capsize for fun
Lift sea squirts, sea urchins and star fish and fling seaweed

Forage for and cook wild foods from the seashore and learn to build shelters from yacht sails

Collect tinder, kindling from the hillside and driftwood from the shore
Learn to light and manage a fire yourself with a striking flint
Forage for edible plants, winkles, limpets and mussels and learn to cook them on your fire.
Make ‘damper’ bread cooked on a stick
Use ropes, hazel spars, army tarps and old yacht sails that have travelled the globe to make shelters, practicing the skills you will use on your own on survival island
Collect marine plastics from the shore to keep wildlife safe

Climb a mountain from a wild base camp

Establish base camp at the foot of a mountain and prepare for your summit bid.
On good summer evenings we’ll cook our supper on camp stoves before sleeping in tents.
Set off in teams to climb the mountain picking exciting routes along stream beds and ridges to the summit. Take in incredible views over this beautiful and ancient landscape.

Swim in the sea loch

Swim in the sea loch that laps just yards from the door
and leap from the raft for fun…

Rock climb on an ancient rocky outcrop

Tackle different routes on the climbing crag scoring points for your team
Work with your instructors to manage the ropes for your friend on the climb
Abseil from the top of the crag to the bottom

Race rafts on the sea loch

Build rafts from logs, ropes and mussel farm barrels and race them against each other on the sea loch in front of the Adventure School.

Search to survive

Work in small squads with maps to find clues around the wild Ardbeg peninsula that will help you unlock a box containing your teams striking flint for the island. You will lead yourself around the course without teachers or instructors. Your first steps to self-reliance.

Lift lobster creels and see John Ridgway’s 1966 Atlantic rowing boat & Rebecca’s Cape Horn sea kayak

Board our workboats and pull lobster creels from the deep as the crofters at Ardmore have done for hundreds of years.

Handle the catch of crabs and lobsters before we return it to the sea.

Hear stories of great adventures from Rebecca and see the boats that have been rowed across the north Atlantic, paddled around Cape Horn and sailed around the world and down to the Antarctic.

Put all your skills together to survive overnight on an uninhabited island

After your final briefing we will drop you and your team by boat on an uninhabited island. Work together to find your ‘kit drop’ and set about establishing a camp for the night, sleeping under old yacht sails and tarps and cooking on open fires. You’ll make all the decisions together without teachers or the help of your instructors.

Beach day on empty golden sands

Relax and have fun on a beautiful sandy beach with your friends after your night on the island. Play beach games together and body board in the sea.

Find out a bit more

What is ‘survival island’? Where do we sleep and what is the food like?

Interested in an adventure for your school?

Call or email Rebecca for more details and to chat about your school.

Contact Rebecca