Skye and Lochalsh paddle boarding, an enthusiastic team of outdoor professionals.

Skye & Lochalsh Paddle Boarding is a team of instructors with more than two decades of experience working in coaching, instruction and educational environments. Matt and Tara believe that their main venue, Plockton is a little slice of heaven, offering unsurpassed paddling opportunities, in the stunning environment of Plockton harbour - Scotland's only East facing harbour that is positioned on the West coast and is a very sheltered area in which to paddle, play, explore and learn.

Matt.

Matt is an experienced outdoorsman, who has paddled the seas around Cornwall, Skye and Lochalsh. honed his people skills in retail and hospitality, before moving into youth and community work. He then moved into outdoor education and instruction, going back to college in his early 30s in order to qualify in outdoor adventure studies, on the Isle of Skye.

During his time completing a Professional Instructor Development course in Cornwall, Matt was first introduced to paddle boarding, qualifying as an instructor with the British Stand Up Paddle Association (BSUPA), in 2017. Having moved to Plockton in 2022, Matt converted his instructor qualification to the Water Skills Academy (WSA).

Matt is also a keen walker, has his Lowland Leader qualification and is on course to complete his assessment as a Summer Mountain Leader later this year, if he can drag himself away from the water!

Tara.

A local lass, Tara developed a taste for highland dancing and the outdoors at an early age. At university, Tara got a B.A. Hons in Leisure management and went on to manage various leisure and outdoor activity centres, in both the UK and Ireland. She then went on to get certificates in outdoor leadership and adventure activities, as well as holding an RLSS beach life guard certificate, for the six years that she was a surf instructor in Ireland.

Tara has worked with many groups, from different backgrounds, nationalities and levels of ability and along with her work at SLPB, works at the local leisure centre, where she holds an RLSS pool lifeguard qualification and is a qualified spinning instructor. Along with her WSA paddle boarding Foundation Instructor certificate, Tara will complete her swimming instructors course in late summer of this year.

Her passion for travel saw Tara living and working in South Korea for a decade, where she taught English to both children and adults and perfected her communication and child playwork skills along with her ability to promote positive child behaviour. Tara's passion for the outdoors is broad and she loves cycling, wild swimming, walking, wild camping and is a big fan of weekends away in her custom fitted camper van!

Enthusiastic, fantastic organisation. Confident, caring attitude, set clear expectations, boundaries and was encouraging to nervous participants. Excellent knowledge and great general knowledge. Great sense of humour!

- Ms Elton

Call or email us to learn more about paddling with us.

07988717265
Plockton,

IV52 8TJ
info@slpb.co.uk