Anyone ever paddle in far north Scotland or know of any active clubs or outdoor centers in the islands?
I have also been looking into paddling
in the Orkney’s. I think the only place to rent kayaks is from a club in Aberdeen. I had heard from a good source, looks down in shame someone named nigel, on this and he suggested looking them up there. Also I would contact the Orkney tourist board. google orkney islands and see what comes up, as I remember correctly that had a fairly professional website.
Orkney
I used to cruise the area when I worked on ships and it is beautiful.
Kirkwall was the port of call and we had many tours around, the best are to the whiskey distilleries 
Never paddled since I wasn’t a kayaker back then 
let me know if you
get any solid arrangements, as I am really tempted to go paddle there.
Not much yet…
– Last Updated: Apr-07-04 10:23 PM EST –
I have the snail mail address of some clubs in Orkney
and heard back by email from a club on the Mainland Coast near Wick ..... not very encouraging actually...
quoating from the email .....
Lastly, the currents and swell (water waves) can be very powerful here. We have
the largest mainland tides in the UK. It can be quite difficult to understand
the power in some of the tidal races: these have been know to turn crude oil
tankers off course. Anything in the Pentland firth, or its approaches would be
considered 'Advanced Kayaking' in the terms of reference of the Scottish Canoe
Association. ------
I do have a lead on some great kayaking on Isle of Skye but my wife has changed her mind about heading there.