The Outer Hebrides have enchanted writers, musicians, painters, poets and explorers for millennia. Of the over 500 islands only a few are inhabited, and by less and less people every year. The area was declared a World Heritage Site in 1986 and indeed the islands now belong to “the birds that sweep and soar along their plunging cliffs, and people are the migratory visitors.” In fact, “there are some places so wild, it seems, that even the sturdiest humans cannot always endure their challenges.” But while humans have struggled here, other wildlife like the world’s largest colony of Gannets has not. "That magical light intensifies as you head west to the Outer Hebrides - the 'isles at the edge of the sea' - with their landscape of peat bog, lochan and bare, glaciated gneiss. These harsh landscapes are softened by glittering shell-sand beaches, wildflowers-strewn machair, and buttercup meadows where the outlines of ruined crofts are visible in the turf like fossils in a stone. This necklace of remote islands is a last bastion of Gaelic culture..." - Lonely Planet

More recently the Outer Hebrides have attracted hearty surfers and we will no doubt put kiting on the map as the area receives an equal dose of powerful waves and thumping wind. It’s also very, very difficult to access by land which gives us a unique advantage and an incredible platform for “Discovery”. Imagine midnight kiting in the sunlight on a perfectly clean turquoise break (way up north here!). Imagine the hypnotic greens of the Northern Lights dancing overhead. Imagine yourself on board Discovery taking it all in. p>

This Adventure will be something you’ll tell your grandchildren about many years from now. A bit crazy, a lot wild, maybe frightening, and very likely sublime; this may very well be the trip you remember most of the entire expedition.

RESOURCES: Hebridien Surf, Internet Guide to Scotland, Traveline (getting around), Travel Scotland (info)

Getting there: Daily flights with BA from London or Glasgow to Stornoway (no boards though on the flights). Ferries from Oban to Barra and from Stornoway to Ullapool.

Summary: + Powerful and consistent waves + Awesome scenery + Beach and point breaks + Clean water, no crowds + Virgin finds + Good wind - Cold water - Large tides - Potentially wet weather

Outer Hebrides beaches on Lewis Photo courtesy www.VisitScotland.com

GUEST RIDER: Unannounced Air: 55 Water: 55º F Mean Wind Avg.: 12.5 SW Miles: 80