Welcome to Explore Highland
Explore Highland offer’s a wide range of canoeing and stand up paddle boarding guiding adventures, courses and experiences throughout the Scottish Highlands.
Based out of Inverness, Explore Highland established back in 2009 and run by Donald Macpherson offers a vast number of local and regional paddling adventures accessible by individuals, families and small groups of all fitness levels and paddle experiences.

Always aiming to offer a personal paddling experience, Donald is known as a highly experienced multi-discipline paddlesports coach, tutor, guide, and author. With his local knowledge and over twenty years working as a paddlesports professional, his experience and knowledge will ensure you get the utmost from your paddling adventure.
The Scottish Highlands are renowned for their stunning landscape, scenery, wildlife & hospitality. Being based centrally in the Highland capital means we are spoilt for choice as our paddling location options are endless.
Explore Highland Services:
Offering paddling activities throughout the year, Explore Highland services include;
Guided Paddlesports Activities

- Stunning four-hour tandem canoe or paddleboard trips on Loch Ness, River Beauly, Moray Firth & Loch Duntelchaig
- Full-day canoe & paddleboard adventures on Loch Ness, Glen Affric, Loch Maree and more
- Fun jumbo paddleboard sessions for families, adults, hen and stag groups
Open Canoe Hire

Open canoe hire available for those who are appropriately experienced & competent to take on the likes of the Great Glen & River Spey adventures.
- Open canoe hire services.
- Great Glen shuttle service from Inverness to Banavie, Fort William
- River Spey shuttle service from Inverness to Grantown on Spey, Boat of Garten, Aviemore, Kincraig or Kingussie, with collection from Spey Bay.
Paddling Adventure Holidays

Specialising in offering unique multi day all inclusive guided adventure holidays including open canoeing and paddleboarding.
- Great Glen Canoe Trail & River Spey guided canoe holidays
- Isle of Skye, Great Glen, & North West Highland guided paddleboard holidays
Paddlesports Courses & Qualifications

- Various introduction courses in open canoeing, sea kayaking, white water kayaking and paddleboarding
- British Canoeing Personal Performance Awards in open canoeing, sea kayaking, whitewater kayaking and paddleboarding
- British Canoeing Leadership bespoke training & assessment for all paddlesport disciplines
As an ambassador for Scottish paddlesport, Donald’s local knowledge is invaluable in making your Highland paddling adventure safe, great fun, and unique.
Freddie ChengTrustindex verifies that the original source of the review is Google. Unforgettable adventure! Although Donald isn't the fastest at responding via his website or phone, if you send him a text he answers instantly. Hired out excellent kit, very high quality, and he delivered all safety info and technical info very well, at no point did we feel rushed even though we arrived late. He also provides expert knowledge of the great glen trail. Huge thanks to Donald for making our trip possible! OwenTrustindex verifies that the original source of the review is Google. 10/10 would recommend! We had a wonderful time in May down the Spey - good advice, good kit, good route, and good vibes from Donald. Excellent service - thank you! Gary StonhillTrustindex verifies that the original source of the review is Google. Fabulous experience canoeing the Great Glen Canoe Trail. Donald had everything organised expertly and offered plenty of sound advice and tips as we journeyed with him to our starting point. Communication was excellent throughout with the bonus of a thorough webinar. He answered all of our questions promptly beforehand and had a warm greeting for us at the finish point. We loved the brilliant addition of a sail, which made Loch Oich a breeze! A wonderful challenge. Tim CrossTrustindex verifies that the original source of the review is Google. We had an amazing experience hiring three canoes from Donald at Explore Highland for our River Spey trip. From the very first webinar he arranged before we travelled, it was clear how knowledgeable and passionate he is about the river. He gave us loads of helpful advice about the route, wildlife, and camping spots, which really set us up for the journey. Donald met us on a Sunday afternoon with all the equipment ready to go, and everything was in great condition. None of us had done a trip like this before, so his guidance was invaluable. We’d planned to finish on Friday, but we made quicker progress and reached Fochabers by Thursday morning. Donald was incredibly accommodating and changed his plans to meet us a day early and take us back to Newtonmore to collect our vehicle. That level of flexibility made a huge difference. It’s a shame that future Spey hires may not be possible for him due to logistics and fuel costs, because the service he provided was spot‑on. For us, travelling from the Isle of Man, having one provider for both canoe hire and transport was ideal. Donald — and his dog Harris, who provided a very warm welcome at both the start and end — made the whole experience even more memorable. The river was fantastic, and late March gave us perfect water levels to start at Newtonmore. Highly recommended — we’d happily use Explore Highland again, even if the Spey may no longer be an option. benaveyardTrustindex verifies that the original source of the review is Google. Great time paddling the spey, Donald was enthusiastic, helpful and just what we where after

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