West-Coast Scotland with Bulky Outdoor Gear: Separating People from Equipment
Kayaks, bikes, climbing racks and a week of camping kit don't sit happily in a car full of people. On the west coast, where the last stretch to your base may be a single-track road or a short ferry crossing, an overloaded car is slow and uncomfortable, and sometimes it won't fit on the boat you planned.
The short answer is to plan two journeys. People travel in seats, in a car or by public transport. The gear travels in a load space, usually a van, with its driver and any passengers only in the cab seats. Below are the questions that come up most often when a group works out how to do that.
Why not just put everything in the cars?
You can, for a small group with soft bags. It gets harder with long or heavy items. Roof-mounted boats and bikes add height and wind noise, and gear on the back seat is gear that isn't properly secured. More cars also means more parking to find at a small village pier or a forest car park.
A van turns the kit into one job with one person in charge of it. Everyone else can travel light and arrive at a different time.
What should we check before deciding?
Fill in this table for your own trip. Each row has a passenger answer and a gear answer, because the two often differ.
| Check | For the people | For the gear | Where to verify |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vehicle and seats | Car or people carrier; one seat per person | Van; cab seats only, nobody in the load area | The hire company, for the exact vehicle |
| Driving licence | Category B covers up to 8 passenger seats | Category B covers vans up to 3,500kg maximum authorised mass | GOV.UK licence categories |
| Ferry crossings | Foot passenger or in a car | Vehicle length matters: a long van may be charged differently | The ferry operator's fares page |
| Route | Any reasonable road, or train and bus | Single-track roads and diversions are slower in a loaded van | Traffic Scotland on the day |
| Arrival | Check-in time at the accommodation | Space to park a van, and somewhere dry and lockable for kit | Your host, in writing |
| Fallback | Later train, taxi, lift share | Second drop-off point if the first is inaccessible | Agree before you leave |
Does the route to the coast affect the vehicle choice?
Yes, more than people expect. The Argyll's Secret Coast travel page describes two road options from Glasgow. One goes along Loch Lomond on the A82 and over the A83. The other uses the Gourock to Dunoon crossing and then the B836, a single-track road with passing places.
On the ferry option, length is the thing to check. Western Ferries' fares information puts vehicles up to 5m, including small vans, in its standard vehicle category, and says other vehicle types over 5m pay a commercial fare. A long-wheelbase van can be over that line, so ask the hire company for the actual length.
On the A83 route, the Rest and Be Thankful section has at times had traffic diverted onto the Old Military Road. Transport Scotland announced daytime diversions there in June 2025, for example. Check the current position before a loaded van commits to that road.
Where could the gear van come from?
Somewhere on the way out, so the kit doesn't make a detour. Helensburgh sits on the north bank of the Clyde, close to the A82 route. The van availability in Helensburgh page lists vans from a compact Caddy to long-wheelbase Transits and a Luton with a tail lift. For boats and bikes, the questions that matter are internal load length, whether there are tie-down points, the payload of the specific van and whether it can be returned somewhere other than where you collected it.
Measure the longest item before you call. A sea kayak can be five metres or more, longer than the load floor of most hire vans, so it may still need roof bars or a kayak trailer. That changes everything else.
What if part of the group is heading further north?
West-coast trips often split. Some of the group might finish in Argyll while others carry on to Lochaber for Ben Nevis or the Nevis Range. In that case the passengers going north may not need the van at all. A car collected nearer the end of their trip can work better. For that area there is car hire information for Fort William, which describes cars from small hatchbacks to estates and SUVs, with delivery and collection offered. An estate car can take personal bags and boots, while the bulky shared gear stays with the van and goes home with its driver.
What happens if a ferry or road doesn't work out?
Agree the fallback before anyone sets off. A hypothetical example: a group of six plans to meet at a cottage near Tighnabruaich. The van driver takes the A83 with the kayaks. The other five come over on the Dunoon crossing in one car. If the A83 is diverted and running late, the van heads for the ferry instead, provided its length was checked in advance. The kit then arrives later than planned, but it still arrives.
Anything else before the trip?
- Photograph the van's load area at collection and at return.
- Pack the gear in the order you'll need it, with the first night's camping kit last in.
- Share the van driver's expected arrival time with the host.
- Keep valuables out of sight in any vehicle left at a trailhead or pier.
Two journeys sound like more work than one. On the west coast they usually mean fewer cars, a calmer drive and a group that turns up at the same place with everything it needs.
