Coast & Islands Orienteering Week

2026 – Coll

The 6th edition of Coast & Islands is heading to the Isle of Coll!

Monday 14th – Friday 18th September 2026

We’re excited about this one. It has the potential to be another very special week of orienteering in a remote and beautiful location. The terrain is a mix of the typical craggy island terrain, rich in rock detail and, for the first time at Coast & Islands, sand dunes!

5 events in 5 days, with the same range of courses as previous C&I events. Likely 3 Middles and 2 ‘Classics’, and possibly a bonus terrain sprint.

Coll is a small island with a population of around 160. In the summer months it becomes very popular with tourists, who often double the population of the island. It is renowned for its wildlife, particularly birds. These two things have dictated our choice of dates for the event.

This event can only happen with the full support of the local community, and we need everyone attending to show the highest standards of respect.

Accommodation

Self-catering: https://visitcoll.co.uk/self_catering/ Around 110 beds in total, of which around 20 already booked by tourists. We ask that you fill accommodation to capacity, please coordinate with your friends so that all beds are filled. Leaving spare spaces means other people will be unable to attend the event.

All self-catering properties have now been booked, except the castle.

Hotel: https://visitcoll.co.uk/coll_hotel/

Bunkhouse: https://visitcoll.co.uk/bunkhouse/. Now full, so please refrain from contacting them.

B&B: https://visitcoll.co.uk/BandB/. Now full, so please refrain from contacting them.

Campervans: https://visitcoll.co.uk/motor_homes/.

  • The two official sites are Garden House Camping (a few electric hook-up pitches available) in the south and An Cridhe in Arinagour.
  • We have also arranged for self-sufficient (i.e. toilet on board) campervans to be allowed at Torastan Farm and at the RSPB car park at Totronald. No tent camping is allowed at these two places. Water can be filled at Garden House and grey water and waste can be emptied for £10. For Torastan Farm, this should be booked through Tom at Torastan Farm and the charge is £15/night. For the RSPB site a donation to them is suggested.
  • No campervans are allowed to overnight anywhere else.

Tent camping: https://visitcoll.co.uk/camping/. There is only one proper campsite, Garden House, which has 20 pitches. Semi-wild camping is also possible on Coll Hotel land in Arinagour, subject to their rules, and which could be exposed in high winds. Must inform the hotel on arrival. Public toilets can be used in the village. If you book dinner at the hotel you can use their shower.

We cannot allow any other wild camping as the risk of annoying local people is too great.

Travel

The main way to get to the island is the daily ferry from Oban, which also continues to Tiree. We have already been in contact with CalMac and they are supportive of getting as many people to Coll as we can. Tickets will be released in March and we will communicate with all participants on this so they don’t miss out.

The ferries will all be full. In addition, once on the island, car parking at the events will be limited. For these reasons, we strongly suggest leaving your car on the mainland and taking bicycles to Coll. The island is small with no large hills so all stages will likely be less than 10km from anywhere. Furthermore, we cannot accept spare spaces in vehicles. Cars should have at least four people. Please plan accordingly.

Unfortunately, the ferry is prone to being cancelled due to bad weather or technical issues. When this happens, and the ferries in the following days are already fully booked, it can take several extra days to get people on/off the island.

So, whilst timings should make it possible to get the ferry on the Monday morning and Friday afternoon, we strongly suggest that you consider extending your trip before and/or after the five days of orienteering, perhaps to Tiree. This will help everyone get the space they need on the ferry and help minimise disruption in the event of cancellation.

There are also flights to Coll, though they are infrequent and often expensive.

Entry Process

Due to the extremely limited accommodation on the island, we need to operate an unusual entry process.

We need you to:

First – book accommodation, or decide to bring a campervan or camp.

Second – email us (masterplanadventure@gmail.com) and inform us of your travel and accommodation plans and who is in your group. We will then give you a code to enter the event.

If you have booked accommodation, we guarantee you will be able to enter.

If you tell us you plan to bring a campervan or tent, we will have to assess how many we already have before offering a code to enter.

First come first served, but please fully think through your plans and make arrangements with friends first!

Entry Fees:

Seniors: £165

Juniors/Students: £60

Entries here: https://pre-entries.co.uk/dl/events/s/b75f6b/r/xXKQ1QG1RXvq22lV17bZ

Final note: On 11th and 12th September there is the Doddie DiscoFest on Coll, which is in memory of Doddie Weir.