Get your tide-pooling and paddling passion on with this new 4-minute short film from NRS showcasing the beauty of Scotland’s West Coast through the eyes of longtime sea kayak guide Matt Waterston and his wife Hannah. Tide Life offers an intimate look at Scotland’s West Coast and explores how landscapes can shape our lives.
Matt first fell in love with the outdoors on childhood holidays to the West Coast, and this passion for adventure eventually led back to where it all began. Today, the majestic coast and hills surrounding Arisaig, on the Road to Isles, is his home, his wife Hannah, their dogs, Finn and Maple, and their guiding business.
“It’s a place where everyone feels the magic, be it their first day or their hundredth,” says Waterston. “And you’re inspired to get outside, to learn, to appreciate what you have.”
For Waterston, the West Coast of Scotland is more than an adventure haven or a place to earn a living. It’s home. White beaches, turquoise water, and breathtaking wildlife sit side by side with high winds, incredible surf, and dramatic scenery. It’s as though someone decided to put elements of both the mediterranean and Nazare into a wildlife reservation and called it Arisaig. It ‘s harsh yet beautiful, a landscape shaped by wind and time.
“What inspired us to make a film about it, was Matt and Hannah Waterston,” says NRS’s Anna Bruno. “Their respect and love for where they live shines a bright light on the West Coast, and Matt shares this enthusiasm every day with the people he guides. Nothing is more beautiful than seeing a place through the eyes of someone who has a deep attachment to it. We wanted to paint a picture of how the West Coast has a profound impact on Matt as a guide, and why he and his family call it home.”
“It’s a place where everyone feels the magic, be it their first day or their hundredth. And you’re inspired to get outside, to learn, to appreciate what you have,” says Waterston. “For a small place, it packs so much in terms of adventure. But the beauty of this place is that it always calls you home. There’s so much about this area, and the life we’re lucky to lead here that there’s no place like home and there’s nowhere else I’d rather be.”
“It’s important to showcase this area and that kind of passion for this area,” he adds. “That challenge of trying to do our tiny bit to educate and to make sure that this beautiful area and wildlife is here for the future.”
Watch film here:
