Activities on the water

The beautiful wooden Keswick Launch stops just across the road from the hostel (Ashness Gate jetty) on its clockwise and anti-clockwise circuits of Derwent Water. The anti-clockwise launch will get you to Keswick in ten minutes. The launches start and finish their circuits at the Keswick jetties, opposite the Theatre by the Lake. The full circuit of the lake takes fifty minutes. You can buy single tickets to various points around the lake or you can enjoy a day pass that allows you to hop on and off throughout the day. The launch company also hires out motor and rowing boats from the Keswick jetties. We have plenty of leaflets that detail the route, timetables and prices of the Keswick Launch. www.keswick-launch.co.uk Tel: 017687 72263

Watersports on Derwent Water

Launch your own small craft (windsurfers, kayaks, canoes, rowing boats) at the bottom of our driveway, or hire from one of the local watersports specialists listed below. Canoes, kayaks, rowing boats, windsurfers and sailing boats are all available to hire and instruction is available if required. Platty+ is our nearest provider, about a 20 minute walk away. From the hostel, walk on the lake-shore path in its clockwise direction. Just before you get to the Lodore Falls Hotel, there will be a track leading down to the Lodore jetty and the Platty+ base. 

• Platty+: www.plattyplus.co.uk Tel: 017687 77282
• Nichol End Marina: www.nicholendmarine.co.uk Tel: 017687 73082
• Derwentwater Marina: www.derwentwatermarina.co.uk Tel: 017687 72912

In August there is a family-friendly regatta on Derwent Water, organised by the National Trust. Information about the programme will be available in the run-up to the occasion.

Open-water swimming

There are often open-water swimming events in the Keswick Mountain Festival programme in May.

Derwent Water is popular for swimming, but it is usually much colder than the sea - please test the water with your toes rather than your head! The tarns and rivers are even colder than Derwent Water - however, if you are an experienced cold-water swimmer and want to try them at your own risk, we can give you some location recommendations.

Fishing

Licences for fishing in the lake are available from Keswick Post Office or the Information Centre at Moot Hall in Keswick: Tel: 017687 72645.