Boat Hire at Talkin Tarn

​Now into our second year of being based at Talkin Tarn, we still love meeting new people and watching them enjoy the water from our boats. People are often surprised at the scale of Talkin Tarn - it's 1.3miles around the edge and 13m deep in the middle! With a variety of boats, canoes and kayaks we can also provide boat hire in the lake district and Cumbria by arrangement - collection from Talkin Tarn/Carlisle or delivery can be arranged if required.

As with all water sports, we feel it's important that everybody is safe on the water. Our boats are regularly inspected and surveyed annually, and licensed by Carlisle City Council. We insist that everybody wears a Buoyancy Aid or Life Jacket - no matter how well they can swim, and have a safety boat to help if needed.

​Boat hire is open at Talkin Tarn at weekends and every day during school holidays from 12-4pm from Easter to October. If it's too windy then we'll keep the boats in and let you know on our Facebook page. It costs £10 per half hour to hire a boat, with a discount if you want a few hours to go fishing for Pike or Perch. See the Council website for details of fishing permits. We provide day permits at our boat hire cabin on behalf of Carlisle City Council.

Our boats range from rowing boats for 4 people to canoes and sit on top kayaks for 3, 2 or 1 person. There's no age restriction as such, we just ask that there is an adult in the boat with any under 14s and everyone wears a suitably fitting life jacket or buoyancy aid. If your kids want to go alone in a boat then we can arrange an instructor led session from £25pp for around 90 minutes, or why not book them onto one of our Adventure Day Camps during the school holidays?

If you're looking for something different to keep the whole family entertained then we have a brilliant mini golf course in the woods. Woodland Golf costs just £2 per person and most groups spend 30-40 minutes enjoying some quality family time before heading for a coffee or ice cream!

Hire a Canoe

If you're in the local area for a holiday, or fancy a day or 2 boating in the Lake District, then we will be pleased to help you out with a canoe or kayak. We have a fleet of Wave Sport Scooter sit on top kayaks and Wave Sport Scooter Gemini sit on tops (the tandem version). We also have a fleet of Canadian style open canoes, Hou 15s. Each boat hire includes buoyancy aids and paddles with kayaks costing £28 per day and canoes costing £30 per day. Delivery can be arranged for an additional charge. We do ask for a deposit to be held for the duration of hire, with losses and damages to be paid for by the hirer. Hirers should be over 18 years old with suitable experience of the craft.