COASTAL FORAGING RETREAT
29TH MAY - 1ST JUNE, 2026
Spend three slow, salt-bright days exploring the shoreline, woods and wild larder around Lunga, guided by an experienced team of foragers and cooks. Learn to identify seasonal coastal plants, seaweeds and edible species, gather and prepare food together, and enjoy wild swimming, yoga, sauna time and long shared meals shaped by the rhythm of the estate.
A relaxed, hands-on weekend rooted in place, season and the richness of Argyll’s coast.
MATTHEW WATSON
FORAGING CHEF
Matthew is a foraging chef and founder of Funcho Catering, known for his thoughtful, practical approach to cooking with wild ingredients. His work centres on coastal foraging, seaweed cookery and seasonal preservation, helping people turn what they gather into simple, flavour-led dishes. Through hands-on cooking, shared meals and clear instruction, he brings confidence and generosity to working with wild food, grounded in respect for landscape and ingredient.
TAMARA COLCHESTER
FORAGER, WRITER AND FOUNDER OF PLANT LISTENING
Tamara is a forager, writer and founder of Plant Listening, a project exploring how people can develop deeper, more attentive relationships with plants and landscapes. Her work brings together ecological knowledge, sensory awareness and traditional gathering practices, with a particular interest in seaweed and coastal plants. Through guided walks, shared cooking and quiet observation, she invites participants to slow down, tune in and learn from the living systems around them.
BLAIR DUNCANSON
LOCAL FORAGER AND WOODSMAN
Blair is a local woodsman and forager with an intimate knowledge of the peninsula and surrounding woods. His work focuses on trees, woodland health and biodiversity, alongside identifying edible plants and understanding how landscapes function through the seasons. With experience in invasive species management, including rhododendron, he helps participants learn to read the land, forage responsibly and recognise the wider ecological story behind what they gather.
LEARNING THE WILD COASTAL LARDER
Over the weekend, you’ll build a grounded understanding of coastal foraging in Argyll, from reading tides and habitats to confidently identifying edible plants and seaweeds. Through guided walks, shared cooking and hands-on sessions, you’ll learn how to gather responsibly, prepare what you find, and bring wild ingredients into everyday meals in ways that feel practical, nourishing and achievable.
This is learning rooted in place, season and shared experience; not rushed, not theoretical but very much real and in Lunga's stunning landscape.
WHAT YOU'LL LEARN
- Identifying common coastal plants, seaweeds and shoreline species
- Understanding tides, habitats and safe gathering
- Ethical foraging and sustainable coastal practice
- Preparing and cooking wild coastal ingredients
- Exploring underwater seaweed habitats while swimming and snorkelling
- Reading the shoreline as part of nature’s wider larder
HOW WE'LL WORK
- Guided shoreline walks and gentle coasteering
- Hands-on gathering, preparation and shared cooking
- A guided wild swimming and snorkelling session exploring seaweed underwater
- Learning through demonstration, practice and conversation
- Small-group teaching with time for questions
- A relaxed, supportive pace throughout the weekend
WILD SWIMMING AND SNORKELLING
EXPLORE LUNGA'S COASTAL WATERS WITH DAN THE MERMAN
Join Dan the Merman, a local open-water swim coach and wild swim guide, for a morning's guided exploration of Lunga’s coastal waters. Through a calm, confidence-building swim and snorkelling session, you’ll discover underwater seaweed habitats, learn how to move safely in the sea, and experience the coastline from a completely different perspective.
Dan’s sessions are welcoming, people-centred and rooted in deep local knowledge, offering a rare chance to connect with the marine environment through curiosity, care and play.
Tamara will also join in to help you explore and discover the beauty of seaweed in it's natural environment.
FOOD, GLORIOUS FOOD!
Food is a central part of the Coastal Foraging Retreat. Meals are prepared by Matth Watson of Funcho Catering, shaped by the season, the coast and what we gather together over the weekend.
The menu below is a guideline rather than a fixed plan. Elements will change depending on weather, foraging conditions and what participants bring in from the shoreline and woods. Dietary requirements, allergies and preferences will be fully catered for, and vegetarian and vegan options are always thoughtfully integrated rather than treated as an afterthought.
Guests will also take part in gathering and preparation at various points, with guidance throughout.
ARRIVAL DAY
Dinner
Pollock or ‘vish’ and chips, foraged sea beet and pea purée, charred lemon
—
Lemon verbena shortbread soufflé, raspberry sorbet
DAY 1
Breakfast
Beremeal porridge, yoghurt, passionfruit and granola
Scrambled eggs or tofu on toast
Lunch
Wood-fired pizzas with a choice of toppings, including cured sea trout, celeriac döner, wild-spiced ham hough and foraged pesto
Dinner
Onglet steak or lion’s mane mushroom steak, foraged sneezewort and Alexanders seed sauce, millionaire potato chips, garden and foraged salad
—
Strawberry and wood sorrel millefeuille
DAY 2
Breakfast
Freshly baked pignut croissants (sweet)
Grilled kippers and poached eggs
Lunch
Fresh pappardelle with lemon and fried breadcrumbs, finished with guest-foraged seaweed and clams,
or vegan ’nduja butter with Alexanders and peas
Dinner
Spit-roast lamb with sprat, oregano, seaweed and wild garlic-caper butter, lamb-dripping roast potatoes and green salad
or
King oyster mushroom Iskender kebabs with foraged pickles
—
Elderflower fritters with guest-foraged ice cream
—
Cocktails including:
Lunga Island Ice Tea
Clotted-cream-washed Mull whey gin
Raspberry espresso martini, Local peated whisky blaeberry sour
DEPARTURE DAY
Breakfast
Cooked breakfast featuring Lunga-made sausage, black pudding, haggis, bacon, seaweed-kimchi bubble-and-squeak, mushrooms, roast tomatoes and beans
Alongside porridge, yoghurt, raspberry compote and granola
TO TAKE HOME
Guests will leave with a small selection of what we’ve made together, including:
- Unfrozen ice cream in sealed ice-cube trays
- A kilner jar of seaweed kimchi
- A bottle of Lungamaro
A BRIEF NOTE ON DIETARY REQUIREMENTS
Full details on dietary requirements will be gathered ahead of the retreat, and menus will be adapted to ensure everyone is well fed, comfortable and included.
ACCOMMODATION & COST
Guests stay in the main house at Lunga, in comfortable, characterful rooms shared which can be booked as single ocupancy or double/twin or triple occupancy. Accommodation and reception rooms are luxurious, warm and authentic, designed to support rest, conversation and a sense of being properly settled for the weekend.
As this is our first reterat we are offering a special introductory rate.
All prices are per person and include VAT, and cover:
- Accommodation for the duration of the retreat
- All meals and refreshments
- The full guided programme of walks, workshops and activities
- Use of shared spaces and facilities, including the sauna
SINGLE ROOM: £895
TWIN/DOUBLE ROOM: £745 per person
TRIPLE ROOM: £595 per person
WHERE ARE WE?
Lunga House is near Craobh Haven on the Craiginsh Peninsula in Argyll & Bute. Our what three words location is ///estimated.overgrown.onions
The simplest way to reach us from the South is to go via Glasgow where you will then take the M8 towards Glasgow Airport, cross the Erskine Bridge and follow the A82 along the banks of Loch Lomond until it reaches the A83 where you turn off for Inveraray. Follow this road through Lochgilphead after which you will turn right onto the A816 until you reach the turn off for Craobh Haven and follow the signs to Lunga House.