Considering a seatrek is to be 2 days or more, the following notions are used in this page:

• Total distance: the total distance covered during the entire trek, both on land and in water
• Daily distance: the distance covered on a daily basis on the trek (both on land and in water)
• Section distance: the distance covered in a section, either on land or in water

The following factors influence the distance that may be covered at sea or on land.

At sea

• Marine conditions, including
• Fitness, technique and experience of the participants

On land:

• TerrainDifficulty of the terrain (slopes, altitude, vegetation, presence of trails, etc)
• Physical conditions of the participants

When planning a group consider the following:

Everyone's capacity is different:

• Individuals have varying degrees of fitness, technique and experience.
• This means not everyone will be able to follow the same pace, on land and in water.

Furthermore, everyone's capacity on land may be different than that at sea:

• A given person may be very strong on land and average at sea - or vice versa

This makes group planning difficult, and crucial.

• By measure of precaution, for a group, all distances need to be planned taking into account to the slowest member of the group, both on land and at sea.
• Remember that the slowest member of the group may not be the same person on land and at sea. Take this into account.

To correctly plan a group trek it is therefore necessary to assess correctly, and if possible via verifiable information, the capacity of each person within the group.

The following gives general indications on how to assess someone's capacity on land and in water.

Assessing capacities in Water:

• Ask how many times per week/month the person is swimming or fining
• Ask how far (km) the person can swim/fin within 1 hour
• Ask how long (hours) the person has swam/fin without stopping (maximum)
• Ask to quantify how much open water experience the person has (years, activities)
• Ask to qualify how much open water experience the person has (experience, confidence)
• Ask what equipment the person uses and why (wetsuits, fins, etc)
• Assess awareness of openwater hazards and capacity to deal with waves, currents, fatique, disorientation, etc.

Assessing capacities on Land

• Ask how many times per week/month the person is walking/running/hiking
• Ask how far (km) the person can walk/run within 1 hour
• Ask how long (hours) the person has walked/hiked without stopping (maximum)
• Ask to quantify how much hiking/trekking experience the person has (years, activities)
• Ask what equipment the person uses and why (lightweight equipment, etc)
• Assess awareness of outdoors hazards and capacity to deal with weather, fatigue, disorientation, etc.

Depending on many factors, such as, but not limited to:

• Fitness: cardio and endurance capacity
• Technique: swimming and/or fining proficiency
• Experience: confidence at sea under various conditions and predicaments
• Motivations: having a sportive approach vs. a travel/discover approach to the activity
• Activities while at sea: swimming, snorkeling, freediving, photo/videography or any combination
• Equipment: whether wetsuit or fins are used, drag of of the bag being used
• Marine conditions: swell, wind, waves, currents, water temperature

Individuals may complete sections average distances between 1-3km per hour at sea, and may be able do so in average for 2 to 3 hours without exiting the water.

This makes a section distance at sea typically within the range from 2-9 km per water section. Generally 1 or 2 sections can be planned per day, making the typical daily distance between 4-15km.

Depending on many factors, such as, but not limited to:

• Fitness: cardio and endurance capacity
• Experience: on various terrain
• Motivations: having a sportive approach vs. a travel/discover approach to the activity
• Activities while on land: hiking, nature observations, photo/videography or any combination
• Equipment: mainly the overall weight of the equipment carried
• Terrain: flat, hilly, mountainous, sandy, rocky, bouldery, bushy, forested, impenetrable
• Weather conditions: wind, rain, air temperature

Individuals may complete sections average distances between 2-4km per hour on land, and may be able do so for 2-4h without stopping typically.

This makes a section distance on land typically within the range from 5-15 km per land section.

Considering the above, a typical daily distance in seatrekking is between 10-30km, whether:

• 1 section in water + 1 section in land
• 2 sections in water
• 2 sections on land

This high degree of variability needs to be taken into consideration when planning a seatrek - as well as when adjusting the plan during the seatrek itself.

The above is provided as a guideline only, based on the community's experience so far and will be updated regularly based on how seatrekking's practice evolves.