St Kilda and the Shiants Cruise

Depart approximately 1430 from Stornoway, cruising down the east coast of the Isle of Lewis towards Tarbert on Harris. This area covers the NE Lewis Marine Protected Area, a good area for potentially spotting Risso's dolphins along with minke whales, common dolphins, porpoise and white-tailed eagles.

Dinner and overnight in Tarbert marina for a chance to walk ashore for a while.

After breakfast it is a short sail south before turning the corner into the Sound of Harris with views of the Uists to the south. Then it is straight ahead 40 miles to St Kilda sitting alone in the Atlantic. The more open water brings chances of other cetacean and seabird species like white-beaked dolphins and maybe a Leach's petrel among the storm petrels for those looking carefully. Sit back, relax and enjoy the ride!

Arriving into Village Bay in the late afternoon/evening we will have time for dinner as the sun starts to set after marvelling at the thousands of puffins and other auk species that are just starting to finish their breeding season and may have chicks with them out on the water.

After breakfast we will take you ashore in our dinghy where you will get a welcome from the National Trust for Scotland ranger with a little bit of history and then its up to you how you wish to spend your day. You will have a packed lunch with you so have a look around the village and then maybe wander up the hills to explore further and take in the expansive views.

In the evening we will enjoy dinner back on the boat and our last sunset at St Kilda.

Time to up anchor after breakfast for a look around the amazing sea stacks next to the isle of Boreray, covered in thousands of gannets, the sky will be full of them travelling to and fro from their fishing grounds.

We will then chart a course home towards the Sound of Harris once more and find a quiet spot to anchor for the night in one of the bays in the Sound or perhaps a little further around into the Minch depending on time and what we find along the way.

It's time to visit your second set of islands today after a short cruise up the Minch to the Shiant Isles. These are great cetacean waters so we will be keeping our eyes peeled for whales and dolphins.

There will be time for a shore excursion to visit the small bothy and wander up the hill to take in the beautiful views over the Minch, Lewis, Harris and the Isle of Skye to the east. There are also large seabird colonies here to see and the grassy meadows hide some interesting little plants like carnivorous sundews and butterworts in the boggy areas, and orchids on the drier slopes.

Back to the boat for dinner in the evening and we hope to be able anchor here for the evening. If not then we have a great quiet anchorage at the back of Loch Sealg just a short cruise away on Lewis.

After our last breakfast it will be time to follow the coast northwards along Lewis back to Stornoway arriving around midday. Again this is a great area to try and see some final cetaceans and eagles before we say our farewells back in the harbour.