Whether you’re an avid birdwatcher, sea life spotter or just want to see some of Islay’s beautiful coastline, our wildlife trips offer the chance to see some rare sights. Although we refer to these as wildlife trips, you will also learn a lot about the local whisky industry, history and culture of Islay, even getting to see a 16th century castle.
Itinerary
Starting at Port Ellen Marina, we will take you along the south-east coast of Islay, where your Skippers will tell you about some of Islay’s history and heritage. You will then closely pass the three distilleries located on this area of the island- Laphroaig, Lagavulin, and Ardbeg, learning a bit about each of them.
After this, we then carry on to Islay’s Special Area of Conservation which is only viewable from the sea. Here there is an abundance of wildlife including a large seal colony, red deer, lots of bird life and some of the best scenery the island has to offer. Sometimes we even spot white-tailed eagles and bottlenose dolphins. After we will make our way back to Port Ellen, seeing other historical sites on route.
Other information
We use our RIBs or hard boats for these trips depending on weather conditions and availability. Our hard boats have toilets onboard, whereas our RIBs are not. Our hard boats are also wheelchair accessible (please see our ‘Accessibility Policy‘). If you have a particular preference, then please mention at the time of booking via phone or email and we will try our best to accommodate.
This trip is around 2-2.5 hours long and is suitable for children of all ages, however please use your own discretion when deciding if you wish to bring young children onboard. We do also allow well behaved dogs onboard, but this is always at the skipper’s discretion (please see our ‘Dog Policy‘).
Our Wildlife Trips run twice a day, almost every day throughout the summer, departing from Port Ellen Marina. However, weather conditions can become unsuitable or we may not have enough guests booked on for a tour to go ahead. We will keep you updated if we need to cancel/ rearrange a trip via text, phone call or email.
Please bring warm clothing as it can get chilly out on the water even if the sun is shining.
