Sailing “over the sea to Skye” as expressed in the historic Skye Boat Song, encapsulates the magic of arriving at this beautiful Island from the sea. Centuries later, a sea voyage is still the best way to soak in the incredible scenery and atmosphere of this very special island, however our guests enjoy luxury hospitality and a gourmet menu delivered by our four specialist crew.
Skye is a large island with many iconic places to visit and is very popular with visitors, which can sometimes lead to access problems and battling with crowds. However our vessels and guests, arriving from the sea, are often the only visitors on our anchorages and shore excursions, with stunning scenery, evocative history and rare wildlife all around.
Many of our cruises to St Kilda and the Outer Hebrides drop anchor at various points along the coast of Skye, but there is a new cruise for 2020 that focuses almost entirely on the island. Responding to requests from guests who wished to return for another cruise, owner and Skipper of Hebrides Cruises, Rob Barlow developed an exclusve 8-night itinerary, “Cruise around Skye: secret coastlines”, which circumnavigates the whole island, calling in at stunning coastlines, seldom-visited small islands and some of the iconic attractions of Skye. With an expert Wildlife Guide on board and accompanied shore excursions, guests will see the best the island can offer.
Another 6-night cruise itinerary, "Skye and the Small Isles: Hebridean Horizons" Island-hops the four islands of Eigg, Muck, Canna and Rum which make up the "Small Isles" before exploring the south coast of Skye. This cruise is popular because a lot of time is spend exploring the islands, which all have unique characters, rather than having longer spells at sea to reach remote destinations.
Finally, our third Skye cruise itinerary is the 8-night "Skye, the Small Isles and the Shiants" cruise which travels up the east coast of Skye via "Inner Sound" to reach the remarkable Shiant Isles, a hugely important nesting site for seabirds and often described as a mini St Kilda due to its stunning geology.
During any cruise around Skye, at least 60 seabird species are spotted, often many more. White-tailed eagles & puffins are usually seen, often multiple times, with golden eagles fairly frequent sightings. Porpoise, dolphins and minke whales are also spotted on almost every cruise as are red deer and otters, The very rare sightings include orca, sunfish and other types of whales such as humpback and fin whales. You have to be out in these waters to strike lucky! We do of course have many interesting discoveries on our accompanied shore trips too and our Wildife Guides identify many species of plants, fungi, lichen, butterflies, moths and insects native to Skye.
Tell you something you may not know. The rise through upsy locks is extraordinary, a body of water controlled. Then the down-the-stairs feel as you descend to the wide mouth of Loch Ness. Ok, that's one thing, two actually, but how you traverse this is not the whole picture. The thought and the planning that goes into every minute detail is diverse, dynamic and delicious. From Emma and back (for she is the pilot) we have Captain 'Calm' who deals with everything on board, Ash who makes light of all her work as steward, Will, guide, who knows the over and under story and Jordan who should cook for heaven, all of them showing such grace. I loved watching each member of this team step out of their roles when required. For any unsure of bumpy seas, this one is for you. Ps, bring swimwear. The hot tub affords the best of sunset views.
Judy Fairbairns: 17 September 2022Loch Linnhe, the Caledonian Canal & Loch Ness