News

For the 2015 season Hebrides Cruises teamed up with the Hebridean Whale and Dolphin Trust to become the first cruise company in Scotland to record sightings during their cruises, using the same software as a marine scientist. The Hebrides is one of the best places in Europe for spotting marine megafauna

There were so many highlights of our 2015 season that we couldn’t possibly list them all!  In particular there were many rare wildlife and nature sightings which were almost a daily occurrence.

My last cruise of the season was an autumnal delight, with another colourful landscape behind every corner and wonderful sunny days on Staffa and Iona. We had a double dolphin visit in the Sound of Iona and rounded it all off with the

Our private charter was a great example of a tailor-made, perfect Hebridean adventure holiday. Hebrides Cruises can provide everything from delicious taste experiences through fresh self-caught seafood, hand-dived scallops and local single-malt tastings and fantastic hiking around scenic mountain lakes to close-up wildlife encounters..

Our 10-night Far Flung Islands: Mingulay to the Shiants Cruise, departing September 5th 2015 was a great success, where our guests enjoyed seals, whales, basking sharks, dolphins and plenty of eagles and other wildlife en route and at our destinations.

Our final scenic cruise to St Kilda for 2015 was a great success. It was particularly evocative because it co-incided with the 85th anniversary of the evacuation of St Kilda when the 36 islanders who remained on the St Kilda Archipelago were evacuated to the mainland at their own request.

We greeted our guests on board our 10-night St Kilda private cruise charter with sparkling wine, Mary’s famous scones and Cara, the Chef’s canapés. As we steamed up the Sound of Mull the guests took in the views of Duart Castle, Lismore Lighthouse and the dramatic Morvern Peninsula.

We are offering a late addition to our 2015 calendar with two dates in October for a new cruise. Our Caledonian Canal Explorer is a one-way 6-night cruise departing in October with two dates. 

We were delighted that the cruise made it to St Kilda with lots of warm sunny weather, which just goes to show it can happen, even in a summer when the UK weather has not been the best. This was also the first cruise of the season for our Chef, Martin, with some great comments on his menus.

It was set up to be a great last full day on our “Skye and the Small Isles Explorer” 6-night cruise. Calm seas lay in front of us on our route to Tobermory from our anchorage at the Isle of Eigg. This patch of sea is famous for its abundance of wildlife.

Basking sharks, dolphins and whales in abundance! We set off on our only 10-night cruise to St Kilda this season with high hopes of seeing lots of rare wildlife and we did! We reached our first anchorage at Loch na Drumbuie on Ardnamurchan on an idyllic evening and a flat calm sea and were rewarded with our first sightings of a white-tailed eagle, then terns, harbour porpoise and a red throated diver.

No stranger to Elizabeth G or the Hebrides, Chris Jackson (CJ) was back on board to skipper our "Idyllic Islands: Hebridean Photography Cruise" of 2015, which was led by professional wildlife photographer Chris Gomersall (CG). The two Chris’s have worked together since 2002, and with Bosun Sarah and Cook Pip on board, we knew the guests would be well entertained and looked after.

Here are some of the highlights of our 6-night cruise on May 23rd 2015.  With Guide Vivi Bolin on board, an impressive amount of wildlife was spotted and identified: golden and white tailed Eagles; bottlenose, common and Risso’s dolphins; porpoise, Pomerine skua, puffins, guillemots, razorbills and whimbrel amongst many other species

The number of white-tailed eagles in Scotland has reached 100 breeding pairs, a great success story for the re-introduction of the species. The birds, also known as sea eagles, were absent from the UK for nearly 60 years because of widespread persecution. The last known nesting attempt was on Skye in 1916 and in 1918 the last British white-tailed eagle was shot in Shetland.

We really appreciate when guests take the time to give us detailed feedback.  Our first cruise of the season to the Isle of Mull did not get the best of weather but hopefully this review from our guest Felicity Lovell gives an insight that the weather is not essential to a great cruise experience.

Elizabeth G was looking her very best with a total makeover inside and out for her first cruise of the season. Our four crew, Skipper Rob, Chef Steve, Wildlife Guide Vivi and Bosun Sarah were ready to welcome our first guests of the season on board yesterday

Common dolphins are actually normally not all that common in the Hebrides, but this has changed recently. The number of common dolphins found in the waters off western Scotland has substantially increased; the encounter rate has more than doubled in the past 12 years according to the Hebridean Whale and Dolphin Trust

Have a look at the blog our Australian guest Murray Foote has produced to document his St Kilda and the Hebrides cruise with us in 2014.  The images and information are truly superb and we are very grateful to Murray for sharing them with us.

Basking sharks have been spotted off the island of Coll over the Easter weekend, much earlier in the year than expected.

The Hebrides is still the best place in the world for sighting basking sharks

Basking Shark Scotland (BSS), based in Oban recorded 250 individual basking shark sightings last year, despite many places in the UK recording their lowest numbers in many years. The sightings ranged from Caithness to Dumfries & Galloway, but the highest concentration of sightings were recorded in the Hebrides.

Pip Pedley is one of our onboard chefs for this season and she has provided us with her favourite mussel recipe!

One of the delights of our cruises is mingling with the local population when we happen to meet them. The history of the people who populate the islands we visit is invariably fascinating and they are justly proud of their roots and ancestry.  Barra has a population of 1,000 and the main name is MacNeil.  There are of course MacNeils all over the world who are also proud of their heritage

Scottish rope grown mussels produced by Inverlussa Shellfish based in Loch Spelve on the Isle of Mull will take a starring role on BBC TV’s James Martins “Home Comforts” programme later this week. 

THE diaries of a teacher and minister’s wife who lived on St Kilda before the isles were evacuated are to be put online by the National Trust of Scotland.

The name “The Small Isles” really doesn’t do justice to a unique group of four islands, just south of Skye, each with its own amazing character, culture, scenery and geology.