About Us

Sustainable Wildlife Cruising on the West Coast of Scotland since 1996

Hebrides Cruises is a family-run business and the leading luxury wildlife cruise company on the west coast of Scotland, owning and operating three ocean-going vessels.  Owner Rob Barlow has been introducing people to the islands of the West Coast of Scotland for the past 29 years. 

Rob and his son-in-law James Fairbairns are qualified Skippers and Rob’s daughter Emma Fairbairns is Shore Manager, the helpful contact for guests from their first communication to post-cruise feedback. 

We are very fortunate that the majority of our crew members returning to us for the 2025 season worked with us in 2024 or before. Through having a continuous relationship with us, our crews have a shared bank of knowledge about our vessels, our guest hospitality, our itineraries and anchorages and the wildlife which  greatly enhances the service they provide for our guests.

Our Crew Members confirmed for 2025 so far are:

Skippers:  Rob Barlow, James Fairbairns, Chris Ireland and Alasdair Sinclair. Chris McKinlay is also returning as relief Skipper

Wildlife Guides: Lynsey Bland, (Head Guide) Indy Greene, Will Smith

Chefs: Charlie Reid, Sammy Elsegood, Izzy Corbett

Stewards: Jasmin Clifford, Abbie Green, 

Deckhand: Will Jones

We will complete this list as crew members confirm their availability.  All our crew members are highly qualified in their various disciplines. Every post-cruise review we receive from our guests praises the crew on their cruise!

We were very honoured to received a double award at the 2023 Herald Scottish Family Business Awards, firstly for Customer Service Excellence and then for the overall micro Scottish Family Business of the Year.

Sustainability and a love of nature is at the heart of our company and we are proud to have gained the Green Tourism Gold Award standard for the third year, with a very high percentage level of passes.

Hebrides Cruises is WiSe accredited. The Wildlife Safe Scheme (WiSe) is the British standard for wildlife watching which provides training and accreditation for wildlife cruise operators and many other types of craft. The scheme advises operators on how best to view and interact with marine wildlife while minimising disturbance. In 2017 Rob was awarded the Gold WiSe Standard at a WiSe ‘Masters’ Course Read more about Rob's WiSe Gold Standard Award here>

We are very proud to have been closely associated with the development of the Hebridean Whale and Dolphin Trust (HWDT) "Whale Track App" followed by testing the App on board our ships prior to its launch. In October 2018 we were very pleased to support the work of HWDT by becoming a Corporate Partner.