Environmental policy

Hebrides Cruises has sustainable cruising at its heart. Founder Rob Barlow's deep-rooted passion for the sea and lifelong interest in protecting the marine environment is reflected at every level of the operations of the company.  One of our main environmental aims, as a cruising company, is to make sure that we leave no trace of our activities on the pristine natural environments that we visit. In fact, we do better than that – if we find any waste, especially plastic on our shore trips we take as much of it on board as possible and then dispose of it properly ashore. Also of high importance is the work we are doing to reduce our carbon footprint through our vessel maintence programme. We are proud to achieve the Green Tourism Gold Award at very high pass rates on all categories. Read our 2023 Green Tourism Report 

Our crews are hand-picked and a commitment to environmental sustainability is a major criterion in joining our team. In fact, often they come up with new ideas on how we can further reduce our impact, for example our multi-use water bottles suggested by Wildlife Guide Lynsey are much appreciated by guests.  There is a specialist Wildlife Expert onboard every one of our cruises, with a university degree in subjects such as Biology, Ecology, and Geology and many have close ties with the Hebridean Whale and Dolphin Trust (HWDT). These vital crew members know the marine habitats of the Hebrides, where to find wildlife and identify species for our guests.  They also accompany our guests onshore trips and are just as informative about nature on land. There is no doubt that our guests love the sociable and informal way they gain wildlife knowledge which then fires their own passion for protecting the environment. Guests also help with cetacean sightings that are reported to HWDT through their Whale App, providing statistical information for their vital work.

We have noticed that our guests are also very interested in protecting the environment and are happy to contribute suggestions and receive information.  So we have provided a charter for responsible and sustainable tourism which outlines how they can support the environment while visiting the area as well as our own commitments. View our Charter for responsible and sustainable tourism

Hebrides Cruises are delighted to announce our long standing Guide, Lynsey Bland is the 'Green Initiative Crew member'.  Lynsey is very excited about this role, monitoring our green polices and suggest ways in which we can improve to minimise our environmental impact.  Read more about Lynsey

We further support the environment and our local community by buying our food supplies locally.  We are very fortunate to have a wide variety of wonderful produce available to our Chefs. View our List of local food suppliers

Carbon Management 

Monitoring our carbon footprint is a very important factor in helping to understand the impact of our behaviour on global warming.  Below is a list of policies we have implemented to limit our carbon footprint:

-Our chefs buy local and seasonal produce.  They plan, budget and buy accordingly to avoid waste and reduce ransport miles

-We avoid buying products with excessive plastic packaging.   

-Linen and towels are only changed if requested and we encourage guests to take short showers.  

-We supply guests with a Hebrides Cruises refillable water bottle.

-We encourage guests to use public transport wherever possible.  

-Guests are given information on electric car charging points in the surrounding area as part of their joining instructions.

-All guests and crew use the designated recyclable bins provided.

-Solar panels, solar lighting and LEDS are fitted aboard our vessels.

-Our marketing is predominantly online based and the high percentage of repeat bookings allows for minimal paper waste. 

-At the end of every season we 'Plant a Tree' in collaboration for "Trees for Life" for every guest who has taken a cruise with us.

-We suggest guests look for the Green Tourism badge when booking local attractions and accommodation before and after their cruise

-Our Skippers are instructed to run our engines at 65% of their maximum power capacity.  We also keep a fuel log aboard each vessel to monitor our fuel use, our aim is for a fuel consumption of 150 litres per person per  cruise. 

-We lift our tenders out of the water, when not in use, to minimise the impact on fuel and wildlife.