Our 10-night epic St Kilda and Outer Hebrides cruise with Chris Gomersall, which departed on July 16th, was an outstanding success in terms of wildlife seen, anchorages and stopovers. It was an excellent cruise for spotting cetaceans, with 9 minke whale sightings, three pods of common dolphins, bottlenose dolphin, Risso’s dolphin, white-beaked dolphin and harbour porpoise. In addition, 2 basking sharks were seen and close views of an otter cub at an anchorage in Loch Nevis late one evening. It was also an amazing success in terms of bird life, with a total of 83 species of birds seen. Bird highlights included both golden and white-tailed eagles, and sooty shearwaters at sea.
Anchorages on this cruise started out on Tobermory, Mull; and included Vatersay (linked by a causeway to Barra); then Fladday, off Skye; the St Kilda Archipelago (2 nights); Leverburgh, Isle of Harris; Loch Rodal, Isle of Harris; the Shiant Isles; Loch Seaforth (the boundary between Harris and Lewis); Portree, Isle of Skye; Loch Nevis, Lochaber; Canna, the Small Isles; Loch Scresort, Rum, the Small Isles; Fishnish, the Sound of Mull
This was such a magical adventure. I can't praise the crew highly enough, with the attention to detail, caring approach, thoughtfulness and professionalism all making our trip so easy, relaxing, happy and fun. I travelled with my elderly mother who benefited from a helpful hand navigating some of the wobblier walking moments and was thrilled at the generous approach towards topping up her wine glass. The kindness and thought put into celebrating her birthday was hugely appreciated. Like me, she came away having enjoyed fabulous scenery, majestic views (we were so fortunate with the weather), amazing animal encounters, excellent food, cleanliness throughout and generous hospitality, but it was the sheer friendliness and kindness of the crew that made the holiday so perfect. I brought with me various food intolerances and not once did I feel that I was getting second-best, indeed quite the opposite with my own freshly-baked cake each day and a very understanding approach from the fabulous Izzy and Craig.
Rebecca Lovelace: 21 September 2024The Small Isles and sea lochs: Wildlife havens