20 April 2024
The week on board the Emma Jane definitely fulfilled evereything we asked for when we booked this cruise! Our main wishes were to search for wildlife, and have unique whiskey experiences. We had a spectacular week with sunny skies and calm seas, and were really lucky to spot the first minke whales of the season! Lunga and its amazing puffin colony were definitely a highlight for us, as this was our first encounter with these beautiful sea parrots. Our crew went out of their way to make sure we got to see as many species of wildlife as possilbe both on sea and during land excursions, and we had amazing experiences visiting Rum, Eigg, Cana and Mull - with dolphins, seals, eagles, a million different types of birds, ducks and geese, and even red deer and the gorgeous Rum ponies. Thanks to the special efforts of our crew, we had a very unique cask-whiskey tasting experience at Tobermory, which we truly cherish. This was our first trip to Scotland, and it proved to be both a wonderful family experience and a great holiday retreat. We would love to be back and explore further!
Tal Shulman
This must be one of the most relaxing holidays I have ever been on. A lifelong ambition was fulfilled be visiting Staffa and seeing Fingal's Cave and it was every bit as spectacular as I had hoped. Not only did we walk down the route to it to look into it but, thanks to Chris judging the tide to be right, he was able to get us right inside it. Iona and its abbey were impressive too of course and being able to land on Lunga in the Treshnish Islands and see the seabird colonies - puffins galore - was equally marvellous. The sail round Mull was an eye-opener too, seeing lochs from the sea rather than from the land. They were wonderful locations to spend the nights. And the weather was glorious. The wildlife was in abundance too with lots of seabirds and seals and good sightings of cetaceans. Bottle-nosed dolphins were the first up to bow-wave and we also had 4 or 5 Minke whales fishing and a few porpoises, but the most spectacular were over 100 Common Dolphins which came leaping from all directions to accompany us for over an hour. The hospitality on board was as friendly as ever on a Hebrides Cruises's trip thanks to Chris, Craig, Zoe and Sian with her delicious meals. Add to that very compatible fellow-travellers and no WiFi (so no gloomy news) and this was a holiday to be long treasured in the memory.
Helen Mainwood: 23 April 2022Idyllic Islands: Mull, Iona, Staffa & the Treshnish Isles