Bella Jane Boat Trips, or Misty Isle Boat Trips
www.mistyisleboattrips.co.uk,
www.bellajane.co.uk Follow Charles Kennedy’s route from Elgol to Loch
Coruisk and the Cuillins, his contender for last year’s TV series Britain’s Favourite View. Take one of the earlier sailings so you can spend an hour and a half meandering round Loch Coruisk gazing up at the Cuillins or attempting Skye’s infamous Bad Step. Or you could just watch the seals and the islands. You can choose between the Bella Jane (daily) and the Misty Isle (not Sundays).
2 THE BASS ROCK FROM NORTH BERWICKBass Rock Cruises, 01620 890 181 or the East Lothian Seabird Centre
www.seafari.co.uk/forth/index.php The Seabird Centre’s high-speed boat whisks you out to Craigleith and sails around the island while you tick off seals and sea-birds spots. It then repeats the process with the Bass Rock, and finally hurtles back via Tantallon Castle. It’s an exhilarating and informative hour, with eight being the minimum age. Bass Rock Cruises offer a more staid (and cheaper) alternative.
3 LOCH NEVIS FROM MALLAIG VIA INVERIEBruce Watt Cruises
www.knoydart-ferry.co.uk In summer, the morning sailing to Inverie returns directly to Mallaig whereas the afternoon trip continues up Loch Nevis to Tarbet and through the narrows before heading back to Mallaig. A good plan is to catch the morning boat to Inverie, have a break there, perhaps visiting the Old Forge (mainland Britain’s remotest pub), before hopping aboard the afternoon boat. You’ll see Cameron Mackintosh’s house, Tom McClean’s beached “whale”, a seal colony and more magnificent mountains.
4 NORTH LOCH ETIVE FROM TAYNUILTLoch Etive Cruises
www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/taynuilt/lochetive Some say Etive is the finest sea-loch in Scotland. Judge for yourself by letting Loch Etive Cruises take you on a peaceful journey to the top of the loch and back, past the north face of Cruachan, Ben Starav and finally Beinn Trilleachan – with not a car in sight. Cruises are daily except Saturdays, lasting two or three hours.
5 ST KILDA FROM LEVERBURGHKilda Cruises or Sea Harris
www.kildacruises.co.uk,
www.seaharris.co.uk By common consent, this is one to do before you die. You need time (the trip lasts all day, with six hours to explore Hirta) and the weather has to be on your side – the wind scuppered all sailings in our three-day “window”. But we’ll try again, armed with sea-sickness pills, spurred on by the aura of St Kilda and the tales of the trippers who’ve landed there.
The full article contains 457 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
