North Rona & Sula Sgeir Day Adventure Tour

Following departure from the fishing hamlet of Kylesku we cruise north for approx 3 and a half hours (2 hrs 30 mins on fine days). Our first destination is the uninhabited island of North Rona, a true Atlantic outlier which is rich in Norse and early Christian history. Once inhabited by a small population it was thought to be more difficult to build a sustainable life here than even in St Kilda. The island is now home to the Celtic ruins of a St Ronan’s Chapel and the remains of an old village abandoned in 1912.

Subject to suitable sea conditions we will land on North Rona allowing approx 3 hours to explore the island. Landing is by dinghy. When ashore on the very remote island, every customer is required to take extreme care and to be responsible for their own actions. There is no pier and landing is by dinghy transfer and then by scrambling onto rocks.

After leaving North Rona we travel approx 11 miles west of North Rona to find the island of Sula Sgier, home to one of Europe’s largest colonies of breeding Northern Gannets – the UK’s largest seabird. Here we make a coastal non-landing boat tour of the island.

Lying 44 miles north-west of Cape Wrath the island lies untouched for the majority of the year. For 3 weeks it is inhabited by the men of Ness from the Island of Lewis (The Guga Hunters of Ness) who are permitted to harvest 2000 guga (young gannet), a tradition that is some hundreds of years old. After leaving Sula Sgeir we make the return journey to Kylesku.