Prices Valid until 04 October 08
per person.

Prices are all inclusive except for alcoholic drinks:

4 day cruise £490

6 day cruise £840

12 day cruise £1590

A 10% discount applies to all our past guests.

St Kilda

St Kilda

Please note that there are a lot of photographs on this page and it may take some time to download - if you are interested in St Kilda then it should be worth the wait!!

Trips to St Kilda are run throughout the season, as part of some of our 12 day cruises.

Neither words or pictures can ever truly paint the incredible image of Village Bay - you have to see it with your own eyes and let your imagination run to a bygone era.

As we look back from St Kilda, we can see the main island Hirta in the distance. Dun is the rocky ridge to the left, with village bay in the middle, overshadowed by the cliffs of Oiseval (293 meters high).

The sad history, the isolation and the unique wildlife make St Kilda one of the most sought after places to visit in the world, indeed it is now a World Heritage Site. During the first world war, the villagers had access to a radio, and one evening a German submarine entered Village Bay (the main and really only safe anchorage) and shelled the houses. Everyone took to the hills and only minor damage was done, although the radio was destroyed. Later a gun was fitted to overlook and guard the bay. Needless to say, the Germans never came back and the gun has never fired a shot in anger! Here you can see a Russian owned cruise ship on anchor with the cliffs of Dun behind.

After the inhabitants voted in the 1930's to leave, the island was deserted until the army took it over as part of a weapons testing range. Missiles are still fired from the base on Benbecula and their progress is monitored by radar from St Kilda, although now by civilian contractors.

For many years fishing boats have entered village bay to take advantage of the shelter.

However once in village bay, among the most obvious things you notice are the military installations both around the village and on the hilltops. The base is now run by a civilian company, who provide a lot of welcome help to visitors and National Trust for Scotland staff.

However even this intrusion cannot radically alter the magnificence of the bay. In this image you can see the full extent of the anchorage, with the village itself in the foreground and the island of Dun in the distance, sheltering the bay from the southerly swells.

To our great surprise on one of our visits to Kilda, the "Discovery" an enormous cruise ship arrived in the bay intent on landing 600 passengers!! Low water at the pier prevented them landing and they settled for tours around village bay, for which we were very thankful.

The landing itself can be something of a trial if the swell is anything other than slight and many of the visiting cruise ships fail to make a landing.

My uncle was on the team that constructed this new pier in the 70's he has retired now and lives just outside Stornoway and has regaled some interesting stories of his time on the island.

With Guideliner Hebridean Wildlife cruises, not just a landing must be made in order for the trip to be called a success. In fact, our normal routine is to arrive in time to spend an evening looking around the village; then a full day spent exploring Hirta on the following day. Lastly we try to cruise around the whole archipelago, including the stacs and Boreray, before we leave. On the last fourteen consecutive trips we have been successful on twelve of them, due I am sure to the fact that we have twelve days in which to get the right weather!!!!

The National Trust for Scotland looked after the island for many years but it is now in the hands of Scottish Natural Heritage who keep a warden there during the summer months. Volunteers are able to stay on the island for two weeks when they help to repair and reconstruct some of the village.

Once ashore, the warden will come along and give a briefing on the various safety rules and of course a few instructions in how to behave while on the island. The cliffs can be dangerous and there is no mountain rescue team on the island so care is needed when exploring! Visitors are requested not to go outside the village perimeter alone.

One of the many tasks facing the warden is to continue with the research being done on the indigenous sheep. Not only are the Soay sheep which run wild on Hirta and Soay of interest, but also the Black faced sheep which are totally feral on Boreray. They are counted with the help of a spotting scope from the "Gap".

After the introductory talk we are able to take a walk through the village, past the reconstructed houses and perhaps into the museum.

The ruined houses can have a profound effect on visitors and there is a great feeling of sadness about the village which seems to permeate every stone

The cemetery has graves dating right up to recent times, containing those who departed these shores but wished to return here to be laid to rest.

Opposite the village, on the flanks of Ruaival, at what was thought to be the site of St Brianan's (St Brendan- a contemporary of St Columba) chapel, archaeological excavations are under way. It now appears likely that the site, formally thought to be religious, is more likely to be an agricultural dwelling!

After looking around the village area, a walk over the bealach (pass) to Glenn Mhor is next. The path is steep, and looking back it is possible to see just how intrusive the modern buildings are.

From the top, the view down into the big glen makes all the puffing and panting worthwhile. This was where the original village was before the inhabitants moved over the hill to village bay. Glenn Mhor has several very ancient remains well worth a visit.

Walking around the edge of the glen, it is worth taking care to avoid getting too close to the nests of the many great skuas. These "bonxies" are quick to dive bomb any intruders. Holding a stick overhead usually prevents them making contact.

At this point, the famous lovers stone can be seen on the western slopes. In earlier years when the island was inhabited by the true St Kildans', young men, who wished to marry, were required to walk to the very edge of the stone and stand there holding one foot at waist level. Perhaps the drop of some 700ft might have made one or two contemplate a life of celibacy.

Further along the ridge of the Cambir, after quite a difficult and rocky walk, a plateau, which overlooks the sound of Soay makes a great place for lunch with a fantastic view. Looking over the cliff, the drop of several hundred feet to the raging seas below is most impressive.

Looking east, there is a great view over to Boreray and the stacs, with the great cave under Gob na H-Airde in the foreground. It is possible to scramble down the cliff and enter the cave.

After a day around the island of Hirta, we try to cross over to Boraray, Stac Lee and Stac an Armin. Very often the seas are turbulent, but it is worth it to see the spectacular colonies of seabirds particularly the gannets.

Stac Lee with Stac an Armin behind photographed from the Gap on Hirta. A very large lens was needed to get the shot, but it is possible to make out individual gannets in the full image despite the distance of three miles.

The white guano covered rock shine out and the stacs can be seen from miles away at sea. You can make out the narrow ledges along which the St Kildans would crawl in total darkness to harvest the young gannets.

Gannets on Stac Lee.This is a section of the image above, showing more clearly the gannets nesting on Stac Lee. They pack together on any flat (or even flattish) surface, keeping just out of beak range of their neighbours.

The edge of Boreray is like a jagged knife, best seen, as here, from the north, with Stac an Armin in the foreground.

It is possible to cruise right underneath the cliffs of Boreray, close to the gannet colonies, - the sights, the sounds and especially the smells are quite astonishing. It is one of the great sights and experiences of the natural world.

However, here are a few photos of the wildlife of St Kilda:

This is a typical shot of a great skua, or "bonxie" soaring over what are the highest sea cliffs in Britain.

They come a lot closer, and in fact can be quite threatening if you get too close to their nest site.

Although if you are careful, you can get very close, with only the reaction of a beady eye to contend with.

There are several hundred great skuas nesting on Hirta, but also there has been a pair of arctic skuas nesting on the route up to the Gap. The profile of the arctic skua is far more streamlined than that of the bonxie allowing them to show a talent for manoeuvrability that is quite astonishing.

Many birds use these islands as a convenient staging post when on migration, among them these brent geese, photographed as they flew over the landing ramp in village bay.

The St Kilda wren is a particular favourite, here peeping out from the stones of one of the cleits. It is considerably bigger than the mainland variety, as well as being much less timid.

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The Monachs

Either going to or returning from St Kilda, we often stop off for a day at the Monach Isles, which are on the exposed west side of North Uist.

These islands are themselves jewels in the crown of the Scotland.

Going ashore is like being on one of the Pacific islands. As well as fantastic beaches, there is a great selection of wildlife including eider, little terns, golden plover, grey seals and lots and lots of superb flowers. Like St Kilda, the Monarchs were abandoned and are now deserted except for the odd visiting fishermen and the even odder naturalist. However they do often provide us with welcome shelter on our way to and from St Kilda, and are a fantastic place to visit in their own right.

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