West Coast Whale Trail

Skye Whale Watching Boat Tour

Join us on our Skye whale watching boat tour, one of the most beautiful sea trips on Skye. Experience a wonderful trip exploring the wildlife and scenery the west coast has for a longer duration. This whale trail takes you along the coast of Skye toward the little Minch, an area of fast flowing water which is host to great feeding for whales.

Leaving the pontoon we quickly transit through the bay and out into the Sound of Raasay. On our transit north we will have the Old Man Of Storr, the stunning coast lines of Skye’s east coast along with the Islands of Raasay and Rona all in sight. Its a wonderful place to gather the views and wait for the unmistakable splashes of wildlife and wait for puffs of air from the passing whales in the open water of the Inner Hebreidean sea. During the time we will point out all the local sights, from the stunning Cuillins mountain range to the Outer Hebreidean islands, historic places, fossil beach and lots of great history of the island.

Wildlife

The area is also home to a variety of sea birds, such as White tailes Sea Eagles, Great Skua’s, Puffins and the magnificent Gannets. Our biggest help with finding whales are where these large birds are feeding from the whales or dolphins driving bait fish to the surface. We have some great local history too, from dinosaurs to forklore and Vikings. Along the way we should meet plenty of other wildlife from the above along with Dolphins, Porpoises and different species of Whales. We encounter the most wildlife on this trip due to the time spent in the deep waters and the distance we covered. 2025 was one of the strongest years yet for sightings of Minke Whales, Fin Whales and Humpback Whales in the area, Puffins normally depart in early June from our shores around Skye but sometimes stay a little later.

Although we try our best to spot and search for wildlife and our trips are often full of wildlife, from time to time some days on the water are slower than others, please be mindful of this. Wildlife sadly isn’t always a guarantee.

INFO

West Coast Whale Trail trip has a capacity for 12 passengers, please refer to our booking calendar for scheduled trips, if the date you would like is not available then please get in contact and we could possibly organise a trip for you.

All our boat trips depart from the pontoon in Portree – 200m to the end of the pier road, just after the RNLI station. Please see the SEASKYE boarding sign. Parking isn’t available on site. There is two large car parks in Bayfeild and Portree square. We do require guests to come prepared with warm waterproof clothing and sturdy footwear. We recommend a camera and water for the day. Whilst the weather will be monitored and we will only run the trip if the skipper deems the conditions safe, we may encounter some bumps along the way. Please listen to the safety brief that we give at the start of each trip and raise any questions you may have. Guests that may suffer from seasickness should come prepared. Timings are not exact and may vary slightly.

Some passengers may find this trip duration long at 3.5 hours, if you aren’t a keen wildlife watcher, boat tripper or photographer. For a brilliant boat trip and time spent on the water our 2 hour Inner Hebridean wildlife explorer trip can be better suited and value for money.

Please remember to bring water, snacks and warm suitable clothing for being at sea. Our vessel is open to the elements so please remember a waterproof jacket.

The vessel has a toilet onboard for your convience.

Please arrive in time so we can spend the full amount of time on the water and with respect for fellow passengers in mind.

Terms and Cancellation policy..

If the weather is unsuitable for comfort and safety, we will sadly cancel the trip. We will also cancel the trip if we don’t reach the minimum number of bookings. In such events, passengers will be informed with as much notice as possible and where possible will be offered an alternative date or a full refund.

For guests wanting to cancel: We will issue a full refund if the cancellation is more than 24 hours away from the departure time. Less than 24 hours such as the evening before the departure day will be 50% minus the booking fee. No shows will still be charged.