Isle of Mull and west coast of Scotland cruise
Highlights
Oban | Isle of Mull | Duart Bay and Duart Castle | Tobermorey | Calgary bay | Treshnish Isles | Isle of Iona | Fingal’s caveDescription of Isle of Mull and west coast of Scotland cruise
This Isle of Mull and west coast of Scotland cruise is a seven day trip on board one of two small, traditional wooden fishing vessels, which have been beautifully restored to accommodate eleven passengers in ensuite cabins.Starting in Oban with a glass of bubbly as we set off into the west of Scotland waters over to Mull, our skipper will choose one of several beautiful spots to drop anchor for the night. Mull is a wonderful island, with its vibrant hub at Tobermory and also fine sites such as Duart Castle. From here we head to the Treshnish Islands, an uninhabited archipelago that is now home to puffin and seal colonies. Their neighbouring Island of Iona is another beautiful spot, with its ancient abbey still a point of pilgrimage for many. Depending on conditions and the group’s interests, the Island of Staffa and Gometra and Ulva are other wonderful anchorage possibilities.
Throughout your time on board, you will not only get a chance to see superb birdlife and marine wildlife, but also enjoy fabulous food with our chefs specialising in locally sourced produce, sometimes even fishing for it. On the Isle of Mull, for example, one of our favourite shore trips is to the mussel farm in Loch Spelve for a wonderful on board dinner.
Travel Team
If you'd like to chat about this holiday or need help finding one we're very happy to help. The Travel Team.
01273 823 700 Calling from outside the UK? rosy@responsibletravel.comCheck dates, prices & availability
Responsible tourism
As the pioneers of responsible tourism, we screen every trip so you can travel knowing your holiday will help support conservation and local people.
Waste: The company rescued and restored two beautiful traditional fishing vessels which would have been destroyed due to decommissioning and gave them a new life introducing people to one of the most pristine and scenic areas of Europe. Exploring Argyll in a group by boat is much better for the environment than travelling by car, and in fact it is much quicker by boat to get to the remote areas. During the conversion of the vessels, sustainable and recycled materials were used as much as possible and even now if repairs are required we take pleasure in finding materials that can be re-used. While on board, everything is recycled and carefully disposed of when on shore. The crew regularly collect rubbish from the water or on the beaches which is disposed of at the next recycling opportunity. Local producers feature highly in our menus, thus reducing food miles and packaging - we often pick up supplies direct from the farm or boat - no packaging required! We encourage our guests to fish and drop lobster pots; mackerel or crab are almost guaranteed but we do get other fish and the occasional lobster which guests will find on their plate at their next meal! Water is very precious on board because of storage and this reduces overuse for example guests are encouraged to have short showers. We only change guests linen and towels on request to avoid wasting energy on cleaning them unnecessarily
Suppliers: We are very fortunate to have some outstanding food and drink producers and suppliers in Argyll, especially seafood, hill beef and lamb and a range of speciality foods. Our guests love the fact that they are enjoying the local speciality produce and that they often get to actually meet the producers themselves while en-route on their cruise. Many of our food and drink suppliers provide free range and organic produce and we favour such producers. We also used local suppliers to undertake the original conversion of the vessels which was carried out in the local marina. These suppliers continue to work with us to maintain the vessels, from engineering and joinery to making the cushions and throws for the cabins. We also supply local toiletries in the guests ensuites
The Impacts of this Trip
Friends and neighbours: The owners of the company are steeped in the local Argyll community and spread as much of the economic benefit as they can for the guests they bring in. Local Guest Houses and Hotels are recommended by our sales team; local experts are brought in by operations to inform the guests about the wildlife and heritage. Our two purpose-built vessels were built at Ardmaleish Boat Building Co on the Island of Bute, boosting employment in the area on the two occasions we built there. On a recent stopover at the island of Colonsay where opening hours can be erratic, the company phoned ahead to arrange that the attractions at the Pier including a tiny art gallery and micro brewery were open so that guests could buy gifts and meet the locals. Many of our cruises are planned as one-offs to take in a local festival such as a food festival or a highland games, providing a truly authentic experience for our guests. Local attractions benefit, local suppliers benefit, and local businesses benefit from the presence of the company. Some restaurants even ask us to anchor overnight near their establishment as it improves the view!
A fair deal: We employ five full time people all the year round, eight part time people all the year round and up to 30 seasonal crew for the vessels. Seasonality is a problem for us as well as some of the seasonal workers and we can lose good people because they look for a permanent job. We therefore have recently tried to find ways of employing people all the year round. We opened one of our vessels as a restaurant off-season to provide all year round employment for one of our chefs. One of our skippers does engineering and boat maintenance for us during the off season. We provide training for all staff, identified in the annual appraisal to ensure they are able to fulfill the job role; our crews in particular have a high degree of autonomy and responsibility when they are at sea with our guests. When we first started the company we had two crews, one for each boat with 1.5 rest days between each cruise. This did not provide sufficient recover time so we introduced a third crew and we now have a system of two weeks on and one week off to ensure our crews are well rested and can do their job well. With the two new vessels we operate a four weeks on and two weeks off rota with three crews working in rotation to ensure crew satisfaction.
Waste: The company rescued and restored two beautiful traditional fishing vessels which would have been destroyed due to decommissioning and gave them a new life introducing people to one of the most pristine and scenic areas of Europe. Exploring Argyll in a group by boat is much better for the environment than travelling by car, and in fact it is much quicker by boat to get to the remote areas. During the conversion of the vessels, sustainable and recycled materials were used as much as possible and even now if repairs are required we take pleasure in finding materials that can be re-used. While on board, everything is recycled and carefully disposed of when on shore. The crew regularly collect rubbish from the water or on the beaches which is disposed of at the next recycling opportunity. Local producers feature highly in our menus, thus reducing food miles and packaging - we often pick up supplies direct from the farm or boat - no packaging required! We encourage our guests to fish and drop lobster pots; mackerel or crab are almost guaranteed but we do get other fish and the occasional lobster which guests will find on their plate at their next meal! Water is very precious on board because of storage and this reduces overuse for example guests are encouraged to have short showers. We only change guests linen and towels on request to avoid wasting energy on cleaning them unnecessarily
Suppliers: We are very fortunate to have some outstanding food and drink producers and suppliers in Argyll, especially seafood, hill beef and lamb and a range of speciality foods. Our guests love the fact that they are enjoying the local speciality produce and that they often get to actually meet the producers themselves while en-route on their cruise. Many of our food and drink suppliers provide free range and organic produce and we favour such producers. We also used local suppliers to undertake the original conversion of the vessels which was carried out in the local marina. These suppliers continue to work with us to maintain the vessels, from engineering and joinery to making the cushions and throws for the cabins. We also supply local toiletries in the guests ensuites
The Impacts of this Trip
Friends and neighbours: The owners of the company are steeped in the local Argyll community and spread as much of the economic benefit as they can for the guests they bring in. Local Guest Houses and Hotels are recommended by our sales team; local experts are brought in by operations to inform the guests about the wildlife and heritage. Our two purpose-built vessels were built at Ardmaleish Boat Building Co on the Island of Bute, boosting employment in the area on the two occasions we built there. On a recent stopover at the island of Colonsay where opening hours can be erratic, the company phoned ahead to arrange that the attractions at the Pier including a tiny art gallery and micro brewery were open so that guests could buy gifts and meet the locals. Many of our cruises are planned as one-offs to take in a local festival such as a food festival or a highland games, providing a truly authentic experience for our guests. Local attractions benefit, local suppliers benefit, and local businesses benefit from the presence of the company. Some restaurants even ask us to anchor overnight near their establishment as it improves the view!
A fair deal: We employ five full time people all the year round, eight part time people all the year round and up to 30 seasonal crew for the vessels. Seasonality is a problem for us as well as some of the seasonal workers and we can lose good people because they look for a permanent job. We therefore have recently tried to find ways of employing people all the year round. We opened one of our vessels as a restaurant off-season to provide all year round employment for one of our chefs. One of our skippers does engineering and boat maintenance for us during the off season. We provide training for all staff, identified in the annual appraisal to ensure they are able to fulfill the job role; our crews in particular have a high degree of autonomy and responsibility when they are at sea with our guests. When we first started the company we had two crews, one for each boat with 1.5 rest days between each cruise. This did not provide sufficient recover time so we introduced a third crew and we now have a system of two weeks on and one week off to ensure our crews are well rested and can do their job well. With the two new vessels we operate a four weeks on and two weeks off rota with three crews working in rotation to ensure crew satisfaction.
3 Reviews of Isle of Mull and west coast of Scotland cruise
Reviewed on 16 Sep 2018 by Ann Wilkins
1. What was the most memorable or exciting part of your holiday?
All of it!!
2. What tips would you give other travellers booking this holiday?
Make sure you have waterproof over trousers and jacket. There are lots of lovely walks when onshore but if the weather is inclement, wet jeans can take away some of the pleasure.
3. Did you feel that your holiday benefited local people, reduced environmental impacts or supported conservation?
Yes. Trips were organised to various local businesses - we especially enjoyed our visit to the cheese factory at Tobermory; then there was whisky tasting and local chocolate tasting - which encouraged us to buy.
4. Finally, how would you rate your holiday overall?
Absolutely fabulous. The crew went the extra mile.......and much more.......to ensure that we had a wonderful holiday, despite poor weather. The food was amazingly good and the other passengers were excellent companions. All the onboard facilities were clean and comfortable and, for such a small boat, the cabins were surprisingly spacious.
Reviewed on 26 May 2017 by Sandra Jones
1. What was the most memorable or exciting part of your holiday?
The scenery - although the weather was not too good - and the excellent food.
2. What tips would you give other travellers booking this holiday?
If going early in the season take clothes to keep you warm at night.
3. Did you feel that your holiday benefited local people, reduced environmental impacts or supported conservation?
Yes, the food was mostly locally sourced
4. Finally, how would you rate your holiday overall?
If the weather had been good I would have given it 5 stars
Reviewed on 09 Sep 2014 by julie Clease
1. What was the most memorable or exciting part of your holiday?
The whole of our holiday was wonderful. The crew were all great, friendly and so helpful. The food was delicious every meal, and plentiful too!
The cruise was the best way to see some of Scotland’s beautiful scenery and wildlife. The only fault, we wished it didn't have to end!
2. What tips would you give other travellers booking this holiday?
Don't forget your binoculars. Sensible shoes and a waterproof for when up on deck and the weather damp.
3. Did you feel that your holiday benefited local people, reduced environmental impacts or supported conservation?
I am not sure about these things as we didn't buy any local items.
4. Finally, how would you rate your holiday overall?
Our holiday was planned as a special treat, and it exceeded our expectations.
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