Hebrides short break cruise, Scotland

Planet

We are committed to a sustainable future and work hard to reduce our impact on the planet. We love the west coast of Scotland, its seas, and its coast and this is carried across all of our operations. Our staff and crew are committed to environmental sustainability. Our crew are WiSe scheme trained in responsible wildlife watching and know how to interact with marine mammals in a safe and responsible way. We have appointed a Sustainable Tourism Advocate who constantly monitors our policies and actions on sustainable tourism and investigates ways to minimise our impact.

We are corporate partners of Hebridean Whale and Dolphin Trust (HWDT) and help with the conservation of marine mammals by logging marine sightings on their Whale Track app. We work with Nature Scotland by providing a complimentary half-day tour for guests on our Around Mull: Wildlife Explorer cruise and also with HWDT by offering a half-day educational trip for guests to learn about marine life in Scottish waters.

Our first two vessels were lovingly converted from decommissioned fishing trawlers, giving them a new life, cruising the pristine waters of the west coast of Scotland. Sustainable and recycled materials were used in the conversions 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.

Local produce features very 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 are committed to sourcing local food and drink producers across all five boats. We ensure our fish and seafood come from sustainably managed stock or direct from fishing boats. We encourage our guests to fish and drop lobster creels from the boat, mackerel, langoustines, squat lobsters and crab are almost guaranteed but we do get the occasional lobster that guests will find on their plate at the next meal.

All dietary requirements are catered for including vegan, vegetarian and pescatarian and all guests have the opportunity to highlight any special diets or requirements prior to boarding.

People

We have developed a Responsible Visitor Charter that includes measures for our guests to help them reduce their impact on the environment when travelling and cruising with us. These include considering public transport, reducing, reusing and recycling where possible, using water wisely, and respecting the local area and nature. We promote low-carbon activities such as walking while onshore.

We recommend and promote local attractions, distilleries, activities, and destinations as much as possible to help local communities. We ask our guests to shop local, support the local culture and heritage, visit local crafts, and spend time ashore visiting local communities.

We use local, sustainable, seasonal food and drink produce as much as possible and promote these suppliers in our menus, often taking guests to these establishments while on our cruises.

Our two purpose-built steel-hulled 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.

We are proud to have been awarded a Gold award in Green Tourism and will continue to assess our impact on the environment across all aspects of our business.