the scottish islands..

[locum76]

hi all.

Me and swmblt have decided that this years summer holiday will be a bit of island hopping off the west coast, which is about the best excuse for buying loads of kit I have ever had. Hence spending ages looking at the tamarack website today. but i digress.

what i'd like is a general view of other peoples experience of island hopping on the calmac ferries. we spent ages looking at their website and found a bewildering array of options, some of which seemed extremely expensive. can anybody recommend a good route? we are looking around mallaig, skye, mull, canna, rhum, eigg, muck, oban and possibly a jaunt out to barra. we'll have the car but we don't expect to take it on every ferry.

also, if we do the small islands (rhum etc) will we be able to find good water supplies or would we have to take a stash with us?

all help will be much appreciated.

Rob

 

[Angus Og]

I want on one of the Island hopping trips at the beginning of May travelled form Mallaig to Skye for a couple days then to Harris for three days were going to head up to Lewis but just stayed in Harris, then headed south to the Uists and then Barra.

http://www.calmac.co.uk/hopscotch_route24

A small jaunt out to Barra can takes out a big chuck of time a day or two at the least because you have to go to Oban for the ferry. I would do the Inner Hebrides and then save the Outer for a other time.

There are some shower facilities at ferry crossings and you can get them in bunkhouse's for a pound or two.

Most of the camping was planed using this site http://www.scottishcamping.com/

Where's there's people there's water you wont be refused it

South Harris

Taken from South Harris with the Island of Taransay on the left North Harris in the back ground

 

[w00dsmoke]

hi all.

Me and swmblt have decided that this years summer holiday will be a bit of island hopping off the west coast,

Rob

My good lady and i say that to each other every year, the first year we made it to Skye and stayed for the whole holiday, the last 2 years we made it to Mull and ended up staying. In all holidays on the west we ended up exploring and taking loads of small tours eg Treshnish Isles etc and absolutley loved it! We keep saying "outer" next time!

 

[Mooseman1]

lovely pics mate. the beach looks warm like the med. of course its probably not.

 

[locum76]

cheers guys,

angus - i think using mallaig as a base would be a good idea right enough, a lot of the best trips depart from there, we'd have the chance to get into knoydart (i've always fancied a pint at the old forge - http://www.theoldforge.co.uk) and we could hop over to skye for a shower at our friends house in kyleakin.

woodsmoke - i might do the outer hebrides the next time, if i was in oban i'd probably head straight for islay and do barra and the hebrides after that.

rob

 

[Angus Og]

lovely pics mate. the beach looks warm like the med. of course its probably not.

The weather was great early May can be the odd midge or two once the night cools down that's it, now the water is a different matter it was cold.

South Uist at Howmore looking south. This was the only day we had a bit of rain a wee bit.

South Uist at Howmore looking north.

Machair about 15ft high at Howmore

And Howmore South Uist.

Only seen three people on the beach.

Think I'll go back and walk down the beach (20 miles) take my time and finish in Barra some good beaches there to.

 

[Olly]

If you're going to be based near Mallaig, there's a good, small, basic campsite down the road from Mallaig at Arisaig, with fantastic views of Eigg and Skye...
http://www.invercaimbecaravansite.co.uk/

....and they let you have fires on the beach!

SWMBO an I did an island tour about 10 years ago, we bought the full Island Rover ticket
and did Arran/Islay/Mull/Iona/Barra/Uist/Harris/Lewis/Skye in a couple of weeks,
camping and staying in B&B's - best holiday I ever had! I'm still trying to fill in the
'gaps', off to Colonsay in May and possibly Raasay later in the Summer.

 

[Scots_Charles_River]

If you're going to be based near Mallaig, there's a good, small, basic campsite down the road from Mallaig at Arisaig, with fantastic views of Eigg and Skye...
http://www.invercaimbecaravansite.co.uk/

....and they let you have fires on the beach!

Well the secrets out then !

It has amazing views and it only takes about 20 pitches so even when full, august, it feels empty. Just one toilet block, but washing machine etc. It's about 5mins walk from Arisaig and before that a pub on the hillside. It is virtually midge free.

My fav campsite in the area.

Nick

 

[scanker]

We've booked a cottage in Morar (near Mallaig) for two weeks at the end of May beginning of June. We've got 2 small children, so probably won't be doing as much island hopping, but do hope to do at least one island trip.

We've both been to Eigg and Muck on the MV Shearwater out of Arisaig, rather than the Calmac from Mallaig. We went a few years ago and the jetties for the big ferries weren't built at the time. We'd probably go the same route this time. The skipper's very experienced and veering way off course to get a closer look at wildlife is always on the cards. Depends if that's what you like, or if you want to arrive on time!

I've also sailed in the area a few years ago and taken up moorings on Muck, Coll, Eigg, Canna, Soay and Skye. I'd agree with what Angus Og said too - no problem getting water. We also tried to always buy at least some supplies at the local store - an easy way to get chatting to the locals and find out the best spots to go.

Whilst it's definitely got a sailing angle to it, I'd recommend The Scottish Islands: The Bestselling Guide to Every Scottish Island by Hamish Haswell-Smith for info.

 

[locum76]

cool. I'm really looking forward to this holiday (and i haven't even booked anything yet). the campsite at Arisaig sounds good. we might do a couple of sites in between wild camping.

 

[Angus Og]

This is a good to get Hebridean Island Hopping lots of good info.

 

[Tengu]

The Haswell Smith book is the definitive guide.

Ill find you more info when not busy

 

[Zappa]

Looks a wonderful area; 40 years since I was last in Scotland; did the West coast & Skye
must get back up there, and soon.

 

[locum76]

hi guys, i'm just back from a few days in dublin.

tengu - thanks for the heads up on the haswell smith book.it looks pretty comprehensive. it might be worth having just for the read.

rob

 

[locum76]

The Haswell Smith book is the definitive guide.

Ill find you more info when not busy

hey tengu, I got his book from the library and its fantastic. All of a sudden I want to buy a small dingy and go island hopping properly. I found myself leafing through it looking for a smallish island with a water supply, an abundance of rabbits and seabirds, a place to grow veg some old buildings (for building materials) and dreaming of TEOTWAWKI

 

[bothyman]

Try this magazine

>> http://www.scottishislandsexplorer.com/

Check out the links page

MickT

 

[Scots_Charles_River]

A 'Drascombe Lugger' with a wee bow cabin would be ideal, sail or row around the isles..

Nick