Western Isles Cruises

Western Isles Cruises operates day-cruise sightseeing and wildlife trips from Mallaig harbour, taking visitors out to Eigg, Rùm, Muck and Canna in the Small Isles, and along the Knoydart coast and the Sound of Sleat. The boats sit alongside the CalMac ferry slips at the south end of Mallaig harbour.

The Small Isles are the headline destination. Eigg is the headline of the headline, the volcanic Sgùrr (393 m) at its south end, the white shell-sand beach at Laig, and the 1997 community buyout that made the island a model for Highland land reform. Rùm is the larger neighbour, owned by NatureScot as a national nature reserve, with the Cuillin of Rùm rising sharply from the centre of the island and the Edwardian-Gothic Kinloch Castle on the shore at Loch Scresort. Muck and Canna are smaller, Muck a single working farm, Canna a National Trust for Scotland island with one of the best small harbours on the west coast.

Sailings are weather-dependent and the open-water crossings can be cancelled in heavy swell; the operator confirms departures by mid-morning. Wildlife on the route includes white-tailed sea eagles along the Knoydart shore, harbour porpoise and common dolphin in the Sound, and minke whale and basking shark sightings later in the summer.

Schedules, routes and bookings at the Western Isles Cruises website.