Our Tours
- From April through to October: 2-hour tours every day and our Supreme 3-hour tour on selected days, click here to view dates available for the 3-hour tour on the displayed calendar. All tours depart from Victoria Pier Lerwick, ZE1 0EL. Both tours cover the same route with refreshments included, but our 3-hour tour spends longer at some locations and includes underwater viewing. You can find out more tour information by clicking on ‘Our Tours’ link further below. Please click here to view our online booking calendar which displays available tours for each day. You can book/pay online using our easy-to-use online booking system or contact us directly and we will get you booked on.
- Safety at the heart of what we do: In the interest of passenger safety, comfort, and welfare, we always sail with a minimum of two crew, this gives you a richer experience and to make sure you have an unforgettable tour. We can take up to 12 passengers on each tour.
- Awe-inspiring sights & sounds: Get up close & personal to this extraordinary seabird metropolis, home to 25,000 Northern Gannets and thousands of other seabirds towering the sandstone cliffs of Noss. Superb opportunities to see and photograph Shetland’s wildlife against the stunning backdrop of the 181-metre-high Noss cliffs.
- Amazing gannet diving experience: We bring along fresh fish to give you the opportunity to see gannets encircling & diving right alongside the boat, always a great highlight.
- Local Knowledge by expert local guides: Fun and engaging live commentary to suit all interests and ages, very family friendly. Individual earphones for each passenger so you can hear your guide(s) fully. We share our great knowledge on the wildlife, local history, geology and folklore that surrounds Lerwick’s harbour, Bressay Lighthouse, the Orkneyman’s Cave, the Giant’s Leg Rock arch and so much more.
- Refreshments, equipment & something for all the family: We anchor in a tranquil little bay which offers plenty of wildlife & photography opportunities, to enjoy hot or cold drinks and a selection of biscuits…always a great highlight. We provide binoculars, identification charts (braille format also), charging ports throughout the cabin, onboard activities and tasks for our younger sailors as set out by our Skipper Brian. Each get a FREE Eco-Friendly sealife activity pack. Adults receive 20% discount voucher to use at a choice of two local business establishments. We have our Seabirds-and-Seals merchandise available for sale onboard and also on our online shop.
- NO.1 Choice: Our tours offer the best value, boat and experience with many excellent TripAdvisor ratings and come highly recommended.
- Will We See Cetaceans? Not guaranteed on our tours, but if really lucky…we may see porpoises, the occasional whale or dolphin. With sharp eyes of two dedicated crew on every tour, we are always on lookout and you could be on no better boat. As a business with 31 years of experience, we continue to the lead the way for responsible boat-based ecotourism. At all times we follow the Nature Scot Marine Wildlife watching code and we are also WiSe accredited operators, proudly adhering to strict protocols to minimize disturbance to marine wildlife.
- Underwater Viewing Spectacle: Only available on our Supreme 3-hour tour which is available on selected days, click here to view dates. You can experience a variety of sealife below the surface, using our remotely controlled submarine video camera. This unique tour gives you the opportunity to view our wildlife above and our sea life below.
- Well-Established & Longest Running: Thirty one (31) years on, Seabirds-and-Seals remains the original and longest established Noss Boat Tour Business, entertaining visitors and locals alike. This award-winning enterprise was founded in 1992 by Naturalist Dr Jonathan Wills. Skipper Brian has been actively involved with the business ever since it began and in 2017, along with his wife Marie, they bought the business from Jonathan, maintaining the business ethos and reputation as The Original – and Number One Noss Boat Tour Business. All these years later, we’re still sailing under Jonathan’s originally created brand ‘The Noss Boat’. As with any business takeover – a new series of TripAdvisor and Google reviews started in our first season (2018), all continue to be extremely positive and show how popular our tours are.
- Award-Winning Tour Operator: Our Noss boat tours have been awarded 5-Star distinction from the Scottish Tourist Board and won major recognition at the Scottish Enterprise and UK Enterprise Awards. In 2022 we were awarded ‘Boat Tour Operator of the Year – Scotland’ and ‘Best Wildlife & Photography Boat Tour – Scotland’. Every year since taking over the business, we have won TripAdvisor’s Excellence and Travellers’ Choice Awards due to our consistent excellent reviews. Now into 2023 we are delighted to be awarded with a ‘Green Tourism Silver Award’. Being Green Tourism Accredited shows that we are eco-friendly and committed to working responsibly, ethically and sustainably. We are also delighted to be awarded finalists in the 2023 Highlands and Islands Thistle Awards under two categories – ‘Best Visitor Attraction and ‘Inclusive Tourism’.
- Holiday Highlight: A trip aboard The Noss Boat ‘Seabird’ is a highlight for many as shown in our many fantastic reviews and from the number of awards won.
