Our Tours
- 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 with Seabirds-and-Seals.
- Get up close & personal to the awe-inspiring sights and sounds of this extraordinary seabird metropolis, which is home to 25,000 Northern gannets and thousands of other seabirds towering the sandstone cliffs of Noss National Nature Reserve. Superb opportunities to see and photograph Shetland’s wildlife against the stunning backdrop of the 181-metre-high Noss cliffs. We bring along fresh fish to give you a guaranteed opportunity to see gannets encircling and diving right alongside our boat.
- We will regale you with local history, folk tales and geology, share our great knowledge of Lerwick’s beautiful harbour, Bressay Lighthouse, the Orkneyman’s Cave, the Giant’s Leg rock arch and much more. When sea conditions allow our tours takes you right inside the Orkneyman’s Cave and we sail through the magnificent Giant’s Leg. We anchor in a tranquil little bay which offers plenty of wildlife & photography opportunities, to enjoy some hot drinks, juice and a selection of biscuits (including gluten-free). This stop is always a great highlight and an opportunity for all aboard to have a chat whilst enjoying a refreshment and soaking up the beautiful surroundings. If your phone battery runs low after all the photo taking, we can assist as we have USB charging points throughout the cabin.
- Not guaranteed but if we’re really lucky…we may even see porpoises or the occasional whale, otter or dolphin. With the sharp eyes of two dedicated crew on every tour, we are always on the lookout to share as much as we can and we do this with great devotion/enthusiasm as reflected in our TripAdvisor reviews. Whilst out on the water – all eyes peeled and fingers crossed, there is always something different to see, that’s what makes our tours so unique. If we are lucky enough to spot them, you could be on no better boat than Seabird – due to her huge viewing platform to enable you to walk about freely and capture the best shots. As a business with 30 years of experience, we continue to lead the way for responsible boat-based ecotourism. At all times we follow the Nature Scot Scottish Marine Wildlife watching code and we are also WiSe accredited operators, proudly adhering to strict protocols to minimise disturbance to marine wildlife.
- Binoculars provided for all passengers and we also provide seabird/cetacean identification charts for all. We have on-board activities for our younger sailors and tasks set out by the skipper. 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.
- From April through to October we operate two trips daily, seven days a week – departing from Victoria Pier Lerwick, ZE1 0EL. Our 09:30am tour is 2 hour minimum and our 12:30pm tour is 3 hour minimum – TAKE YOUR PICK. Both tours cover the same route, with refreshments included at our regular stop, which is always a great highlight, but the 3-hour tour spends more time at some locations and includes underwater viewing. Our tours are extremely popular with both locals and visitors, so we do advise booking in advance and not leaving it until the last day of your Shetland trip, as we do sometimes have to cancel due to weather.
- We can also have an additional late afternoon 2 hour tour, mostly on cruise ship days – boarding 4pm and departs promptly at 4:15pm (but times may need to be altered to suit certain situations). This allows both our independent holiday passengers and cruise ship passengers a further opportunity to experience our very popular 4-Star excursion. Please check our online calendar for availability.
- All this with Seabirds-and-Seals, a long-established award-winning business. Thirty (30) years on, Seabirds-and-Seals remains the original and longest-established Noss Boat Tour Business after Naturalist and former Skipper Dr Jonathan Wills – founded the award-winning enterprise in 1992. 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.
- As with any business takeover – a new series of TripAdvisor and Google Reviews started in our first season (2018) – all were extremely positive and show how popular our tours are. After just one full season, we were awarded the Scottish Tourist Board’s 4-Star distinction and TripAdvisor’s Certificate of Excellence. Our tours consistently generate great reviews, leading to TripAdvisor’s Travellers’ Choice Award in 2020 and again in 2021. In November 2021, we were awarded Winners of ‘Scotland’s Best Wildlife Boat Tour Company’ at the Scottish Enterprise Awards. We are both proud to be keeping up the many awards Seabirds-and-Seals has historically received.
- Come join us to find out for yourselves, what makes the difference on our 4-Star tours and why we are Ranked as The NO.1 Noss Boat on TripAdvisor. Every trip is unique, and you will hopefully leave with many happy memories of Shetland.