Dolphins from Avoch – a Small-Boat Trip and Lunch
A few hours.
The route
The Moray Firth's bottlenose dolphins feed off Chanonry Point, and a small boat from Avoch harbour, skippered by a local former fisherman, is a lovely way to go and look for them.
Afterwards, IV10 in Fortrose, a few minutes along the shore, serves a relaxed lunch.
Before you go
Book accommodation nearby
If you are staying over: here are ours nearest where the day starts and ends.
The nearest of ours is Newhall Mains in Balblair, 6 miles away.
Book a dolphin trip with Dolphin Trips Avoch
Ring Dolphin Trips Avoch on 01381 622383 to book a morning sailing and check the day's times, which change with the tide and weather: it sails from April to the end of September, from £25 a person at the time of writing.
Book lunch at IV10 Café Bar Deli, Fortrose
Book a table at IV10 Café Bar Deli on 01381 620690 for after the boat: it opens Wednesday to Saturday from 10am and is shut Sunday to Tuesday.
The day
Avoch
A morning out on the firth in a small open boat, watching for fins, then a long lunch on dry land just along the shore.
About three hours
Dolphin Trips Avoch
A tour
Avoch is a small fishing village on the Black Isle whose name is pronounced 'och'. Dolphin Trips Avoch sails from the harbour, where parking is free. The skipper, Gwyn, is a former fisherman, and his boat, Corbiere, is a small dory with a water-jet engine, so there are no propellers under the water, and it carries no more than 12 passengers. The trips head out along the firth towards Chanonry Point, where the Moray Firth's bottlenose dolphins come to feed. You may see seals, porpoises, ospreys and red kites too, though no sighting can be promised. Allow about an hour on the water, and be at the harbour office 15 minutes before you sail. Sailing times change with the tide and the weather, so ring to book and check them.
5 min by car
IV10 Café Bar Deli
Lunch
Afterwards it's 5 minutes' drive along the shore to Fortrose for lunch at IV10 Café Bar Deli on the High Street, a family-run café with a daily changing menu, to eat in or take away, with seats inside and out. It opens Wednesday and Thursday from 10am to 4pm and Friday and Saturday from 10am to 10pm, and is shut Sunday to Tuesday. Booking is recommended: ring 01381 620690. Park free beside the fire station on Station Road, just off the High Street.
If it rains
The boat sails only when the weather allows: if it's called off, the skipper will say when you ring. Lunch at IV10 is indoors either way, and Chanonry Point, just east of Fortrose, is the place to watch for dolphins from the shore.
Photographs by Jaanki-Radha and IV10 Cafe Bar Deli via Google