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Ailsa Craig's gannets by boat from Girvan
Ayr

Ailsa Craig – Gannets by Boat from Girvan

A few hours.

The route

Ailsa Craig rises out of the Firth of Clyde off Girvan, a great dome of granite where tens of thousands of gannets nest in spring and summer.

A small boat from Girvan Harbour takes you out under its cliffs, with guillemots, razorbills and kittiwakes on the ledges and gannets diving all around, and lands on the island when the sea and tide allow.

Before you go

  1. Book accommodation nearby

    If you are staying over: here are ours nearest where the day starts and ends.

    Wren's NestPortpatrickWren's NestSleeps 2Rose Blair Lodge28 miles awayRose Blair LodgeSleeps 2Heritage Coachman Lodge28 miles awayHeritage Coachman LodgeSleeps 4Fern Forest House28 miles awayFern Forest HouseSleeps 6

  2. Book Ailsa Craig Trips

    Book Ailsa Craig Trips by ringing 01465 713219 or 07773 794358, for a day between April and September, while the seabirds are nesting, and ask then for the sailing time and price; the weather and the tide decide whether the boat sails and lands.

The day

Ailsa Craig

A day on the water, out to the island and round under its cliffs, with the gannets wheeling overhead. Bring warm layers, waterproofs and a packed lunch.

About five hours

  1. Ailsa Craig Trips

    Ailsa Craig Trips

    Ailsa Craig Trips sails from Girvan Harbour in a licensed boat for up to 12 passengers, skippered by Mark McCrindle. Book by ringing 01465 713219 or 07773 794358, and ask then for the day's sailing time and the price. The skipper sails round the island or lands on it, and the weather and the tide decide which. Ailsa Craig is 1,114 feet high and an RSPB nature reserve. The operator counts about 40,000 pairs of gannets nesting on its cliffs, with guillemots, razorbills, kittiwakes and a small number of puffins, which have come back since the island was cleared of rats. Seals and porpoises are sometimes seen on the way. The seabirds are on the cliffs from spring to midsummer, the guillemots and puffins leave by about August, and the gannets go in the autumn. On the island, keep to the path and well back from the nesting birds. There's parking around the harbour (check the signs), and Girvan station is about 15 minutes' walk away.

If it rains

The boat sails only in fair weather, and the skipper decides on the day. If it's off, Girvan's harbour and promenade look straight out to the island.

Where to stay

Photographs by Clive Watkins and Mark MAGINNIS via Google