Spey Bay – the Dolphin Centre and the Shore
A few hours.
The route
The Moray Firth is home to a population of bottlenose dolphins, and Spey Bay, where the River Spey runs out into the sea, is one of the places to watch for them from the shore.
The Scottish Dolphin Centre sits in the old salmon fishing station by the river mouth, with a free exhibition, a café and a long shingle beach in front.
Before you go
Book accommodation nearby
If you are staying over: here are ours nearest where the day starts and ends.
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The day
Spey Bay
A few hours by the mouth of the Spey, watching the sea for fins from the top of the shingle. In between, there's the dolphin centre's exhibition and something warm in its café.
About two to three hoursAbout 0.5 miles on foot
Spey Bay
An attraction
Spey Bay is where the River Spey meets the sea, and at the end of the road Whale and Dolphin Conservation's Scottish Dolphin Centre fills the old salmon fishing station, with a car park beside it. Entry is free. In October the centre opens from Thursday to Monday, 10.30am to 4pm, and is shut on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. It opens on more days in high summer and fewer in winter, so check the opening hours on WDC's Scottish Dolphin Centre page or ring 01343 820339 before going. Inside there's an exhibition about the dolphins, a shop and a café. The Moray Firth's bottlenose dolphins are in the firth all year and are seen most often in summer, when salmon and sea trout are coming in to the rivers, so by October sightings from the shore are fewer. Climb the shingle ridge in front of the centre, look out over the river mouth and the bay, and give it time with a pair of binoculars: nobody can promise them on any one day. If seals are resting by the river mouth, watch them from well back and leave them be. The centre is level, but the shingle is hard going on foot. Ask at the centre before taking a dog inside.
If it rains
The centre's exhibition and café are under a roof, but the watching is done outside on the shingle: a wet, windy day is a poor one for spotting fins.
Speyside Coffee Roasting Co, a café in Garmouth.
Photographs by Bebe bebe and WDC Scottish Dolphin Centre via Google