Holm – Coasteering on Orkney's East Mainland
A few hours.
The route
Coasteering is a way along the shore from the sea's side: scrambling over the rocks, swimming through gullies and into sea caves, and jumping into the water from ledges you pick yourself.
Over the Edge guides small groups along the coast of Holm in Orkney's East Mainland, and you don't need to be a strong swimmer to come. Then a warm lunch at a café looking over the first Churchill Barrier. Children can come from the age of eight.
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 House of the Northern Gate, 25 miles away. Sleeps 18.
Book Coasteering with Over the Edge
Book coasteering with Over the Edge on its website before you go, £70 an adult and £40 a child from age 8 at the time of writing, any day of the week through the year, and ask where to meet when you book.
The day
Holm
A couple of hours in and out of the sea with two guides, every jump your own choice, then soup and a toastie with a view of the barrier.
About four hours
Coasteering with Over the Edge
Over the Edge runs guided coasteering from Holm, in Orkney's East Mainland. In a 5mm wetsuit, buoyancy aid and helmet you scramble, climb and swim along the foot of the cliffs, through narrow gullies and into sea caves, and every jump into the water is your own choice, small ones first. No experience is needed and you don't need to be a strong swimmer: no single swim should be more than about 50 metres, and on a calm day even a non-swimmer can float through in the buoyancy aid. Expect to be in and out of the water for about two hours, after the kit check and a safety talk. It costs £70 for an adult and £40 for a child from age 8 at the time of writing. The guides go out seven days a week through the year, adding neoprene gloves and socks in winter. Where you meet depends on the stretch of coast, so ask when you book: the map pin only marks Holm. Bring swimwear, shorts to wear over the wetsuit, trainers with closed toes (no sandals), a towel, dry clothes and something to eat after.
About 5 min by car
Barrier View Café
Lunch
Lunch is at the Barrier View Café, in the Commodore on the main road through Holm, which looks across the water to Lamb Holm and the first Churchill Barrier. Everything is made on site: soup of the day, toasties, paninis, baked potatoes and hot filled rolls, with a children's menu and a counter of home baking. It opens Tuesday to Saturday from 10am and Sunday from 11am, with the kitchen's last orders at 3pm, and it's shut on Mondays. On a Monday, or if it's full, Lucano on Victoria Street in Kirkwall serves lunch every day.
If it rains
You're in the sea anyway, so rain matters less than wind and swell, and the guides decide on the day whether the sea is fit; the café is warm and indoors.
Worth a detour
- Italian Chapel
Over the first Churchill Barrier from the café, the Italian Chapel on Lamb Holm is two wartime Nissen huts that Italian prisoners turned into a painted church, with parking by its door. Entry is £4 at the time of writing and free for children of 12 and under. It opens every day, 10am to 4pm in October and 10am to 1pm from November to March, so on a winter afternoon it will be shut. It adds about 3 minutes at the wheel and half an hour inside.
Where to stay
Make it a weekend
More days out on Orkney.
Photograph by Andy Gutsell via Google