The Bass Rock – Gannets and Lobster by the Harbour
A few hours, from North Berwick station and back.
The route
The Bass Rock sits white with gannets three miles out from North Berwick, and Sula's boat takes you right under its cliffs and round the puffin island of Craigleith in an hour and a half.
Afterwards, lunch is a minute's walk from the harbour steps at the Rocketeer, in the old coastguard station, with North Berwick lobster on the menu.
Before you go
Book accommodation nearby
If you are staying over: here are ours nearest where the day starts and ends.
Book Sula's Bass Rock Sightseeing Tour on its website, for a sailing that leaves time for lunch after it: trips run every day from April to September at times that change with the tide, take an hour and a half, and cost £32 for an adult and £15 for a child aged 5 to 15 at the time of writing (under-5s free, but book them a place).
Book a table at the Rocketeer on 01620 895577 for after the boat: it opens every day from 9am, until 4pm from Sunday to Thursday and 7pm on Fridays and Saturdays.
The day
North Berwick
A walk down through the town to the harbour, an hour and a half at sea among the seabirds, and lunch looking back out at the rock you've just been round.
About three and a half hours
Sula Boat Trips
A tour
It's about 15 minutes' walk from North Berwick station down through the town to the harbour, where Sula's boat leaves from the steps inside the harbour, or from Galloway's Pier just outside it at low tide. The trip takes an hour and a half, starting at Craigleith, home to thousands of puffins from April to July. Then it's out to the Bass Rock, where the operator puts the gannets at around 100,000, and back along the coast past Tantallon Castle. Book ahead on Sula's website. Trips run every day from April to September, at different times each day because the harbour is tidal. They cost £32 for an adult and £15 for a child aged 5 to 15 at the time of writing. Under-5s go free but still need a place booked. Well-behaved dogs are welcome on a lead, and there are stairs getting on and off. In November, Sula runs short seal-pup cruises round Craigleith instead.
The Rocketeer
Lunch
Lunch is a minute's walk away at the Rocketeer, in the old coastguard station, where you eat in a glass room looking over the beach to the Bass Rock. Its lobster is bought straight from the harbour, and there's fish and chips, mussels and burgers too. It opens every day from 9am, until 4pm from Sunday to Thursday and 7pm on Fridays and Saturdays. Booking is wise, and dogs are welcome inside. If it's full, the Lobster Shack on the Old Pier takes no bookings and has covered, heated benches: check its days on its website.
If it rains
The boat sails in light rain and the Rocketeer's glass room is warm and dry, but in rough weather Sula may not go: ring 01620 849289 if the sea looks wild, and have lunch at the Rocketeer either way.
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