Bass Rock and Island Boat Trips
About
Boats leave from below the Scottish Seabird Centre at the harbour and run only from roughly late March to early October, weather permitting. They are operated in partnership with Seafari Edinburgh, and the booking site lists six distinct products rather than one, so choose deliberately. The Seabird Catamaran Cruise is a 75-minute trip to Craigleith and around the Bass Rock on a 55-seat family boat, adult £32 and child 16 and under £15, under 3s free, running April to September. The Puffin Express is a 30-minute run on the same catamaran, out around Craigleith and its roughly 10,000 breeding puffins and back, adult £16 and child 4 to 16 £8, under 3s free, sailing only while the puffins are on the island. The Three Islands Seabird Seafari is 75 minutes at speed on a rigid inflatable, taking in the Lamb, Craigleith and the Bass, adult £39 and child £28, late March to early October. The Isle of May Round Island Trip is about two hours by RIB without going ashore, April to July, adult £47 and child £42. The Isle of May Landing Trip is the one that puts you ashore, about three hours on the island with a NatureScot warden briefing on arrival, adult £70 and child under 16 £50. The Bass Rock Experience, listed on the booking site as the Bass Rock Landing Trip, is the serious one: an exclusive landing on the Rock itself, £200 per person, over-16s only, late March to early October. The RIB and Isle of May trips carry a minimum height of 1.3 metres and are unsuitable if you are pregnant or have back or neck problems, and waterproofs are not provided on any trip.
Photos
Highlights
- ✓Northern gannets at close range on and around the Bass Rock
- ✓Puffins on Craigleith earlier in the season
- ✓A landing on the Bass Rock itself on the £200 photography trip
- ✓Isle of May round-island RIB trips in the April to July window
- ✓A half-hour £16 Puffin Express round Craigleith for anyone short on time or money
- ✓About three hours ashore on the Isle of May on the landing trip
Tips
- →There are no boats between early October and roughly late March. If the Bass Rock is why you are coming, check the sailing schedule before you book anything else.
- →Trips are weather dependent and get cancelled. Build slack into the day and do not plan a same-day return train around a marginal forecast.
- →Puffins are on Craigleith earlier in the season than most visitors expect; book early in the summer rather than late if puffins are the target.
- →If puffins are the point, the two trips built for them are the 30-minute Puffin Express and the Isle of May Landing Trip, not the general Bass Rock cruises. The Puffin Express only shows dates while the birds are on Craigleith; it was showing none on 17 August 2026.
- →The Scottish Seabird Centre's own boats page lists only four trips. The booking site it links to lists six. Book from the booking site.
- →Waterproofs are not provided. Bring your own on every trip, including the catamaran.
- →The Bass Rock landing trip is 16 and over only and is aimed at photographers.