SKELLIG MICHAEL ECO BOAT TOUR
BOAT TOURS TO THE SKELLIG ISLANDS


The Skellig Michael Boat Tour around the Skellig Islands (Skellig Michael and Little Skelligs Nature Reserve) has multiple departure times throughout the day. The boat tour lasts approximately 2 hours and 25 minutes and circles both islands getting right up close to Skellig Michael and the Little Skelligs to see both the wildlife and the historical sites. This tour can get quite busy especially in the peak season so it is advisable to book well in advance.  The season runs from April to the end of September. The tour departs from the marina in Portmagee, Co. Kerry.

It is very important that we are able to contact you on the phone number and email address you provide when you make a booking. Skellig Michael is 12km out in the Atlantic Ocean so the tours are very dependent on the sea conditions and we will need to keep you updated if the departure time changes or if a tour is cancelled.

How to book the Skellig Michael Eco Boat Tour?

We take all bookings online on our website. Go directly to the booking page by clicking on the button below. You can add your details to the waitlist if the date you are looking for is full.

On the way back from Skellig Michael, passengers enjoying the ride
Taking photos of Skellig Michael

ABOUT THE SKELLIG MICHAEL ECO TOUR

How long is the boat trip to Skellig Michael?

The ferry crossing to Skellig Michael takes about 50 minutes.

How much time does the boat spend around the Skellig Islands?

The boat stays at Skellig Michael and Little Skelligs Nature Reserve for approximately 45 minutes getting right up close to islands before returning back to the marina in Portmagee.

How many trips per day are there for the Skellig Michael Eco Tour?

There are multiple departures per day for the Skellig Michael Eco Tour. See the booking page for times and to make a booking.

What months of the year can I do the Skellig Michael Eco Tour?

The Skellig Michael Eco Tour normally runs from April to September.

Are children allowed on the Skellig Michael Eco Tour?

We allow children of all ages on the Skellig Michael Eco Tour.

How much is the Skellig Michael Eco Tour?

Adults: €45
Students / Seniors: €42
Children: €37 
Family: €150 (2 adults + 2 children)
Each additional child: €30

Plus Booking Fee

What other options are there instead of the Skellig Michael Eco tour?

The Audio Visual Boat Tour is an interactive experience and is both educational and fun. An alternative to our Skellig Michael Tours, the boat does not venture out as far as Skellig Michael, instead staying in the relative calm between the islands and inlets of the Portmagee Channel and Valentia sound.

The tour departs from Portmagee Marina in Co. Kerry and takes about 1 hour. The Audio Visual Tour is not available during the 2023 season.

Boat stopped at the little Skelligs Gannet Colony
People looking up at the small Skelligs Gannet Colony from the boat
View on Skellig Michael from the boat on the Skellig Islands boat tour

What to bring on the Skellig Michael Eco Tour?

In Ireland, the weather is very unpredictable and we can get all the seasons in one day. Wear warm comfortable clothing and bring rain wear (jacket and trousers). It is also advisable to bring some drinking water with you.

This is not a harbour cruise and involves venturing 8 miles out into the Atlantic Ocean where the sea is not always calm. If you suffer from motion sickness consider taking medication before the trip and avoid eating for a couple of hours beforehand. 

Checklist for the Skellig Eco Tour

Wear warm comfortable clothing

Rain wear – jacket and trousers

Drinking water

Sunscreen (we might get lucky)

Camera

View of Skellig Michael from the little Skelligs
Skellig Michael Tour passengers taking photos
Skellig Michael UNESCO World Heritage site

The most fantastic and impossible rock in the world: Skellig Michael


George Bernard Shaw, the nobel prize winning author and playwright, visited Skellig Michael in 1910. He was so in awe of what he encountered that he wrote to a friend describing the experience.

“…the most fantastic and impossible rock in the world: Skellig Michael, or the Great Skellig, where in south west gales the spray knocks stones out of the lighthouse keeper’s house, 160 feet above calm sea level. There is a little Skellig covered with gannets – white with them (and their guano) – covered with screaming crowds of them… both the Skelligs are pinnacled, crocketed, spired, arched, caverned, minaretted; and these gothic extravagances are not curiosities of the islands: they are the islands: there is nothing else.

The rest of the cathedral may be under the sea for all I know: there are 90 fathoms by the chart, out of which the Great Skellig rushes up 700 feet so suddenly that you have to go straight up stairs to the top – over 600 steps. And at the top amazing beehives of flat rubble stones, each overlapping the one below until the circle meets in a dome – cells, oratories, churches, and outside them cemeteries, wells, crosses, all clustering like shells on a prodigious rock pinnacle, with precipices sheer down on every hand, and lodged on the projecting stones overhanging the deep huge stone coffins made apparently by giants, and dropped there God knows how.

An incredible, impossible, mad place… I tell you the thing does not belong to any world that you and I have lived and worked in: it is part of our dream world…”


From Shaw’s letter to Frederick Jackson: Parknasilla Hotel, Sneem, 18th September 1910.

Gannets circling outside Skellig Michael
Portmagee Marina - Departure point for the Skellig Michael Tour

WHAT TIME DO I ARRIVE FOR THE TOUR?

You need to arrive at the marina in Portmagee no later than 15 minutes before your tour is due to depart. Ask for BRENDAN CASEY at the marina. You should allow yourself enough time to find parking and prepare yourself for the tour. Parking is free of charge.

Google Reviews for Skellig Tours

Recent Reviews on Google
“Would 100% recommend this on a checklist of “must do” items in Ireland.”
“Once in a lifetime experience you will never forget.”
Amazing boat tour by a very experienced and knowledgeable captain”

Puffins and Gannets on the Skellig Islands

WILDLIFE ON SKELLIGS

There is an abundance of marine and bird life that on and around the Skellig Islands. Thousands of gannets, puffins, guillemots and razorbills come here to nest. Humpback whales, bottlenose dolphins and grey seals are never very far away.

Where do the Skellig Michael Tours depart from?

All our tours depart from the marina in Portmagee, County Kerry. – Ask for BRENDAN CASEY. Arrive at least 15 minutes before the tour is due to depart.

How do I change or cancel my Skellig Tour booking?

Login to our customer area to update or cancel your booking. Enter the same email address you used when you made your booking.

It is advisable to stay as near as possible to Portmagee.

You should stay locally the night before the tour because the sea conditions vary a lot and we are often not sure if the tour will go ahead until right before it is due to depart.

What happens if my Skellig Michael Eco Tour is cancelled due to sea and weather conditions?

We can reschedule you on a Skellig Michael Eco tour later on the same day or on the next day if the sea conditions have improved. Alternatively, we can book you on the next available Audio Visual (AV) Boat Tour and refund the difference in price back to your card. If you do not wish to reschedule your eco tour or go on the AV Boat Tour you will receive a full refund.

Enjoying the Skellig Michael Boat Tour

CANCELLATION POLICY FOR THE SKELLIG MICHAEL ECO TOUR


Cancellation Policy for Bookings of less than 10 people
A cancellation fee of €2 per person applies for cancellations made 2 days or more in advance.
No refunds will be given for cancellations made less than 2 days in advance.
 
Cancellation Policy for Group Bookings of 10 people or more
A cancellation fee of €2 per person applies for cancellations made 7 days or more in advance.
No refunds will be given for cancellations made less than 7 days in advance.

Cancellation Policy if we have to cancel the tour because of the sea/weather conditions
You will receive a full refund if we have to cancel the tour for any reason including sea/weather conditions. 


TERMS AND CONDITIONS


We may need to change the departure time and we will give you advance notice of this. If your tour is delayed by more than 1 hour you will have the option of a full refund.

We may need to cancel a trip because of adverse sea and weather conditions. If we need to cancel a tour you will have the option of receiving a full refund or being rescheduled on the next available Eco Tour when the weather/sea conditions improve. You can also choose to book on the next available Audio Visual (AV) Boat Tour.

We reserve the right to cancel a trip for any reason including but not limited to adverse sea and weather conditions, engine failure etc. 

It is very important that we can reach you at the contact information you provide us with (ie. Phone Number and Email) because the tours are very dependent on the sea conditions and we will need to keep you updated if the departure time changes or if the tour is cancelled.