Seabirds and Seals - The Original Noss Boat Tours
Shetland’s Original, 5-Star, Noss Boat Tours with Seabirds-and-SealsEventsOtherSport and LeisureTour OperatorsVisitor AttractionLerwick and BressayJoin 5-Star Seabirds-and-Seals Noss Boat Tour, aboard their very spacious catamaran Seabird, for a 'Memorable Noss Wildlife Boat Tour' to experience a real 'Gannet’s Eye View' – up close and personal with the birdlife above and the sea-life below. The sealife below is only on our alternative tour days - see 'Underwater Viewing Spectacle' heading in tour content for further details.
Double WIN at the 2023 Highlands and Islands Thistle Awards for 'Best Visitor Attraction' and 'Inclusive Tourism. It is an honour to be recognised by these prestigious awards, known as ‘Scotland’s tourism industry’s Oscars’.
Winners of 'Wildlife Tour Operator Of The Year Scotland 2023-24' at The Scotland Prestige Awards and 'Best Wildlife & Photography Boat Tour Company 2023 - Scotland' at the UK Enterprise Awards.
Also in 2023 we were awarded 'Green Tourism Silver' and again this year we have been awarded 'TripAdvisor Travellers' Choice'. We have also gone from being a 4-Star Tour to a 5-Star Tour following an unannounced Quality Assurance inspection from Visit Scotland in June 2023 - this is the highest grading that can be achieved and great news during our busy Noss Boat Tour season.
Winners at the 2021 Scottish Enterprise Awards - 'Scotland's Best Wildlife Boat Tour Company'
INTRODUCTION
Join Marie, Brian or Marvyn - all Shetland born and bred aboard The Noss Boat 'Seabird' - a very spacious twin engine catamaran with a most spacious viewing platform allowing you to enjoy 360° panoramic viewing. We are all highly experienced and knowledgeable about the local area with a lifetime experience of boats, the sea, nature and our local heritage around us. Join us for the highlight of your holiday in Shetland with our popular 5-Star tours around Bressay & Noss.
On this amazing wildlife spectacular you get to enjoy close up views of Shetland's abundant wildlife.
We are consistently ranked The NO.1 Noss Boat on TripAdvisor with many excellent ratings and come highly recommended. After our first succesful season in 2018, we were awarded 4-Star distinction from the Scottish Tourist Board and won major recognition at the Scottish Enterprise and UK Enterprise Awards. In 2021 we were awarded 'Scotland's Best Wildlife Boat Tour Company'. In 2022 we were awarded 'Boat Tour Operator Of The Year - Scotland 2022-23' at The Scotland Prestige Awards, as well as 'Best Wildlife & Photography Boat Tour Company - Scotland' at the UK Enterprise Awards 2022. Every year since taking over the business, we have won TripAdvisor's Excellence and Travellers' Choice Awards due to our consisten excellent reviews and come highly recommended. Now into 2023 we are delighted to be awarded with a Green Tourism Silver Award. Being Green Tourism Accredited shows that we are eco-friendly and commited to working responsibly, ethically and sustainably. In June 2023 we had another unannounced Quality Assurance visit from Visit Scotland and delighted to announce that we have been awarded 5-Star distinction. Also in 2023 we have yet again been awarded 'Best Wildlife & Photography Boat Tour Company - Scotland' at the UK Enterprise Awards as well as 'Wildlife Tour Operator Of The Year' at the Scotland Prestige awards. We were also selected as Finalists in the 2023 Highlands and Islands Thistl Awards under two categories - 'Best Visitor Attraction' and 'Inclusive Tourism' - we are delighted to announced that we won both categories. We have also been selected as finalists in this year's 'The Herald Scottish Family Business Awards' and again in two categories - 'Commitment To The Community' and 'Scottish Family Business Of The Year (Micro)'. We are proud of all our achievements and of the accolades that the business has historically received.
Seabirds-and-Seals Noss Boat Tours is an award-winning business. Thirty one (31) years on, Seabirds-and-Seals remains the original and longest-established Noss Boat Tour Business, entertaining visitors and locals alike. This award-winning enterprise was founded in 1992 by Naturalist Dr Jonathan Wills. Skipper Brian has been actively involved with the business ever since it began and in 2017, along with his wife Marie, they bought the business from Jonathan, maintaining the business ethos and reputation as the Original – and Number One – Noss Boat tour business. All these years later, we're still sailing under Jonathan's originally created brand 'The Noss Boat'. As with any business takeover - a new series of TripAdvisor and Google reviews started in our first season (2018), all continue to be extremely positive and show how popular our tours are.
From April through to October we operate tours seven days a week (weather permitting) – departing from Victoria Pier Lerwick, ZE1 0EL. All our 5-Star tours are 2 HOURS PLUS with refreshments provided in a tranquil little bay at Noss. Twice weekly on selected days, we provide an early morning photography tour to capture the sunrise morning light. This tour is aimed at the early risers out there for a short-sharp photo opportunity just as gannets waken and catch the sunrise morning light - refreshments also provided. You can book/pay online for any of our tours using our easy-to-use online booking system or contact us directly and we will get you booked on.
Our 5-Star Tours are extremely popular with both locals and visitors, so we do advise booking in advance and not leaving it until the last day of your Shetland trip, as we do sometimes have to cancel due to weather.
About Our 5-Star Tours
All our tours take you right around Bressay & around the cliffs of the famous Noss National Nature Reserve. This trip to Noss is an amazing wildlife spectacle and allows you to enjoy Shetland’s plethora of seabirds and seals, as well as spectacular views. You get unbelievably close to the awe-inspiring sights and sounds of this extraordinary seabird metropolis, which is home to 25,000 Northern gannets, as well as thousands of guillemots, black guillemots, puffins, razorbills, gulls, shags and skuas. You will come eye-to-eye with beautiful blue-eyed gannets and immerse yourself in the unforgettable clamour of a thousands-strong ‘choir’ or different bird calls – a sound you’ll never forget. Superb opportunities to see and photograph Shetland’s wildlife against the stunning backdrop of the 181-metre-high Noss sandstone cliffs. We bring along fresh fish to give you a guaranteed opportunity to see gannets encircling and diving right alongside the boat.
Not guaranteed but if we're really lucky...we may even see porpoises or the occasional whale, otter or dolphin. With the sharp eyes of two dedicated crew on every tour, we are always on the lookout to share as much as we can and we do this with great devotion/enthusiasm as reflected in our TripAdvisor reviews. Whilst out on the water - all eyes peeled and fingers crossed, there is always something different to see, that's what makes our tours so unique. If we are lucky enough to spot them, you could be on no better boat than Seabird - due to her huge viewing platform to enable you to walk about freely and capture the best shots. When viewing marine animals - we fully adhere to 'Nature Scot Marine Code Of Conduct' and also the WiSe Codes of Conduct. We were thrilled to receive accreditation to the WiSe Scheme in March 2022 - the UK's national training scheme for minimising disturbance to marine wildlife.
Along the way, we will regale you with local history, folk tales and geology, share our great knowledge of Lerwick’s beautiful harbour, the Bressay Lighthouse, the Orkneyman’s Cave, the magnificent Giant’s Leg rock arch, and much more. When sea conditions allow, we’ll take you right into the beautiful Orkneyman’s cave and we will sail you through the magnificent Giant’s Leg Archway – which is always a WOW with our guests. Click on our photo gallery to view many more fabulous pictures from our tours – each gives full details of the different wildlife and places we take you.
After your trip around the cliffs of Noss, we anchor in a tranquil little bay, with plenty of opportunities for wildlife watching, photography and for everyone to socialize whilst enjoying our onboard refreshemnts and soaking up the beautiful surroundings. We provide fresh filter coffee, tea, hot chocolate, juice, and a selection of biscuits. We cater for gluten-free but should you have any other dietary requirements, just tell us at the time of booking and we will happily accommodate. Please do tell us if you are celebrating a special occasion – we will push the boat out for you (pardon the pun).
UNDERWATER VIEWING SPECTACLE
If sea conditions prevent us getting you out to Noss during your time in Shetland, we are sometimes available for wildlife-filled inshore trips to look at the urban wildlife so prevalent in Lerwick Harbour, like a bespoke tour just to watch seals. If sea conditions allows on the day, we can showcase what the South coastline of Bressay has to offer. After viewing all that's above, we can launch our ROV mini submarine and show you a variety of sealife below whilst enjoying a refreshment in our heated cabin.
FAMILY FRIENDLY
Our tours are extremely family friendly with plenty to keep our younger sailors entertained. We have onboard kids activities and challenges set by Skipper Brian - one of our onboard activities has a monthly prize-draw. Each young sailor receives a FREE sea life activity pack to take home and the adults receive 20% discount voucher to use at a choice of two local businesses establishments. We have a range of eco-friendly merchandise and other products available on our online shop and onboard for you to purchase following your tour with us.
THE CREW
On our tours you are in good hands as there are always two experienced crew members, sometimes three. You will be welcomed aboard the Seabird by skipper Brian or Marvyn, and guide, Marie, who provides live commentary throughout the tour using our PA system with individual headsets for each passenger. Your dedicated guide, Marie, is really knowledgeable on all aspects of the tour, from the wildlife and geology to local and natural history, landmarks and so on. We deliver fun, personal, informative, and interesting tours to suit all interests and ages.
OUR SPACIOUS CATAMARAN SEABIRD
‘Seabird’ is licensed to carry 12 passengers and because she’s a catamaran – a very stable twin-hulled boat. There’s a very wide and spacious viewing platform all on one level so you can enjoy 360° panoramic viewing without having to watch where you step . This is the ideal boat for the best photographic opportunities, with room to sit, stand or move around without being confined to your seat or in one space – free as a bird! There’s seating on deck for all, but if you prefer to be inside our heated saloon you’ll still have panoramic views. You can sit around the cabin table to chat, or browse our small but informative ship’s library. There’s also dry storage space inside the cabin where you can securely stow any baggage and belongings, accessible at all times throughout the trip. If your phone battery is running low, not a problem as there are a few USB mobile phone charging sockets inside the cabin. We have an accessible toilet on deck level and equipped with hand sanitizer, hygiene bags etc. Always reassuring to know there is easy access to a toilet on-board and especially after those welcoming refreshments.
Wheelchair Accessible
Wheelchair accessible and ideal boat for anyone with mobility impairment, please check out our published Accessibility Guide which gives reference to accessing the toilet and cabin as wheelchair users must be able to get out of the wheelchair to access both as the doors are not wide enough. . If you require access to a wheelchair or any other mobility aids whilst in Shetland or wish to arrange before you get here, please do get in touch as we work in collaboration with a local organisation that can assist and happy to communicate with them on your behalf to arrange collection/return. Alternatively we can put you in direct contact with them.
Lifejackets made available upon for all ages upon embarkation. Handy laminated bird/cetecean identification charts available for all passengers to help you appreciate everything you see, also available in Braille format and binoculars available to borrow.
Seabirds and Seals Noss Boat Tours offers by far, the best boat, best crew, best view, and undoubtably the best value for money. The Seabird offers an ideal solution whether you are heading out on a tour as an independent traveller, with your family and friends, or looking to organise a bespoke experience for a tour group or a professional film crew. We are the NO.1 boat of choice for viewing and photography and used by film crews worldwide, most recently being 'Simon King Wildlife'. Both Brian and Marvyn are very experienced Shetland skippers operating around Noss. Both have a wealth of knowledge about local waters that can only be gained through a lifetime’s experience. Their experience and masterful boatmanship guarantee you will always have the best and safest trip possible in any given sea conditions.
With every trip being uniqe and special, come find out why we are the NO.1 Noss Boat and make memories that last forever. A trip aboard The Noss Boat 'Seabird' is praised by many as a real holiday highlight - book early to avoid disappointment.
How to book?
FARES:
Superb Daily 5-Star Tours - 2 HOURS PLUS - Adults £60 & Under 16's £30
Book online via our website – www.seabirds-and-seals.com/book-online or if you are unable to book online, just give us a call on +44 (0)7595 540224 or email: info@seabirds-and-seals.com. You can also book our tours via the Tourist Information Centre – call +44 (0)1595 693434 or drop in to check availability and book.
Website FacebookJoin a community of business owners and operators who share your ambition to make your businesses more profitable, successful and innovative as we seek to maximise opportunities in the growing tourism sector in Shetland.