Staffa and Fingal's Cave

An Island Owned By The National Trust For Scotland With The Sea Cave Fingal'S Cave, Whose Basalt Columns And Acoustics Inspired Mendelssohn'S Hebrides Overture (1830) And Painters And Poets. Trips Run In Summer And Depend On Swell; The Cave Is Seen From The Boat Or From A Path At The Entrance. · Tobermory, Scotland

Staffa is a small uninhabited island west of Mull, about 1 km long, made of hexagonal basalt columns that look machine-cut. Fingal's Cave, on its southern side, is a sea cave roughly 70 m deep whose walls are columns and whose floor is the sea. It is owned by the National Trust for Scotland. Mendelssohn visited in 1829 and the Hebrides Overture followed in 1830, and the cave has drawn painters and poets since. You can only come by boat, from Mull, Ulva or Oban, with several operators running trips in the warmer months. The sea decides everything: swell can stop a landing, and some days the boat only circles. Time ashore is short, about an hour is typical, and you walk a narrow ledge of columns with a handrail to the cave mouth. You do not go inside. Between April and July puffins nest on the grassy top, close enough for photographs. It suits people who can cope with boats and slippery rock, and it is not a rainy-day option for anyone who gets seasick.

Small uninhabited island west of Mull with hexagonal basalt columns and a large sea cave, reached only by boat from Mull, Ulva or Oban in settled weather, with landing at a stair and a path to the cave mouth, Tobermory, Scotland, United Kingdom

There are no opening hours as such: Staffa is open ground and the only access is by boat, so the timetable belongs to the boat operators. Trips run mainly from about April to September, with the busiest sailings in summer, and several operators work from Mull, Ulva and Oban. A typical trip leaves in the morning or early afternoon and gives roughly an hour ashore, but that is a rough figure, so confirm with the operator. Sailings are cancelled or changed when swell is too big to land, sometimes on the day itself. There are no facilities on the island and no lighting, so you must be back at the landing stair when the skipper calls. Winter trips are rare to non-existent.

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