How We Do It

Our flag-ship vessel St Hilda, has an incredible Scottish lineage. Built in 1973 to the highest standard (Lloyds 100A1) at St Monans, Fife, by the internationally famous Millers boatyard, another family run business with 200 years experience of wooden boat building. St Hilda was designed by G.L Watson, the world-famous Glasgow based naval architects, who created the world's first yacht design office in 1873 and designed early America's Cup challengers. We started chartering St Hilda on the West Coast of Scotland in 2006 first for tidal energy research and then from 2008 with small passenger ship cruises.

Since the early days of St Hilda we have expanded and added  three more small ships - Gemini Explorer, Speideren and Seahorse II - allowing us to offer our guests active adventure holidays in Scotland that are suitable for all ages (8-90!). Passengers, however, can simply just relax and recharge their batteries and let the crew do all the work. We consider it important that our knowledgeable captains, crew and dedicated chefs make the passengers feel as if they were on a family holiday in Scotland. Dietary requirements are always observed and the vessels are, of course, always kept clean, welcoming and shipshape.

Our company has a dedicated marketing and sales team and although most of our sales enquiries are web-instigated they are all actively completed by the sales team who have worked on all the vessels and know them intimately. They make a point of developing a relationship with our passengers - understanding their needs, customising itineraries and travel arrangements. Our user friendly website thoroughly describes our products and is constantly being updated with travel news and special offers.  We use social media extensively, run a blog and are listed on many local websites.

Aboard our small ships passengers can haul up sails (on St Hilda), kayak, paddleboard, fish for dinner, wild swim, visit incredible seabird and seal colonies, shoot lobster pots and marvel at the wildlife above the waves or below the sea surface. Dinghy trips take them close to seal colonies and ashore for rock pooling and wonderful walks along wild coasts and up high mountains. We are extremely aware of the pristine waters in which we travel and operate a "leave only a wake" and a "look and leave alone" policy to respect the unique environment and wildlife.

Our current Scottish cruises cover many islands and sea lochs of the Outer and Inner Hebrides and range from St Kilda to Islay. We take our vessels to the beautiful Caledonian Canal and visit the distilleries of Mull, Jura and Islay on dedicated whisky cruises. As we sail the Western Isles  our customers’ wildlife and sailing experience is second to none. They dine on locally sourced food, we always shop locally, we employ local people (from shipwrights to taxis) and add extensively to the economy of local communities, some of which are remote.

We pay special attention to customers’ feedback either from our internal feedback system (guest book and e-mail follow up) or from independent reviews (i.e from Google, Facebook, TripAdvisor, Responsible Travel). 

Our family owned company St Hilda Sea Adventures have four, unique vessels that have been lovingly converted so that passengers can cruise the Westen Isles in comfort and style. Our itineraries are planned and are flexible to meet all ages and capabilities with the overall aim to create a memorable sea adventure that is both fun and informal.