There are many ways of exploring Mull coastline. Both on land and by sea! I will apologise right at the start of this blog, I don’t have a lot of kayaking, boating or canoeing photographs!
Canoeing and kayaking
We have several guests who bring their own kayaks and canoes with them to Mull. They either set off from Calgary beach or walk down below the Treshnish Cottages to the shore and get into the water there. I think it was early last season when someone staying in Shian Cottage went off to Lunga in the morning and in the afternoon went round to Langamull. He had the most amazing encounter with a small pod of Dolphins!
Guided Kayaking
It is possible to do some guided kayaking on Mull, with Nick Ray from Clearwater Paddling. Nick is an experienced kayaker who kayaked round Scotland visiting all the Scottish RNLI stations in 2015 to raise money for the RNLI. He is based on Mull and works with Clearwater Paddling. Contact them for more details of what he can offer.
Boating
We had a little boat called the Janet for a long time. We bought her from a crofter in the Ross of Mull. He gave me some beautiful old individual wooden cow troughs, their edges softened by decades of cow tongues licking them. A precious memento, but one which brought woodworm to the farm steading roof timbers…. 20 years ago we seemed to have more time to spend in a boat than we do now! We had some lovely trips round the coast, not very far, but a lovely way to spend an evening.
If you do want to bring a boat with you, as some of our guests do, there are various places where it is possible to put a boat in to the water. Calgary beach is a popular place and very close to Treshnish. There are wonderful community-owned pontoons at Ulva Ferry too. From there you can explore Ulva and both Loch na Keal and Loch Tuath. Don’t forget the Ulva Boathouse for the freshest seafood!
Chartered trips
Mull has a good selection of boat trips through the summer season without having to go to Tobermory. Most of them are focussed on wildlife. Mull Charters do specific timetabled trips, very popular with photographers wanting to photograph White tailed eagles.
Turus Mara operate from Ulva Ferry for trips to the Treshnish Isles and Staffa. They do photography trips as well as timetabled trips. We had a wonderful day out with them last June. Unforgettable. I posted lots of photographs on the farm blog. Don’t forget you are eligible to a discount with Turus Mara by staying here!
Alternatively you could go out with Alternative Boat Hire from Iona. Under sail. On a beautiful wooden boat. This is a trip I would LOVE to do. Sometimes they moor their boat at Ulva so it might be possible to join them from there.
Last but not least
You can walk along the coast, exploring Mull coastline as you go. The Treshnish Headland walk is a great way to start.
