Skomer Island: Puffins, Permits and the Boat That Might Not Run

Skomer is the island people mean when they say they want to see puffins, and on that it delivers more completely than almost anywhere else in Britain. It is also the island most likely to defeat you, because the crossing is short, exposed and called off often.

What's actually there

Skomer is a National Nature Reserve managed by the Wildlife Trust of South and West Wales, lying off the end of the Marloes peninsula.

The headline is puffins. They nest in burrows immediately beside the footpaths and are, by seabird standards, indifferent to people. You don't need a long lens or luck. You need to be there in the window: puffins are ashore from roughly April to late July, and once the young have gone the birds return to the open sea for the rest of the year.

The bigger story is invisible by day. Skomer holds the world's largest colony of Manx shearwaters — several hundred thousand pairs, nesting in burrows across the whole plateau. They only come ashore at night, to avoid the gulls, so day visitors see burrow entrances and not much else. It's still worth knowing you're walking over one of the great seabird gatherings on the planet.

Around the edges: guillemots and razorbills packed onto the cliff ledges, kittiwakes, fulmars, short-eared owls hunting in daylight, and the Skomer vole, a subspecies of bank vole found nowhere else. Late April and May bring bluebells and red campion right across the island, which is the second reason to go.

Getting there

Boats leave from Martin's Haven, at the end of the lane past Marloes village. The car park is small and fills, the walk down to the boat is steep, and on the island you come ashore at North Haven and climb a long flight of steps before you see anything.

The bit that catches people out

Numbers allowed ashore are capped, and landing places are booked in advance rather than bought on the day. They go quickly — treat it like tickets rather than a day out, and book as early as you can.

Then there's the sea. Crossings are weather-dependent, and the deciding factor is wind and swell rather than rain: a bright day can still be a no-sailing day, because Jack Sound between the island and the mainland runs hard. Cancellations happen through the summer, not just the shoulder seasons.

Two things follow. Don't pin the trip to your last day. And check the reserve's and the boat operator's own pages for the current season's sailings, dates and costs — those change every year, and anything printed elsewhere goes stale.

On the island

There is no shop and nowhere to buy lunch. Take food, water, a waterproof, sun protection and footwear you can walk rough ground in. Stay on the paths — burrows collapse under a boot and the birds are underneath. Dogs aren't allowed.

You'll typically get several hours ashore, which is enough for a slow circuit with long stops. Don't rush it; the puffins get better the longer you sit still.

If you can't get on

An around-the-island trip without landing still gets you the cliffs, the seals and often the rafts of birds on the water. Ramsey off St Davids is the other landing option, and there are non-landing runs out to the gannets on Grassholm.

Where to stay

Marloes is the obvious base — you can be at the boat in ten minutes rather than an hour, which matters on a marginal morning. Dale, Little Haven and Broad Haven are all within easy reach.

Make a day of it either side with the Marloes peninsula circular and Marloes Sands, one of the best beaches in the county and usually one of the emptiest.