[Closed] Whale/wildlife watching in west highlands

Mull for otters and sea eagles, Moray firth for dolphins dunno about whales

Moray Firth isn't exactly west coast though is it? Still, TJ in not exactly knowing what he's on about shocker.
My own experience is more to the south of Skye, where I've seen dolphins, porpoises and minke whale in the Cuillin Sound. Porpoises I can't remember when, but dolphins and whales were about this time of year A cheap cruise can be had by buying a day ticket on the CalMac small isles ferry from Mallaig. Still, that's a fair trek from where you are, and you'd need to be aware of the ferry back to Skye (road bridge back to mainland). BUT, getting there takes you by Torridon, past the Loch Kishorn Seafood bar, past Loch Carron and through Lochcarron (and past the shinty field - you can check the [url= http://www.lochcarronshinty.org.uk/ ]Lochcarron Camanachd website [/url] to see if there'sa game on, it's mental), within striking distance of Applecross and over the Skye Bridge (google images for any of the above). Asssumes access to a car
I've also seen what I think was a whale (probably minke) from outside the Applecross Inn. If you have a car, I'd suggest going there, the roads and scenery are amazing. the coast road is brilliant, but the bealach na ba will blow you away - bit of a white knuckle ride though.
TJ's almost right about Mull and white tailed sea eagles, but they range far and wide, so keep your eyes on the sky. At 7'-8' wingspan, they're pretty imperssive. We saw one at east loch tarbet earlier this year. Probably one of the ones released on Rhum a couple of years ago.
Closr to where you'll be, we saw a nuclear submarine. Interesting, but probably doesn't count.
keep an eye on [url= http://www.seawatchfoundation.org.uk/recentsightings.php ]this link[/url] They tend to be quite slow at updating, but I've found it to be the best source of cetacean sightings in Scotland. Note a minke was seen at Gairloch on 7 Aug. Ask around, people will know, and generally locals are interested.

Otters here (Skye), so bit of a trek, but could do applecross/torridon road, pub on beach ....
http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map.srf?x=178807&y=822155&z=120&sv=178807,822155&st=4&ar=y&mapp=map.srf&searchp=ids.srf&dn=671&ax=178807&ay=822155&lm=0

go early before twilight am, I'd take noculars, flask and sannies, we were lucky, one turned up 10 minutes after we arrived.

Cheers guys!

Top advice as always, really looking forward to it as its the furthest north i've been in scotland

Shinty! never seen that, would like to I'll see if there's a game on as well

Had a great trip with this lot, who sail from Tobermory on Mull:

http://www.sealifesurveys.com/

Saw loads within the space of a few hours, including harbour porpoise, bottlenose dolphins bow-riding and breaching around the boat and adult basking sharks the size of a minibus.

I think they've had a decent season this year with lots of minke whales and basking sharks sighted. They also see orcas, but not regularly, as they tend to be fairly itinerant.

Mull is off Oban, that'll be around 5 hours by road from Gairloch. Good cetacean spotting area, but Mallaig/Small Isles is much closer. Over the Skye Bridge, dump the car in Armadale and get the ferry to Mallaig. You can then either head out to the Small Isles (maybe spend some time on one of them), or you can head over to Inverie. Either way, there's a strong chance of seing something interesting. Check the [url= http://www.knoydart-ferry.co.uk/ ]Knoydart Ferries web site[/url], see if the ferry goes on to Tarbet on the day you're there - fantastic trip that. Remember, Knoydart isn't connected by road to the rest of Britain, so the pub is the most remote on mainland britain Or, I think sea.fari operate out of Armadale [url= http://www.seafari.co.uk/skye/index.php ]yup, they do[/url]

BTW, I love this area and will be heading there myself (again) in a couple of weeks.

If it's wildlife you're after - you need to check out the shinty

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Shinty?

Hurling is where it's at: (yeah, helmets...)

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helmets pfft. real men wear bandages.

I went with the OP's link a few years back and saw sweet fanny adams - there was a big swell though so its often very weather dependent. By contrast I was on Tiree last weekend and saw Basking Sharks, Porpoise and Sea Eagles from the Calmac ferry 😉 It's just your luck sometimes...

Not where you asked but Sound of Gunna (between Tiree and Coll)is an incredible hotspot - seen Baskers, Minke (including one fully broach the water just 25m from our boat) Porpoises, Otters and an Orca - all within 48hrs.

Otters are very common on the West Coast - e.g you'll often see them on the shore from the National Cycle Path that passes through Balachullish.

Heather
Thanks i will wait for the a good forecast before booking anything!