Scottish Seabird Centre — Attraction in Scotland

I had originally planned to visit the place in late December but switched my trip as I had heard that the gannets might still be there till the end of October. The gannets had other ideas so I didn't see any. I did, however, capture the sight of a seal 🦭 in a video. On my way down to the Centre I asked a couple of locals for the name of an island / rock. I was told it was Craigleith. As this was the first time I had heard this name, I thought it was Craig Leith so continued this train of thought in our conversation. I even said that it looked as though Craig had been severely caught out by the recent flooding. Even before then I had asked if I could take a photo of a card in a shop so that I could email the image to a friend whose 70th birthday it was that day. I got the photo and sent the email. The Centre itself, though small, is packed with fascinating items. The highlight, amongst many, was sitting about 8 feet away from a screen to watch 3D videos. A lot of the fish 🐟 only looked to be one foot in front of my face. A video of geese closely following a man on a glider also caught the eye. I hadn't seen that one, maybe, for decades. In the central area there were several tables and screens providing a lot of information. I particularly liked one game in which I was able to try and mimic a fulmar as it spat at all that came within its reach. At busier times of the year, I might not have had the time to spend there but I might have seen loads of gannets. Loads? Potentially 150,000. Best to check with the place as to whether you should buy tickets in advance. At quieter times it isn't but could well be in the summer months. A place that appeals to all ages. Oh, yes. North Berwick does have a...

We enjoyed our lunch in this attractive, spacious centre, just before joining one of their "Three Islands Seabird Seafari" boat trips. After a friendly welcome by the reception staff, we went over to the cafe area and ordered from their very reasonably priced light lunch and drinks menu. My soup and sandwich combo was delicious and good value and my teenage daughter appreciated her soup and very generous bowl of chips.

We were a bit anxious about how wise it was to eat just before the boat trip, but all was good! Our boat trip was around an hour and a half in a RIB (rigid inflatable boat). Waterproofs would have been good as we did get very wet and we needed to warm up with cake and hot chocolate in the cafe afterwards.

We really enjoyed the boat trip around the islands of the Lamb, Craigleith and Bass Rock. Our guide, who knew everything there is to know about them, pointed out all the seabirds and seals and their habitats. It was fascinating to see and learn so much, especially about the gannets, guillemots, shags and kittiwakes. It was early April and we only saw one puffin but there were also several young seals taking a rest on the islands.

Highly recommended - we'd love to do another boat trip, but will find the waterproofs next time! Also, it would probably be a good idea to book the boat trip in advance - there was only one sailing for each of the trips we were...

We went on a RIB boat tour to the three isles. We were lucky enough to book it last minute. When booking we asked if we need to have waterproof gear with us. The pictures on their flyer shows everybody in waterproof suits and we thought these would be offered to us. We were told that our rainjackets are just fine and we can Do the trip. So we did. We absoluteley enjoyed seeing the northern gannets on Bass Rock!!! Unfortunately our crew loved getting everybody really wet and I mean REALLY WET!!! Nothing stayed dry. Absoluteley nothing. And beeing on a hiking trip with only a small tent and expecting a very bad weatherforecast for the next days it will be no fun at all trying to dry all our clothes... Our afternoon was over after the tour as we had to drive back (around 1 hour) to our campsite for changing into dry clothes. Hopefully not catching a cystitis the next days... our jeans, pullovers, shirts- everything needs to be washed now as the salt cannot stay in the clothes for the next weeks as it will destroy (the marks from the saltwater can already be seen) the clothes. So in total: a nice and lovely trip to Bass Rock, but unless you do not have the chance to change, dry (and wash) your clothes immediately afterwards maybe not the...