Day 8: Rest Day in Portmagee

May 22, 2024

Visit to Skellig Michael

We booked our tickets to for the Skellig Michael Landing tour on January 10th, the first day that they opened the 2024 bookings. We have only one day in Portmagee and all one can do is hope the weather holds and a storm doesn't blow in to cancel the trip.

Well, last night the email said the forecast looked like it could cause a problem for landing on Skelligs. They indicated that a decision would be made at 7:00 in the morning because weather conditions were deteriorating with the anticipation of high winds and possible rain showers. At 7:10 I checked my email and it read "The guides are happy with the landing conditions on Skellig Michael." It then continued to say that the journey home to Portmagee may be a little rough. Rough it was!

The pier in Portmagee - the red boat was our ride to the "Rock".

Leaving the bay headed out into the Atlantic with Puffin Island in the background.

Skellig Michael - our destination where we will climb up 640 rock steps to Fionan's Monastery.

Skellig Rock Small from the chapel window.

Entry into one of the beehive style dry stacked stone huts.

It was a glorious day on the rock - sunshine and warm with limited wind. The monks knew where to build their monastery.

The green flowering vegetation that the puffins lay their single egg under.

The three well preserved beehive shaped huts with the closest one being the kitchen.

The very top of the island that we aren't allowed to visit. The monks built a small chapel up there and some of the rock walls are still visible.

Another view of the very top of the island.

The stairway leading up to the monastery.

The boats sit idling around the Rock while we hike up to the monastery on top. A maximum of 15 boats carrying 12 people each are allowed in a day.

Another boat entering the landing pier in rough waters.

Getting back on the boat was quite a challenge in the rough seas.

Skellig Rock Small is home to Gannets between February and October each year. The island was swarming with these beautiful birds whose wing span can reach up to 2 meters.

The photos ended after this point due to the extremely rough waters during the 9 mile trip back to the pier at Portmagee. We wore full rain gear and they offered us capes, too. Chuck & I fared well due to the rain gear, but some folks got off the boat dripping wet. We have taken boat excursions on two oceans now and decided that this was the roughest trip we have ever experienced on open water.

One highlight of the day - we saw the fins of two basking sharks on our way out to the islands. Had to google them this evening - they are the second largest living shark and they eat plankton, not humans.

We booked with Skellig Coast Adventures and the crew took great care of us. We'd give them a 5-star rating. This trip is a MUST do on the list of things to see and do in Ireland. We loved every minute.

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Mark BinghamI'm really enjoying reading about this trip, especially because it's one I hope to do in the future... and the pictures are, of course, magnificent.
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3 months ago

Sanna PhinneyTo Mark BinghamThis country is so beautiful. The people are so open, warm and friendly. I hope you can make the trip here someday because it’s a real gem.
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3 months ago