Mull, Iona, Staffa Scotland wildlife cruise

Planet

We are awarded the Green Tourism Business Award: Gold, and pass all categories at a very high level. Green Tourism is an award which has to be won annually and the organisation is expert in helping their businesses become the best environmentally friendly they can be. With the help of Green Tourism, we are able to identify where we are doing well and what we still need to do to be a truly sustainable tourism business.
CARBON REDUCTION
The majority of our guests (85%) originate in the UK, so we provide them with information on rail and coach travel to reach our departure point in Oban on the west coast of Scotland. We also provide information on sustainable choices where guests stay and visit before and after their cruise
Once on board, guests travel together by ship to explore the Hebrides, rather than by car, reducing C02 per person. Their vessel is the only accommodation our guests have on their trip. While on shore they explore different destinations by walking, accompanied by a wildlife guide who ensures they do not disturb nature while providing lots of informaiton. We are continually working on lowering our vessel carbon emissions by maintaining our vessels to a high degree and upgrading our systems, such as generators. We run our vessels at 65% of their power capacity and lift our tenders out of the water while cruising to save fuel. Minimising the water usage on board and lowering our freshwater pumps has saved the consumption of water as well as heating use.
We provide our guests with our “charter for responsible and sustainable tourism” which outlines many ways both our company and our guests can help minimise the impacts of their vacation
The excellent seasonal produce of Scotland is easily sourced locally and is what we base our menus aboard on. Each guest provides information on their diet before boarding and all food and drink preferences are accepted with vegetarian and vegan vry popular. Our company “Green Initiative” crew member, Lynsey, is responsible for identifying ways to improve our sustainable food and drink policies, for example introducing reusable, branded water bottles and reducing food packaging.
ENVIRONMENT AND WILDLIFE
All our cruises are wildlife focussed, with highly qualified and experienced wildlife experts on board. Our guests depart their cruise having gained a lot of wildlife knowledge and an increased passion for protecting nature. We never disturb wildlife – if marine wildlife is seen, the engines are cut and we wait for the cetaceans to approach the vessel. An exception to this may be schools of dolphins who love to play in the vessel wake. Our crews are accredited wildlife safe operators under the WiSe scheme owner Rob Barlow is an accredited Master under the scheme.
We work through a Corporate Membership but also help to test and develop their award winning “Whale Track App” which is vital in their research. We are one of the foremost tourism vessels to report their cetacean sightings on the Whale Track App.
We support for Trees for Life, a visionary organisation establishing a revitalised wild forest in the Scottish Highlands. At the end of each season we donate and planted around 300 trees (worth £1800) representing one tree for every guest who cruised with us during the season.

People

PEOPLE
We are a family run business, established by Rob Barlow 1994 through a love of the sea and nature, in particular the marine environment. Daughter Emma joined the business as Shore and Communications Manager, sharing her father’s passion for nature. Son-in-law James carries on the goals and aspirations of the company in terms of a very high level of guest experience and responsible wildlife encounters. Now as a business with three small ship cruise vessels, Rob’s influence and knowledge, supported by Emma and James has percolated through all staff and crew to provide an extended family who deliver the original vision. There is a strong family pride in their 3 ocean going ships which are beautifully maintained, loved by guests and have strong green credentials. Loyal staff and crews return to us year after year, providing a continuity of quality service for guests.
LOCAL ECONOMY
The location of our cruises in Oban, benefits many local businesses including the shipyards who provide the vessel winter maintenance; food and drink suppliers; accommodation providers, shops and visitor attractions; services for laundry and upholstery and local artists who display their work on board.
Whilst en route on cruises, the vessels call in at small towns, villages, cafes and pubs, some of which are very remote to allow guest to make purchases and meet local people.

EMPLOYMENT, INCLUSIVITY AND DIVERSITY
The majority of staff and crews are from Scotland, with around 30% from the local community. Anyone can join our company without regard to race, gender, sexual orientation or nationality and LGBTQ+ people would be very welcome to apply for work or to come aboard as guests.
We try and make our cruises as safe and comfortable as possible for all abilities. We regret we cannot accommodate full-time wheelchair users due to the layout of our vessels but we do welcome people with mobility and other issues.