Wild Swimming & Snorkeling on the Isle of Mull
Jan 31 2025
Our home base is Oban, only 5 miles from the Isle of Mull by boat. Most of our tours either go to or go round the Isle of Mull. So even though we are not based there, we visit there all the time! In fact getting all the way round Mull is pretty long and difficult by road. It’s far quicker by sea – the way the Gaels travelled in their Birlinns! There are lot’s of places we visit on Mull that you cannot realistically visit on foot. Places that are very inaccessible like the waterfall that would take many hours of bog-hopping.
If you are staying on the Isle of Mull, we do run two different day tours that pick up from Tobermory for individual passengers. Our Seal & Lagoon tour, which heads over to the Isle of Coll, and our Puffin & Seabird tour which is a landing trip for a guided walk to see the seabirds. Although, there is a chance for a quick dip for keen beans on this tour too.
For private charters, we can pick you up from Craignure, Tobermory, and Iona & Fionnphort for the likes of swimming Fingal’s Cave, wildlife watching or whatever your family or group want to do. Check out some of our favourite swim & snorkel spots below.
Wild Swimming on the Isle of Mull
The Isle of Mull’s coastline is around 300 miles long, including all the sea lochs, inlets and islands. For us to go right round in the boat from Oban is around 100 nautical miles (185km) and is usually a 9-10hr trip including activities.
The coastlines couldn’t be more diverse around the Isle of Mull. Fom the volcanic basalt and white sand beaches in the West, to the fjord-like Sound of Mull in the East, or the amazing cliffs and waterfalls on the South coast wilderness.
Our swimming tours visit a lot of spots but here are some of our favourites…
Isle of Iona
The ethereal Isle of Iona is another sought after location. It can be a bit of mission to get there on foot – ferry from Oban, bus to Fionnphort and then ferry to Iona. However, it’s also a long journey for us in the boat, around 1hr45. We don’t often swim at Iona, apart from a dip at the sandy bay in the harbour, but increasingly the Sound of Iona swim challenge is getting more popular. The shallow gap between Mull & Iona is only a couple of km, but has fierce currents. We have run a number of swim challenges for groups wishing to make the swim with the safety backup of our boat, team and vitally, tidal & weather planning. There is fair bit of boat traffic including the ferry so there is a lot to juggle. It’s a trip that needs a good bit of planning in advance so it’s best to contact us with plenty of notice.
Ross of Mull
Wow! This is the jewel in the crown of Mull’s swim spots. Spectacular coves surrounded by pink granite rocks, white sand beaches and sparkling waters. We are able to manoeuvre the boat into some amazing lagoons which are idyllic swims. When the sun shines, this is a swimming paradise. A firm favourite with all our wild swimming guests. You can access some of the beaches from land but they do involve a good hike to get there, even having to cross tidal parts (you need to read tide tables so you don’t get stuck). The beauty of the boat is we can take you right in to the hard to reach places and you just slide right in.
South Coast Wilderness Waterfall
Perhaps our favourite coastline on Mull, remote from any settlement and very little boat traffic. It feels like you are somewhere very far away. The cliffs tower above you to nearly 300m with amazing volcanic formations, and somewhere we often see eagles soaring and dolphins leaping!
Along with the adventure of the Carsaig Arches, the waterfall is one of our regular spots. Either a snorkel or swim, then clamber up the boulders to the base of the waterfall for a refreshing dip. The water here is emerald green and the view is spectacular.
Fingal’s Cave, Isle of Staffa
A most sought after location, however, it is one of the hardest to tick off the list. Staffa sits off the west coast in an exposed location with the cave open to the wind and waves of the Atlantic. On the perfect day it can be a dream like swim, on other days very challenging and some days dangerous. We do take day tour charters here, but you need luck on your side to catch the best of the weather. It’s a harder place to swim than snorkel and we are able to snorkel there more than we can swim. The best chances you have is on a multi-day tour or with swimming groups who book a varied itinerary, and we pick the best weather window to get out to the cave. In recent years we have seen individuals swim after taking the water taxi tours from the islands. There has been a number of near misses and we don’t recommend this. Read more about that here.
A swim tour with us gets you the safety boat who watches over you, an in water guide & safety swimmer, almost three decades of experience, insurance along with on board oxygen & first aid.
Calgary Bay
A bonus swim and probably the one most easily visited for those based on the island. A scenic drive from Tobermory, but also accessible by bike if you don’t mind the hills. Close to shore there are lovely white sands and dunes with a view looking south west towards Tiree. There isn’t much current to be worried about, the only issue would be when we have wind from the west or south west, there can be lots of waves. We stop here sometimes on our tours and anchor for an additional dip.
Snorkeling on the Isle of Mull
Swimming – snorkelling – what’s the difference. Actually a lot more than you would think. Primarily our organised tours are snorkeling based, where you wear a thick wetsuit, boots, gloves, hood and move around quietly to observe marine life. Or using this equipment, the fins give you the power to undertake adventures. It’s not to say you can’t stick a mask and snorkel on whilst swimming to stick your head under for a look. It’s just different!
Lagoon Tour
This is our regular organised tour which picks up passengers in Tobermory. Visiting the Isle of Coll with wildlife watching along the way, it’s a fantastic day trip and a great taster. The lagoon has strong currents which we plan to use to our advantage on the excursion, and means there is a lot of marine life to see. We visit here on all our multi-day tours. Click here for more information.
Treshnish Isles
Home to the main seabird colonies in the area, there are also fantastic snorkeling excursions to be had here. Healthy seagrass beds, kelp forests and seals to play with. Again, an area with strong currents and exposure, so we plan excursions here around the conditions and tides.
Fingal’s Cave, Isle of Staffa
Again, the iconic spot like above, however, snorkeling is our preferred activity. It allows us more swimming power to snorkel around the cave, to view all the marine life and to visit all the other caves. During certain tidal heights we can snorkel through a tunnel linking two caves and find all sorts of secret spots. We pioneered swimming adventures here and know the best places to visit. Fingal’s is a challenge so we usually build this later in our itineraries so people have worked up to the challenge. Again, it’s very exposed so having a longer itinerary allows us to find the best weather window, also avoiding boat traffic and a number of other factors.
Shipwrecks
The shipwrecks in the area are well know to divers but not so much everyone else. They may seems daunting, but wrecks act like artificial reefs and become a whole ecosystem for marine life. There aren’t so many that are shallow but we do have a few firm favourites we visit that stick out of the water at low tide. They are known to have lots of big fish, soft corals and anemones.
See it all on our 4 & 5 day tour
We visit most of the spots above during our Spring & Autumn Island Adventure tours. Based from Oban we travel daily to the Isle of Mull, either journeying north west through the Sound of Mull. Or south west along the south coast of Mull. Usually, on one of the days, we’ll travel right round the Isle. We do also run private tours for groups, friends & families to do some or all of these itineraries. Bespoke trips are available so get in touch to plan your adventure!
