ArtsAutosBooksBusinessEducationEntertainmentFamilyFashionFoodGamesGenderHealthHolidaysHomeHubPagesPersonal FinancePetsPoliticsReligionSportsTechnologyTravel

Cruise to Ramsey Island in West Wales and see the wildlife and seabirds

Updated on September 29, 2015

Ramsey Island is a wildlife reserve in West Wales

Ramsey Island is a wonderful wildlife reserve owned and managed by the RSPB and situated just 1 km offshore from St Davids in West Wales. In Welsh it is known as Ynys Dewi, and Dewi Sant is the Welsh name for the saint whose name is immortalised in the city nearby. In other words it is named after St David, the patron saint of Wales. It is a wonderful place to visit.

Viewing this island from the coast of Pembrokeshire may make you want to visit it, and this is possible via the various cruises that operate as well as landing parties that are organised and for which it is possible to book up. Landing rights have only been allowed to Thousand Island Expeditions so you need to book with them if you want to set foot on the island.

You can even spend a day on Ramsey Island and take part in a guided walk led by the RSPB Warden. On such a trip you will learn about Ramsey Island's history, find out about what it is actually like to live on this remote island, and most importantly, see and learn about the wildlife found there.

Ramsey Island

Ramsey Island from St Davids photo by Donar Reisskoffer
Ramsey Island from St Davids photo by Donar Reisskoffer

Seals and seabirds - Ramsey Island wildlife

Ramsey Island is a paradise for nature-lovers and bird-spotters. It has the most important Grey Seal breeding colony in the south of the UK. Seal pups can be seen on the island's beaches in September and October.

Rare Choughs

The island is one of the best sites in Wales where you can see Choughs, which are a rare species from the crow family that like to live on remote cliffs. Other types of bird that breed on Ramsey Island include Ravens, Common Buzzards, Peregrine Falcons, Northern Wheatears, Manx Shearwaters, Fulmars, Kittiwakes, Gannets, Puffins, Razorbills and Guillemots.

Not surprisingly there are of course species of seagull that live on the island too. Bird-watchers will not be disappointed on a Ramsey Island cruise.

Porpoises and Whales

Besides the seals that can be seen on the rocky shores and in the ocean you can also see Porpoises that gather and feed in the Ramsey Sound.

Thousand Island Expeditions offer a Whale and Dolphin Experience in which you will be taken out into the Irish Sea whereas well as searching for whales and dolphins the boat will head for the island of Grassholm.

Species of whales that can be spotted include Common and Rissos Dolphins, Harbour Porpoises, Fin and Pilot Whales and Orca. You are also likely to see Puffins, Shearwaters and Atlantic Grey Seals.

See Ramsey Island RSPB Nature Reserve with Thousand Islands Expeditions

Ramsey Island Cruises

Cruises to Ramsey Island are operated by Thousand Island Expeditions and Ramsey Island Cruises but only the first of these offers actual landings on the island.

Thousand Island Expeditions offer various options. Their Ramsey Island Landing departs at 10am and 12 pm, returning at 4pm. The prices are £15 for adults and £7.50 for children with the special reduced price of £11 and £5.50 for RSPB members.

Thousand Islands Adventure

The Thousands Islands Adventure is a 90 minute cruise around Ramsey Island on a traditional vessel and with a marine wildlife expert on board to talk about all the birds and animals you can see. The cruise goes through the swirling currents and visits the island's bays as well as passing by some of the highest cliffs in Wales. The cruises depart at 10.30am, 12.30pm, 2pm, 4.30pm and 6pm. Adults pay £24 and children are half-price.

The Landing and Around option offers a few hours actually on the island plus a cruise around it and costs £34 for adults, £17 for children, whilst RSPB members can go on this trip for £30 for adults and £15 for children.

Guided Walks

it is also possible to book a Guided Walk on Ramsey Island in April, May, June, July, August and September with the price of £17 for adults and £8.50 for children or £13 for adults and £6.50 for children.

Puffins

Other trips include an evening cruise to see the Puffins and Shearwaters return to land, a visit to the island of Grassholm as well as Ramsey, or you might enjoy a simple fishing trip.

Thousand Island Expeditions have several boats including the Gower Ranger and the Ocean Ranger. They all depart from St Justinians Lifeboat Station. There are shuttle buses from St Davids to take you there if you don't have a car.

Ramsey Island Cruises have had over 40 years experience of offering cruise and fishing services. Ramsey Island Cruises offer private charters by arrangement. Dogs are welcome aboard the boats which are called the Barracuda Too and the Coral Ann.

The websites for both these Cruise companies are given below so you can find further details and make a booking.

© 2010 Steve Andrews

working

This website uses cookies

As a user in the EEA, your approval is needed on a few things. To provide a better website experience, hubpages.com uses cookies (and other similar technologies) and may collect, process, and share personal data. Please choose which areas of our service you consent to our doing so.

For more information on managing or withdrawing consents and how we handle data, visit our Privacy Policy at: https://corp.maven.io/privacy-policy

Show Details
Necessary
HubPages Device IDThis is used to identify particular browsers or devices when the access the service, and is used for security reasons.
LoginThis is necessary to sign in to the HubPages Service.
Google RecaptchaThis is used to prevent bots and spam. (Privacy Policy)
AkismetThis is used to detect comment spam. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide data on traffic to our website, all personally identifyable data is anonymized. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Traffic PixelThis is used to collect data on traffic to articles and other pages on our site. Unless you are signed in to a HubPages account, all personally identifiable information is anonymized.
Amazon Web ServicesThis is a cloud services platform that we used to host our service. (Privacy Policy)
CloudflareThis is a cloud CDN service that we use to efficiently deliver files required for our service to operate such as javascript, cascading style sheets, images, and videos. (Privacy Policy)
Google Hosted LibrariesJavascript software libraries such as jQuery are loaded at endpoints on the googleapis.com or gstatic.com domains, for performance and efficiency reasons. (Privacy Policy)
Features
Google Custom SearchThis is feature allows you to search the site. (Privacy Policy)
Google MapsSome articles have Google Maps embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
Google ChartsThis is used to display charts and graphs on articles and the author center. (Privacy Policy)
Google AdSense Host APIThis service allows you to sign up for or associate a Google AdSense account with HubPages, so that you can earn money from ads on your articles. No data is shared unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Google YouTubeSome articles have YouTube videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
VimeoSome articles have Vimeo videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
PaypalThis is used for a registered author who enrolls in the HubPages Earnings program and requests to be paid via PayPal. No data is shared with Paypal unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook LoginYou can use this to streamline signing up for, or signing in to your Hubpages account. No data is shared with Facebook unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
MavenThis supports the Maven widget and search functionality. (Privacy Policy)
Marketing
Google AdSenseThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Google DoubleClickGoogle provides ad serving technology and runs an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Index ExchangeThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
SovrnThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook AdsThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Unified Ad MarketplaceThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
AppNexusThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
OpenxThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Rubicon ProjectThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
TripleLiftThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Say MediaWe partner with Say Media to deliver ad campaigns on our sites. (Privacy Policy)
Remarketing PixelsWe may use remarketing pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to advertise the HubPages Service to people that have visited our sites.
Conversion Tracking PixelsWe may use conversion tracking pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to identify when an advertisement has successfully resulted in the desired action, such as signing up for the HubPages Service or publishing an article on the HubPages Service.
Statistics
Author Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide traffic data and reports to the authors of articles on the HubPages Service. (Privacy Policy)
ComscoreComScore is a media measurement and analytics company providing marketing data and analytics to enterprises, media and advertising agencies, and publishers. Non-consent will result in ComScore only processing obfuscated personal data. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Tracking PixelSome articles display amazon products as part of the Amazon Affiliate program, this pixel provides traffic statistics for those products (Privacy Policy)
ClickscoThis is a data management platform studying reader behavior (Privacy Policy)