Chances are, if you know anything about what to do when visiting the Isle of Skye, you’ll think of the same few things: The Old Man of Storr, the Fairy Pools, or even the Talisker whiskey distillery. We ourselves have written about the Quiraing and Brothers’ Point. But this, in our opinion, has them all beat: the Loch Coruisk boat and hike trip.

Loch Coruisk is a 38m deep loch surrounded by the jagged peaks of the Cuillin mountains. The water is inky blue, the mountains a shadowy black, and the loch has long been the subject of stories and folklore. It’s a majestic, spectacular and eerie place that simply cannot be missed while on Skye.

The loch itself can be got to on foot. It’s a 11km one-way hike from Sligachan and 9km from Kilmarie. It includes a traverse over the ledge of rock called the ‘Bad Step’, which is ominous. But taking the Loch Coruisk boat from Elgol and completing the lap around the loch skips all that out. It’s an easier alternative that is still incredibly dramatic.

The Loch Coruisk boat trip | Out 

Distance: 4 nautical miles / 7km

Time: 15 minutes by RIB or 40 minutes by normal boat

There are two companies that operate the boat trips out to Loch Coruisk: Misty Isle Boat Trips and the Bella Jane. Both run from a small coastal village called Elgol, which sits across the water from the loch. 

Email either of them in advance to book onto a boat, and they’ll keep you in the loop about sea conditions (it can be too choppy to sail sometimes, it happened to us the first time we tried this). It cost us £25 return each.

The boats run frequently from around April to October. We ourselves went on the last one of the season with Bella Jane, just us two, leaving on a perfectly crisp day in October. Misty Isle Boat Trips actually does run throughout the whole year, but in the winter only occasionally.

Nell about to step aboard the Bella Jane boat

On our way out we went on the Bella Jane’s RIB. This is a rigid inflatable boat that essentially speeds faster than light to get across to the other side. It took us little more than 15 minutes. We loved it, even though it felt like our faces might fall off by the end.

We did stop briefly to watch the seals sunbathing on the rocks near the shore. And the trip out on the Loch Coruisk boat is supposedly a good time to see all kinds of wildlife, including whales and dolphins. 

If on the ordinary boat, you’ll get across in a much more dignified 45 minutes. And there’s tea and coffee on board too.

The Loch Coruisk hike

Distance: 7km

Time: 3 hours

Once off the boat, it’s a hike over rocky, wet, peaty ground along a rough-hewn path to begin to explore the loch.

You’ll file past the Loch Coruisk Memorial Hut, a cabin maintained by the Junior Mountaineering Club of Scotland (Glasgow section) that can be pre-booked and stayed in. It’s a basic offering of bunkbeds and a gas log burner, but a cosy place to experience Loch Coruisk at all hours of the day.

  • View from within the Loch Coruisk Memorial Hut
  • The Loch Coruisk Memorial Hut nestling into the landscape

Beyond the hut is the path that snakes its way around the loch. Even if other people arrived with you, most stay close to the jetty so you’ll soon be alone.

Once over the shallow river, you’ll soon arrive at Loch Coruisk itself. And get there early enough, with good weather, you could get crystal glass reflections of the surrounding mountains.

  • Luke standing alongside Loch Coruisk with a perfect reflection
  • Nell standing by Loch Coruisk

As we worked our way around, you could see why so many songs and stories have risen up from the loch. The stillness and never-ending quiet seem almost palpable, and with little around you except bare rock and rippling water, it has an eternal, inhuman feel that so many wild, natural places have. 

So it’s said to be the home of a water horse/kelpie, a Scottish mythical creature that lures and then pulls people into the murky depths, to live forever at the bottom of the loch.  

We’ve said it before about the weird world of Saxon Switzerland, but these places can feel both peaceful and indifferent. The loch and the hills have gone on in this way for many lifetimes before you, and will continue after. You are small and transitory; it endures and continues.

Take from that what you will.

The Loch Coruisk boat trip | Back

Boats in the summer run fairly regularly but keep an eye on the time to be back for a boat. Book a return trip and a time so they know to expect you.

Nell sitting on board the Bella Jane on the way back to Elgol

As the boat chugs away from that empty amphitheatre of rock to begin its 45 minute journey back to Elgol, you might remember that it was on one such boat in the 1790s that the famous Skye Boat Song was apparently recorded for the first time, after Skye visitor Miss Annie MacLeod heard the men singing it.

Don’t forget to keep a look out for dolphins too.

Is there anything else you want to know about Loch Coruisk boat & hike? Let us know.

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