UKH

No chance of a trip abroad this year so i was looking for something a little different in Scotland. I've been thinking of a few days camping on st Kilda, its a hefty price tag for the round trip on the boat from Skye, close to £500 but it does look an awesome place to visit and if I was going id rather stay a couple of days than rush a day trip as its a 4 hour boat trip each way.

Anybody been and care to share their experience.

I would really like to go to St Kilda. I can also recommend Fair Isle, if you like wildlife - the community is very friendly (a friend used to live there) there is a B&B, bird watching and a great flight or ferry across from Mainland Shetland.

Our trip to Shetland was packed full of wildlife - sea otters, skuas, puffins, seals... so much to see and really beautiful. Food is a bit dodgy and the population is small so we kept bumping into the same people (a lot of adults have multiple part time jobs).

I went from Uig on Harris or Lewis (can't remember which) and it was a 4hr trip from there so I suspect it's much longer from Skye. Double check that. It was about £170 return for that trip. I only stayed four hours but I'd say it's absolutely worth it, as long as you get the weather.

As the chap above says, Shetland is a brilliant place to go, and you also get to do some climbing. Lots of it in fact.

https://www.ukclimbing.com/articles/destinations/shetland-9869

I am looking at a trip to St Kilda from Leverburgh (South Harris) and it seems that the operator charges extra for folks who stay overnight as their seats are empty after they've been dropped off on the outward journey and also before they're picked up for the trip home. Day trip there & back costs £210, campers trip there & back £350. See FAQ 11 below.

https://www.kildacruises.co.uk/faq

Not sure if all operators do this but it's worth checking.

A mate of my crews for a boat that runs trips to St Kilda, I can give you info if you're interested

I was going to post that link - looks like it might be better value than the trip the OP mentions.  There's a lot of demand during the season, and they lose a fair few trips due to poor weather. I'd be surprised to learn there is any day-trip operator who doesn't charge substantially more to ride out on one trip and back on another.

I have.  Kinda sorta.

I joined an organised sea kayak expedition on the MV Cuma last summer.  ( https://www.zoenewsamguiding.com/st-kilda-expedition.html )

The weather was not kind however.  We almost didn't get there at all, every morning the shipping forecast basically said "Not today - maybe tomorrow."  Just as we'd given up on ever getting there, Murdo (the Cuma's skipper) told us he'd seen an opportunity for a quick day trip and we were off.

Murdo dropped us off at the North West tip of Hirta, close to Stac Shoaigh, and we paddled along the coast and around the tip of Dun to meet him again in Village Bay.  The wild weather had all been coming from the North East for the previous days, leaving that coastline unusually sheltered and we enjoyed a gobsmacking journey in brilliant sunshine on a mill-pond sea getting right in and out of the many caves at the foot of the amazing sea cliffs along that coast.  Conditions were anything but mill-pond on the Eastern side of Dun, the last mile or so of the day's paddle was a wee bit hairy.

The plan was to get the kayaks back aboard the Cuma, have a bite to eat then take a quick walk around the island.  In the end there wasn't enough time - the weather was closing in, wind swinging round more Southerly, and along with all the other boats in Village Bay apparently, we had to leg it.  The return journey was hellish, I have never been so seasick in my life.

So apart from a quick swim from my kayak to scramble up a ramp to a ledge on one of the sea cliffs and take a group photo, I didn't actually get to set foot on dry land there.

There were quite a few boats anchored in Village Bay while we were there, including a pretty sizeable cruise ship.  There seemed to be a bit of hustle and bustle going on at the time with some construction work on the quayside for the military base.  For the cost of it, I wonder if an overnight stay on the NT campsite there might not disappoint a bit in the sense that it might not feel quite as remote as it actually is.

Guessing a bit having not walked on the island, I also wonder if the more impressive sights you'd get to see on a day trip might not actually be from the sea.  Looking at the link Vanessa posted, I see their trip includes a quick visit to Boreray and the stacks.  There's no mention of the boat from/to Skye going that way. (It isn't en-route from Harris or Skye.)  I'd be keen to see that.

I've never been, but have you considered the possibility of a trip to Pabbay and/or Mingulay instead?

Thanks for the info folks, I was aware that it is a bit cheaper from the western isles but when you add on the ferry costs getting to and from the western isles it was going to cost more.

Might try and combine it into a longer trip and take in the western isles as well as I've never been before.

I went a few years ago. Utterly magnificent place. We caught the boat from Uig (chap called Derek. Sure a google search will find him). Wasn't hugely expensive.

Loads of climbing but worth remembering how remote you are. Hospital isn't going to be easy. Treat it as you would an expedition somewhere.

Loads of sheep. And loads of mice. Make sure you food is all in plastic boxes. 

Epic place.

You won't regret a trip to the Western Isles. We spent 10 days in late September driving from Stornaway to Barra in a motor caravan. The most used word on the trip was 'stunning!' It seemed a good time to visit as the crowds had gone (if it ever gets crowded) but the campsites etc were still open.

It was my first visit last June.  It took ages to drive from Stornaway down to Leverburgh on the first day because I stopped so often to get out of the van and gawp. I spent hours that first evening sitting on a rock with a spotting scope peering across the water at Skye glowing in the setting sun.

The campsites were populated, the car park at Hushinish was busy-ish on the clear sunny day I was there, but I didn't see any crowds either.  Perhaps they hadn't arrived yet..  This year I'm planning to be there a little later in the year, during the school holidays, so I guess I'll find out how busy it gets.

Going by the prices on websites, Uig-StKilda £470.  Leverburgh-StKilda £350 and Uig-Tarbert (with a car) £74.40.  Seems like a no-brainer to me.