Are the ferries in Scottish islands reliable?
I'm heading to Jura next week, my onward plans are not yet set. I've reserved a ferry from mainland to Jura and I'd like to reserve more ferries. In some parts of the world I've traveled, the ferries get canceled fairly often, even for mildly bad weather. Given that the weather is not lovely in Scotland, do ferries often get delayed/canceled?
Best Answer
To build on Andrew's answer, CalMac also have service status text updates (for free) and an app which serves the same purpose. I would recommend using both to cover all bases as the phone service coverage on the Hebrides is unreliable at best.
It may also be worth noting that there have been some very inconvenient delays to the addition of new ferries to the CalMac fleet which caused multiple cancellations for ferries to the Outer Hebrides. However, this was due to choppy weather preventing the smaller vessels that are currently in use from sailing the longer journeys so hasn't been a problem since around spring time. As an islander, I would say don't be deterred by our grumblings about unnecessary cancellations, they are actually all necessary and really incredibly rare.
Another thing to note is that if there have been multiple cancellations and people have been left stranded, CalMac will do 'emergency' sailings that are off the timetable to help ensure everyone gets to where they need to be. I should emphasize that I've never known this to happen outside the winter months.
Pictures about "Are the ferries in Scottish islands reliable?"
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