Bardsey Island & Boat cruises and trips.

Bardsey island lies across the Sound about two miles (3km) off Aberdaron at the tip of the Lleyn Peninsula in North Wales, and is easily accessible( weather permitting !) by a boat trip from our self catering cottages .

Bardsey  -"Ynys Enlli" - has been a place of important christianity and pilgrimage since the 5th century, and became a focal point for the Celtic Christian Church during the 6th century - where one of the welsh saints - St Cadfan - built a monastery on the Island.

There are reputedly 20,000 saints buried on the island and three trips to Bardsey were considered equal to a pilgrimage to Rome.Legends also have it that Bardsey was the last resting place of King Arthur and Merlin the magician.

The Whales and Dolphin Conservation Society made a rare sighting of a group of Risso dolphins of the coast of Bardsey recently - 5 females and 5 calves . The waters around Bardsey are one of few places along the UK, where sightings can be seen from the land, indicating the great importance of the waters for the Risso dolphin's feeding and breeding grounds.

The island is of great conservation importance, and carries the following list of national and international designations: National Nature Reserve (NNR) ,Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. In 2000, a chance discovery resulted in finding the Bardsey Apple- "afal Enlli"- possibly from an orchard tended on the island by monks over a 1,000 years ago.

The Bardsey Bird and Field Observatory opened in 1953, and the island was bought by the Bardsey Island Trust in 1979. As the island lies in the migration paths of many birds , it is extremely popular with birdwatchers, twitchers and ornithologists during the migration and passage periods. Bardsey and is home to the red-billed choughs and oystercatchers; it is also common to see herons, peregrine falcons, wheatears, warblers and little owls. Sea birds such as gannets, razorbills and shags colonize the island, and there are recent sightings from birders of a few pairs of puffins nesting on the island once again.

The island is mostly associated, however, with the Manx shearwater - there is a breeding colony of ten to sixteen thousand birds on the island.Visitors having stayed on the island will recall their screaming calls as the come in to nest in burrows on the island overnight.

The lighthouse on Bardsey is incidentally the only square lighthouse looked after by Trinity House, and Bardsey chapel's Bell Tower dates back to 1875 .

Bardsey welcomes many hundreds of day visitors during the summer months with day trips being operated from Porth Meudwy - a fishing cove near Aberdaron, or from the main town of Pwllheli . Visitors are able to explore the island for a few hours-( no pets !)

More details regarding boat trips, charters and fishing excursions are available from Colin Evans on 07971 769895 or 07791 683422 , who will be able to arrange fishing trips, coastal cruises, bird, dolphin & seal watching as well as sunset cruises on his catamaran boat Benlli III. As a group of around 250 grey seals basque on the island daily - sightings of bottlenose dolphins and porpoises are by no means rare on a boat cruise.

Colin ( who lives on the island ) is also responsible for building the boat Maria Stella - launched in July 2006 - which is used to carry livestock and goods over to Bardsey island.

Visit this BBC website for more interesting history about Bardsey island.