Skomer and Skokholm, located off the coast of Pembrokeshire, are internationally important seabird islands home to over 48,000 Puffins, thousands of Guillemots, Razorbills and Kittiwakes. Each year 25,000 people visit to experience these remarkable seabirds.

The Wildlife Trust of South and West Wales is committed to making Skomer and Skokholm as inclusive and accessible as possible. The boat trips were designed so that people who aren’t able to visit due to the steps, thin paths and rough terrain on the islands, would still be able to experience its wildlife.

Ceris Aston, Skomer Island Assistant Warden, said “we’re so excited to have been able to run accessible boat trips this year. After several years in the planning, it was a great pleasure to be able to share the islands with people who would not otherwise have been able to visit and to enjoy the spectacular wildlife.”

With the 40 spaces selling out in less 2 hours, we were pleased there was so much interest from the local community.

Working in partnership with Pembrokeshire Islands Boat Trips, we ran the trips from Dale where the floating pontoon allowed wheelchair users and those with limited mobility to board the accessible boat. Over the course of the two-hour trip, we took people around Skomer and Skokholm, where they could see the seabird colonies, plenty of seals and the islands’ impressive geology.

Due to weather conditions, we were only able to run two out of the four trips, but we hope to be able to run similar events in the future. The trips that did go ahead enjoyed beautiful calm conditions, with local volunteer guides on board to share information about the islands and the marine wildlife.

Rob Knott, Skomer Island Visitor Officer, said “we are very grateful for the funding we received which made it possible and look forward to working on future plans for these boat trips.”

These boat trips were run as a trial as part of our efforts to make the islands more accessible. We collected feedback about every stage of the process to allow us to learn and improve future events.

Feedback from the trip was extremely positive, with all saying they’d be interested in attending another accessible boat trip in the future. Most people who attended had not visited Skomer or Skokholm Island before and one person commented “we really enjoyed the boat trip and seeing Skokholm Island where we saw wildlife that we wouldn't usually see like puffins and seals”. Another guest said they enjoyed “seeing what Pembrokeshire has to offer. We couldn't have seen any of it, without the organised trip.” 

Lisa Morgan, Head of Islands and Marine Conservation, said “the marine team have worked really hard in recent years on our inclusive events program, bringing awareness to a wider audience. This grant funded initiative has allowed us to try something we never thought possible. Allowing access to the marine environment for those unable to make the day trip to Skomer, has been hugely rewarding for all involved and we were pleasantly surprised by just how popular the trips were.”

The Wildlife Trust of South and West Wales is committed to ensuring that everyone has the opportunity to experience the joy of wildlife. We are working to remove barriers to ensure as many people as possible can enjoy our nature reserves across South & West Wales.