Life on the water

Round Rathlin Tour

Photos from our Round Rathlin boat tour: all the way around Rathlin Island, its three lighthouses and seabird cliffs, with an hour ashore at Church Bay.

← All albums

A big thank you to James Allen (our crew member and guide during the 2026 season) for providing us with most of these beautiful moments and pictures. Please feel free to check him out on Instagram: @orange_in_the_blue

A basalt headland seen from the boat, wake foaming below.
Low cloud spilling over a flat-topped headland.
Red flowers frame the village bay, a kayaker on the water.
Guests at the rail beneath towering seabird colony cliffs.
The harbour bay and breakwater seen from the grassy shore.
Rue Point lighthouse with the mainland coast behind.
A moody grey seascape with a distant basalt headland.
Grassy cliffs along the coast under a clear sky.
A distant headland across open water, past the boat's rail.
A puffin flying low over green water, feet trailing spray.
A puffin standing among pink sea thrift on a clifftop.
A puffin carrying nesting material in its bill.
Two puffins swimming on dappled green water, bills bright.
Two puffins on a burrow slope among pink thrift flowers.
A puffin resting on green water with light spray around it.
A puffin portrait against a soft blurred green background.
Two puffins swimming together on golden, rippled evening water.
A puffin in flight with fish held in its beak.
Two puffins swimming close together, beak to beak on rippled water.
A raft of puffins on open water, with two darker seabirds mixed in.
Two puffins swimming apart on blue water.
A lone puffin paddling on green water.
Two puffins and a guillemot on choppy golden water.
Two puffins swimming close together on pastel evening water.
A puffin in flight against a clear blue sky.
A lighthouse above dark cliffs, seen from the boat.
Rue Point lighthouse on its low rocky shore.
A lighthouse lantern on the clifftop, seen through the wheelhouse window.
Rathlin's West Light above cliffs busy with nesting seabirds.
Rue Point tower with two walkers at its base.
Rathlin's East Light on top of dark basalt cliffs.
A lighthouse looming out of thick fog, its light lit.
A minke whale's head arching above the water, blowhole visible.
A ruined stone kelp store on a grassy track at Rue Point.
Rathlin's coastal cliffs and bay, seen from the footpath.
A dolphin arching through the surface, back at its highest point.
Two dolphins surfacing together, the further fin already clear.
A dolphin leaping clear of the water, coastline behind.
A dolphin's blowhole breaking the surface right beside the boat.
A dolphin's dorsal fin arching through the surface beside the boat.
A dolphin arching through the water in a splash.
A dolphin porpoising through the surface, its blowhole visible.
A dolphin breaking the surface in a burst of spray.
A dolphin surfacing in a wave of white spray.
Two dolphins surfacing together.
Two dolphins surfacing side by side.
Two dolphins surfacing, tails up in the swell.
A dolphin surfacing in a wake of white spray.

Want more North Coast in your life?

Puffin facts, wildlife sightings and what is happening on the water. Twice a month, no more, no spam.