The Island
Puffin Island off the Anglesey coast — Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0
Puffin Island (Ynys Seiriol) sits off Penmon Point at the eastern tip of Anglesey, a protected seabird sanctuary with no public landing. From April to July its cliffs hold breeding puffins, guillemots, razorbills and kittiwakes, along with cormorants; a colony of grey seals lives around its shores year-round and is reliably seen hauled out on the rocks. Cruises circle the island close in, which is exactly where you want to be.
The Operators
Two long-established operators sail from kiosks at Beaumaris Pier, typically from late March to early November:
Seacoast Safaris runs the classic Puffin Island cruise on a 54-seat passenger boat, plus a longer ‘Best of Puffin Island & the Menai Strait’ trip taking in the bridges and the Swellies. Starida is the town’s longest-established pleasure boat operator — more than 40 years on this water — running Puffin Island cruises and sea fishing trips. Both are dog friendly.
Trips are tide- and weather-dependent, so check sailing times on the day at the pier kiosks or book ahead in school holidays. Around an hour is typical for the island cruise.
Tips
For puffins, come between April and mid-July — after that the birds head back out to sea, though seals, other seabirds and the scenery carry the trip year-round. Mornings are often calmer for photography. Combine the cruise with a walk to Penmon Point, where the Trwyn Du lighthouse faces the island across the sound, and the Pilot House Café serves the headland.
What You’ll Actually See
Manage expectations pleasantly upward: grey seals are the bankers — hauled out on the island’s rocks or bottling in the water, they show on the overwhelming majority of sailings year-round. In season, the cliffs run to tens of thousands of seabirds; puffins are present April to mid-July but are the smallest and scarcest of the cast, so binoculars help. Cormorants crowd the ruins of the island’s ancient monastic settlement — Ynys Seiriol was a religious site linked to Penmon long before it was a sanctuary. Porpoises turn up on calm days in the tide races. Layer up even in August: the strait manufactures its own wind.
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