Visiting the Scottish Seabird Centre & Seeing Puffins in North Berwick

Jess has wanted to see puffins for a very long time, so when the Scottish Seabird Centre in North Berwick, Scotland, offered us a trip on one of their bird watching tours at the start of puffin season, naturally we leapt at the opportunity. That first trip turned into two – we’ve now done both their fast boat seabird safari and the landing trip to the Isle of May, where the puffins actually nest.

Of course, it’s about more than just puffins. There are loads of species of seabirds that you can see from the Scottish Seabird Centre, including the world’s largest single-rock colony of northern gannets. And seabirds aren’t all – you might even be lucky enough to spot seals or even dolphins!

I’ll share our experiences of both trips below, along with everything that’s changed since our first visit – prices, trip names, and sadly the size of the gannet colony. First though, the quick answers.

 

North Berwick Puffins: The Quick Answers

Yes, you can see puffins at North Berwick. They nest on Craigleith and Fidra, the islands just offshore, and they’re around from April to July. June and July are the best months, when the adults are flying back and forth with beaks full of fish for their chicks.

You won’t spot them from the beach though. Puffins are small birds and even the closest island is a kilometre out, so you either need to take one of the boat trips from North Berwick harbour, or use the telescopes and live island cameras at the Scottish Seabird Centre itself. If you’d rather photograph the puffins than just watch them, my guide to cameras and lenses for bird photography covers the reach you’ll need.

As for which boat: the Seabird Catamaran Cruise is the gentle option for families, the Three Islands Seabird Seafari is the fast RIB trip we did first and the best pick if you’re short on time, and the Isle of May Landing Trip is my favourite, as it’s the only regular trip where you actually walk among tens of thousands of puffins. The landing trips sell out weeks ahead for June and July, so book early. There’s a full comparison below.

And the Bass Rock? That’s the gannet island rather than the puffin island. The colony was hit hard by avian flu in 2022, but with around 52,000 occupied nest sites at the July 2025 count it’s still the world’s largest single-rock gannet colony, and still quite the sight up close.

 

Our Visits to the Scottish Seabird Centre

 

The RIB Three Islands Seabird Seafari from the Scottish Seabird Centre

We have done two visits to the Scottish Seabird Centre. Our first visit included entry to the seabird centre itself, and then a trip on a fast rigid inflatable boat (RIB) around three islands, which lasted around 75 minutes.

This first trip was at the end of May, which was during puffin breeding season. We had booked an afternoon Three Islands Seabird Seafari (called the Seabird Safari back then, but it’s the same trip), but turned up early because we wanted to explore the Discovery Experience a little bit beforehand. This is the exhibition part of the centre, which was known as the Discovery Centre when we visited.

This was an excellent decision, and one we highly recommend to anyone planning a trip on one of the boats. You’ll learn all about the various bird and marine life that lives on the various islands around North Berwick, plus get the opportunity to see it all up close with the interactive live camera feeds.

It was both fun and entertaining, and we think is worth including as part of your visit. There are plenty of kid-friendly exhibits for families.

Of course, the highlight of our day was the seabird safari. So once we had seen everything we wanted to see in the Discovery Experience, we walked through to the harbour where our boat ride would leave from.

The Scottish Seabird Centre offers a range of boat rides, the most popular of which are the Seabird Catamaran Cruise (perfect for all ages) and the Three Islands Seabird Seafari RIB trip (the one we did).

They also offer two trips that actually land on some of the islands – the Isle of May and the Bass Rock landing trips, the former being what we did on our second trip (more on this below). These are very popular and book out well in advance, so if those interest you we highly recommend booking as far in advance as you can.

The Three Islands Seabird Seafari RIB trip we took was the fast boat safari. This would take us around three islands: the Lamb, Craigleith, and the Bass Rock.

This being a fast boat in Scottish weather with no cover, obviously there was the potential that we might get wet – either from rain, or from sea spray.

Thankfully, the folks at the Scottish Seabird Centre have thought of this issue, and after check-in you are given a full set of top to bottom waterproofs and of course a lifejacket. Then, the only concern was my camera equipment – thankfully my Vanguard Alta Sky 49 (now the Alta Sky 51D) has a built-in waterproof cover which solved that problem.

Then it was on to the boat itself. There’s room for 12 passengers on the RIB boat, and you sit on a raised and incredibly padded seat. This doesn’t look like it’s going to be comfortable, particularly in a bouncing boat, but we were hugely impressed by how soft the ride was when sitting on these seats.

There was also space under my seat area for my camera backpack, which was convenient as I put my camera away while the boat was moving between the islands to protect it from the spray. With all the movement of the boat, it was practically impossible to use it at these times.

Finally, with everyone on board and the safety briefing complete, we were on our way. Our boat had two staff members – one person to operate the boat and one guide. Our first stop was the Lamb, a fairly small rock island which, fun fact, is owned by Uri Geller, who believes it is a hiding place for ancient Egyptian treasure.

We didn’t spot any treasure, but we did see plenty of seabirds, including, yes, our first puffins! We also saw a seal basking on a rock, so the trip was off to a positive start.

After circumnavigating the Lamb, we zipped across to our next stop, Craigleith Island. Again, this is a fairly small island, and like all the other islands we visited, is of volcanic origin. This is home to cormorants, shags and guillemots, as well as puffins, and we saw all of these species, including closer views of puffins!

Finally, having slowly circled Craigleith and taken many photos, we headed to the Bass Rock. This is by far the largest of the islands located off this part of the Scottish coast, and can be seen from miles around.

It’s a very dramatic rock, with walls of basalt rising vertically out of the sea to a height of 107 metres, and it’s home to the world’s largest single-rock colony of northern gannets.

It used to be home to even more of them. Before the avian flu outbreak of 2022 there were over 150,000 gannets on the Bass Rock. The disease hit the colony very hard, and the most recent survey in July 2025 counted around 52,000 occupied nest sites – a number that has held fairly steady over the last few years, but is well below what we saw on our visit. You can follow the colony counts on the Seabird Centre’s website. Even at today’s numbers, nothing quite prepares you for it.

As you can imagine, this makes for spectacular viewing, with thousands of birds wheeling overhead and stacked up on the rocks before you. Bass Rock is also home to a lighthouse, which makes for some interesting photographic opportunities. You get close enough to smell the guano! The circuit around Bass Rock is definitely a highlight of the ride!

Once we were done with the Bass Rock, and had taken a great many photos, our boat turned its nose for home. Before we returned to North Berwick harbour though, there was one final treat in store. We cruised in along the coast, and were given a fantastic view of Tantallon Castle, whilst being regaled with tales of shipwrecks along the coast. All in all, a brilliant day out, and one we can highly recommend!

 

The Isle of May Landing Trip from the Scottish Seabird Centre

Our second trip with the Scottish Seabird Centre was an Isle of May landing. This is a half-day trip, which sees you taking a fast boat out to the Isle of May, and then spending some time on the island. Normally this runs April – September.

When we did the trip, the boat was a covered RIB with dual 400hp engines. This meant it went very fast, but we were protected from the spray as the seating area was entirely enclosed. For this reason, we were not issued with full coveralls for this trip, just lifejackets.

The journey to the Isle of May took around half an hour each way, and on our trip we had three and a half hours on the islands itself. Times may vary depending on tide times and sea conditions, but we believe our trip was fairly representative.

On the Isle of May, the main draw during our visit, which was in early July, was the huge puffin colony. There were literally tens of thousands of puffins flying all around us all across the island, and as they had chicks in their nests, the majority of them were flying with food in their mouths.

Which means a lot of photos of puffins!

Of course, puffins weren’t the only draw. The island has a lot of other nesting birds, including Arctic terns, gulls, guillemots and razorbills, to name but a few. We also saw a seal on the way in to the jetty, which was nice!

Whilst on the island, we were given a welcome talk, and then given the option of taking a guided tour or going off on our own. We chose the former, but we did take advantage of the opening of the lighthouse on the island to visit it.

The day we visited was very hot, luckily we had put suncream on before we visited as there was no real shade on the island with the exception of the lighthouse and the visitor welcome area. This visitor welcome area was also home to some toilets.

We did forget drinking water, which was a huge omission given how hot it was, and the island doesn’t have drinking water available for day visitors. Thankfully one of the passenger boats to the island does have a small shop onboard, from which you can buy snacks and drinks, so we were saved by that.

We’d definitely suggest bringing your own snacks and drinks though. Just be aware there are no litter facilities on the islands, so you must take all your rubbish home with you.

 

Which Boat Trip Should You Book?

Since our visits the boat lineup has grown, so here’s how the current trips compare, and who I’d pick each one for. We’ve personally done the Seafari and the Isle of May landing; the catamaran and Bass Rock Experience details are from the operator, as we haven’t done those two ourselves.

Trip	Boat	Time	2026 price	Who it suits
Three Islands Seabird Seafari	12-seat open RIB	1 hour 15 minutes	£39 adult / £28 child (min height 1.3m)	Short on time, want all three islands at speed
Seabird Catamaran Cruise	55-seat catamaran	1 hour 15 minutes	£32 adult / £15 child, under 3s free	Families, and anyone who’d rather stay dry
Isle of May Landing Trip	RIB	Half a day, around 3 hours ashore	£70 adult / £50 child (16 and under)	Puffin fans and photographers
Bass Rock Experience	Landing on the Bass Rock itself	Varies by sailing	Around £200 per person (16+, landing fee included)	Committed gannet and bird photography enthusiasts

Prices were checked on the operator’s booking pages in July 2026. All trips run from roughly late March to early October, and all of them are weather dependent.

For families with young children, the catamaran is the obvious pick. It takes 55 passengers, the ride is a lot gentler than the RIB, and under 3s go free.

Photographers, or anyone for whom puffins are the whole point of the trip, should go straight for the Isle of May landing. It costs more, but you get around three hours on the island with tens of thousands of puffins just metres away, and no boat movement to fight against. It’s my favourite of the trips we’ve done, and the one I always recommend when readers ask.

The Seafari is the pick if you’re short on time or budget. It gets you past all three islands, including the gannets of the Bass Rock, in a fast and fun 75 minutes.

And if you want to go all in, the Bass Rock Experience actually lands you on the rock itself among the gannets. We haven’t done this one, and with a 16+ age limit and a price around £200 it’s aimed at committed birders and photographers rather than families.

Sula Boat Trips also runs sightseeing trips around the islands from the same harbour. We haven’t been out with them so I can’t compare, but if the Seabird Centre trips are booked out on your dates, check their availability too.

 

When Can You See Puffins in Scotland?

The puffin breeding season normally runs from April through to August. Eggs are laid at the end of April or start of May, incubation takes 39-45 days, and fledging occurs 34-50 days after hatching.

So the reliable window for seeing puffins ashore in Scotland is April through to July, with a few stragglers hanging on into early August.

Our favourite time is around June and July though, when the puffins are feeding their chicks and you can get those iconic photos of puffins with their beaks full of fish!

If it’s the gannets you’re after, the season is longer. They start returning to the Bass Rock from late January, nest from April onwards, and most have left by the end of October.

 

Where Can You See Puffins in Scotland?

Puffins nest at colonies right around the Scottish coast, and we’ve been lucky enough to see them at several, including the Isle of May, Lunga and Handa Island. If you’re trying to choose, here’s how the main options compare, starting with the ones you can realistically do as a day trip.

 

1. Isle of May, Firth of Forth

With over 50,000 breeding pairs, the Isle of May is the largest puffin colony on Scotland’s east coast, and numbers have been growing. The island is a NatureScot national nature reserve, and for anyone based in or near Edinburgh it’s the realistic answer to “where’s best”: the landing trip from North Berwick gives you around three hours ashore in the middle of it all. You can also sail to the island from Anstruther in Fife on the May Princess.

 

2. Craigleith and Fidra, North Berwick

These are the islands you’ll pass on the North Berwick boat trips. Craigleith, just a kilometre offshore, once held one of the biggest colonies in the area, with a peak of around 28,000 pairs, before an invasive plant called tree mallow smothered the nesting burrows and numbers crashed to under 1,000. The Seabird Centre’s SOS Puffin project has been cutting the mallow back since 2007, and the puffins are recovering. Fidra, an RSPB reserve said to have inspired Treasure Island, was up to over 900 occupied burrows at the 2024 count.

 

3. Lunga, Treshnish Isles

Lunga is the puffin island of the west coast, reached by boat tour from Mull or Oban, and home to several thousand pairs. We’ve seen puffins here too, and it has a deserved reputation for close encounters, as the puffins are famously relaxed about people. If your Scotland trip heads west rather than east, this is the one to aim for.

 

4. St Kilda

The biggest of them all, with around 130,000 breeding pairs, roughly 30% of the UK’s puffins. The archipelago sits 41 miles west of Benbecula in the Outer Hebrides and is cared for by the National Trust for Scotland. Be clear about what a visit involves though: day trips are long, weather-dependent boat crossings from Skye or Harris, and they aren’t cheap. It’s an expedition rather than a day out, and one we haven’t done ourselves yet.

 

5. Hermaness, Unst, Shetland

Over 20,000 pairs at the top of Britain’s most northerly inhabited island, in a NatureScot national nature reserve overlooking the Muckle Flugga lighthouse. You’ll need to get to Shetland first, so it only makes sense as part of a bigger northern trip, but the reward is that you can watch the puffins from the clifftops here, no boat required.

 

6. Handa Island, Sutherland

Handa is a Scottish Wildlife Trust reserve off the north west coast near Scourie, and a caveat from experience: it’s one of the great seabird islands, with around 200,000 birds in season, but only a couple of hundred pairs of puffins among them. We loved it for the guillemots, razorbills and great skuas rather than the puffins. Go for the spectacle, not for puffins alone.

Fowlsheugh, south of Aberdeen, and Sumburgh Head on Shetland are also reliable colonies, and both can be watched from land. For most visitors though, the choice is simple: if you’re near Edinburgh, do the Isle of May. If you’re heading west, do Lunga.

 

Practicalities for Visiting the Scottish Seabird Centre

 

Scottish Seabird Centre Prices and Opening Hours

The exhibition at the Scottish Seabird Centre is now called the Discovery Experience, and it’s open year round. As of July 2026, adult admission is £13.50, children aged 3 to 15 are £9 (under 3s free), concessions are £11.25, and a family ticket for two adults and two children is £38.50. Members go free.

Opening hours vary by season: 10am to 6pm from April to August, 10am to 5pm in February, March, September and October, and 10am to 4pm from November to January, with last entry an hour before closing. The Seabird Café and the gift shop are free to enter, so you can drop in for the harbour view without a ticket. New for 2026, the Discovery Experience also has 360° cameras streaming live from the Bass Rock. For the latest details, see the Seabird Centre website.

Boat trips run from roughly late March to early October and are priced separately (see the comparison table above). The old combined centre-and-boat discount no longer exists, but two savings still apply: a same-day train ticket to North Berwick gets you 20% off Discovery Experience admission, and members get 10% off boat trips.

If you’re driving, parking near the centre is pay and display (£3.50 for the first hour, £10 for the day), and free from the start of October to the end of February.

 

Camera tips

If you’re keen on getting some great photos of seabirds, here are some tips to help you out, covering gear to take and general advice on getting the best shots.

• I took two full frame camera bodies with me on both trips, one equipped with a wide angle lens (17-40mm) and one equipped with a telephoto (70-200mm). For the Isle of May landing, I also took a 2x teleconvertor, giving me an equivalent 140-400mm lens. I used the telephoto lens far more, and just used the wide angle for the shots of the islands and us on the boat, although it did come in useful for capturing the drama that is the Bass Rock up close.
• I would definitely suggest that you take a camera with as long a zoom as you have, because seabirds are quite small and unless you are very lucky, you won’t be closer than 10 – 20 metres to them. Most of the puffin shots in this post are cropped from the original to focus more on the puffin, and having more zoom can save you from losing resolution in crops.
• If you don’t do one of the island landing trips, you’re going to be shooting from a rolling boat. Whilst the boat does slow down and occasionally stop, the sea is always going to be moving, so you’ll want to shoot at a relatively high shutter speed and do your best to hold your camera as still as you can.
• If you are doing a landing trip, you might want to bring a monopod to support your lens. You will also get quite close to the puffins compared to a boat safari, and many people visiting were happy with the photos they were getting from their compact cameras. So definitely don’t leave your camera behind if you have one – you don’t need an ultra long zoom or top of the range SLR camera to get good photos on the Isle of May!
• The sea environment is also, obviously, a rather wet place. I’d highly recommend having a waterproof bag of some description to stow your camera equipment in, and to put it away during the periods of travel between the islands. Even if it’s a calm, dry day, spray can be picked up and get your gear wet. We had a fairly grey day with moderate seas for our RIB safari, and we didn’t get particularly wet, but I was glad to have my camera bag nonetheless.
• Don’t forget, if you’re looking for camera gear recommendations, we have a full list of what we travel with, as well as a guide to choosing a travel camera to help you out! And if you’d like to improve your bird and wildlife photos more generally, my online travel photography course covers wildlife and action photography in detail.

 

Getting to the Scottish Seabird Centre

The Scottish Seabird Centre is in North Berwick, which is around 25 miles east of Edinburgh, or 100 miles north of Newcastle Upon Tyne. Obviously you can reach it by car, and there is car parking available in North Berwick for visitors.

It’s also easy to reach by public transport from Edinburgh. The fastest option is the direct train service from Edinburgh to North Berwick with ScotRail, which takes around 30 to 35 minutes. There are also a number of buses you can take. If you take the train, hold on to your ticket – a same-day train ticket currently gets you 20% off admission to the Discovery Experience.

 

More Things to Do Near North Berwick

North Berwick is an easy day trip from Edinburgh, but there’s enough nearby to fill a longer stay. These are the places I’ve recommended to readers before:

The National Museum of Flight at East Fortune is excellent, and home to Concorde G-BOAA, which you can board. Tickets are from £15, and in winter it opens on weekends only, so check ahead.

Tantallon Castle sits on the clifftops just along the coast, staring straight out at the Bass Rock. If you photograph one castle in East Lothian, make it this one. It’s open daily, though at the time of writing the east tower, doocot and vaults are closed for masonry work, so it’s worth checking the access details before you go.

Inland, the Glenkinchie Distillery is the closest of the classic lowland malt distilleries to Edinburgh, an easy add-on if that style appeals. And the National Mining Museum Scotland at Newtongrange is really good if industrial history is your thing.

 

Frequently Asked Questions

 

Can You See Puffins at North Berwick Without a Boat Trip?

Not really, no. The puffins nest on Craigleith and Fidra, and even Craigleith, the closest island, is a kilometre offshore, which is too far to pick out a bird the size of a puffin with the naked eye.

The Scottish Seabird Centre has telescopes and live island cameras (including new 360° Bass Rock cams for 2026), which is the best no-boat option and a good rainy-day fallback with kids. For photos, or the full surrounded-by-seabirds experience, you’ll want to be on a boat.

 

What Is the Best Month to See Puffins at North Berwick?

June and July. That’s when the adults are feeding chicks, so the air is full of puffins coming and going with beaks full of sand eels, which is exactly the photo everyone wants.

The wider season runs April to July. By mid-August the puffins have left for the open sea, and you won’t see them again until the following spring.

 

How Far in Advance Should You Book a Puffin Boat Trip?

For the Isle of May Landing Trip, book as soon as your dates are fixed. When a reader asked us about this one February, some June landing dates had already sold out. A few weeks ahead is cutting it fine for June and July.

The Seafari and catamaran trips have more capacity and more departures, so a week or two ahead is usually fine outside school holidays. All trips are weather dependent, so build in a fallback day if puffins are the main event of your trip.

 

Is the Scottish Seabird Centre Worth Visiting?

Yes, especially before a boat trip or with children. The Discovery Experience (£13.50 for adults) is well done, with interactive exhibits and live cameras on the islands, and it gives you a much better idea of what you’re looking at once you’re out on the water.

If your time in North Berwick is short, prioritise the boat. The café and gift shop are free to enter, and the view over the harbour from the centre is lovely.

 

Are There Puffins on the Bass Rock?

The Bass Rock is the gannet island. It holds the world’s largest single-rock colony of northern gannets, while the puffins prefer the grassy nesting burrows of Craigleith and Fidra nearby.

The good news is you don’t have to choose: the Three Islands Seabird Seafari passes both, so you get puffins at Craigleith and the full gannet spectacle at the Bass Rock in one 75-minute trip.

 

Which Island Near North Berwick Has the Most Puffins?

Craigleith, historically. It peaked at around 28,000 pairs before an invasive plant called tree mallow smothered the nesting burrows and crashed the colony to under 1,000 pairs.

The Seabird Centre’s SOS Puffin project has been cutting back the mallow since 2007, and the colony is steadily recovering, with neighbouring Fidra (over 900 occupied burrows in 2024) rebuilding too. You’ll see puffins around both islands on any of the summer boat trips.

 

Where Is the Best Place to See Puffins in Scotland?

For most visitors, the Isle of May. It has over 50,000 breeding pairs, the largest colony on Scotland’s east coast, and you can reach it as a day trip from Edinburgh via North Berwick, with around three hours ashore among the puffins.

St Kilda has the UK’s largest colony at around 130,000 pairs, but getting there is an expedition, with long, weather-dependent crossings. On the west coast, Lunga in the Treshnish Isles is the best boat-trip option, reached from Mull or Oban.

 

Further Reading

That pretty much sums up our experience and guide to visiting the Scottish Seabird Centre in North Berwick, Scotland. Before we leave you though, we wanted to point you in the direction of some of our other Scotland and UK resources that you might find useful if you’re planning a trip here.

• For Edinburgh, check out our Edinburgh content, including A two day Edinburgh itinerary, 21 Highlights in Edinburgh, Getting off the beaten path in Edinburgh and a Guide to Harry Potter locations in Edinburgh
• If you head south of Edinburgh, don’t miss our Guide to Touring the Scottish Borders
• For Glasgow, we have A Two Day Glasgow and Loch Lomond itinerary, as well as this detailed Guide to Glasgow Attractions
• Heading further north in Scotland? Check out our definitive guide to the Best Photography Locations on the North Coast 500, as well as Where to Stay on the North Coast 500
• If you like to travel with a paper guidebook, the Rick Steves Scotland guide is the one we usually recommend for Scotland trips
• If you’re visiting London, take a look at our Two Day London Itinerary, our guide to the Best Photography Locations in London and our Tips on Buying and Using the London Pass
• Finally, for UK wide planning, we have both a Two Week UK Itinerary and a One Week UK itinerary to help with your trip!

And that’s it! We hope you enjoyed our post. As always, if you have any questions or comments on any of the above, don’t hesitate to let us know, either from our contact page or in the comments below. Safe travels!

So you know: The Scottish Seabird Centre provided us with complimentary tickets for both the boat ride and our visit to the discovery centre, in exchange for us sharing our thoughts. As always, opinions remain our own – check out our Code of Ethics for more information on how we partner with folks and what that means.