Thoughtsofanidlemind.com Website Review

county Kerry, Ireland. The reason why you want to go to Skellig Michael is to visit the well-preserved monastic settlement built 600 feet above sea level. And of course, if you’re a Star Wars fan, to see the locations evidence on Skellig Michael will be those who dress in the part during their visit. The route out to the Skelligs is via boats licensed by the Irish Office of Public Works (OPW), which travel from places like Portmagee from May to October. Even if you book with a licensed operator, the vagaries of the weather mean that you can never be sure that you’ll get to the island. The OPW might close the island if the weather is too severe and boats will not go across if the sea conditions are too Typical boat used to travel to Skellig Michael. Note the swell – and this is on a day with little wind. In our case, we were lucky to travel on a day between two bad days. Even so, the conditions varied enormously from clarity in Portmagee through a transit in a sea mist with visibility down to 50 meters before we landed. During the two and a half hours allocated on the island, the mist gradually cleared but never disappeared totally. The ride back was in bright sunshine and some on the boat were sunburnt A variety of operators are available. Among the questions you might ask before you commit to one are: seasickness. We took 75 minutes on the outward leg and a little longer on the return. The extra time was accounted for by a visit to Skellig Bheag (“little Skellig”), an uninhabited twin of Skellig Michael where landings are not allowed. Skellig Bheag supports a colony of of EUR20 each online via credit card to reserve the trip, but then had to pay the balance in cash on the boat. The ticket mentioned this point, but it’s easy to forget to have EUR80 each after you make a booking many months in advance. There is no ATM available in Portmagee Overall, you should expect to spend about six hours travelling to and from Skellig Michael and the time on the island.