SUP Safari Scotland Island of Yell and Lerwick

Arriving back on the island of Yell we decided to visit the Cullivoe Up Helly Aa exhibition. Not being able to visit the festival itself we were told that this is the next best thing. Up Helly Aa is an annual festival held in the Shetland islands where locals celebrate the year that has been. Humorous anecdotes are written in a proclaim action which is read prior to the ceremonial burning of the Viking ship.

After our visit to the exhibition we find a nice secluded bay and set up camp for the night. We hadn’t even turned off the engine when I spotted an otter doing some acrobatics in the water. Otters were one of the things I really wanted to see on our trip so this was pretty exciting.

As we were watching the otter I saw a splash far out in the water. A whale was slapping the water with its tail in what has been described as herding behaviour. What a display!! Check out our video if you’d like to see it.

Some of the Wildlife joining us on our SUP session

The next day was calm and the water was flat which was perfect for a paddle. As we paddled out we were joined by three curious seals. At first I wasn’t sure if our presence scared them but they seemed to be really interested in us and what we were doing. They are so cute the way they pop their heads up and down and then pretend they aren’t looking at you!!

Our time on Yell was fairly short and we returned to Mainland for a couple more days to catch the ferry back to Orkney, but not before having some excellent fish and chips and some delicious cake and coffe at the French cafe in Lerwick ‘C’est la Vie’