Dolphin watching near Inverness

[roisin]

I've heard there are some good spots to go and look for dolphins from the coast.

Does anyone know a specific place to head for where we stand a good chance?

Fort George at Ardersier (Historic Scotland property) or Chanonry Point on the other side of the Firth, near Fortrose.

They come in really close, especially if the tides are right. I can never remember if it's the incoming or outgoing tide that's best, but there's a visitor centre just on the northern side of the Kessock bridge with very knowledgeable staff.

Mind you, we just turned up at Chanonry Point and within an hour we'd seen a mother dolphin and calf, not 50 yards from the shore. Absolutely breathtaking.

There are various dolphin spotting cruises, but do take care with these. Some of them go too close to the dolphins and they're causing real harm by disorientating them.

Thanks Twinklemegan. I'm really excited.

We saw a pod of dolphins on Mull one year, they stayed around in the bay for about 2 hours: it was magical. We weren't even looking for them, we'd gone to that spot looking for sea eagles.

Hope you're lucky enough to spot some dolphins. this company do boat trips and don't go too close to the dolphins