Skomer Island Hostel Booking

In 2025, the boat crossing is £20 per adult and £15 for child (price includes both ways).

New this year, you must pay your hostel boat in advance of your stay. Once your stay is confirmed, you can do this here.

The Puffins come and go in April as they establish their breeding areas. They are on island May-July and the first Puffins will start to leave in mid-July. The last ones will have left by the end of July.

In 2025, changeover days between April and mid-August are on Saturdays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays. This means guests are able to stay with us for two or three nights at a time.  We cannot make allowances for additional changeover days.

Between mid-August and the end of September, we have a variety of length stays around our events - please contact our bookings team to ask about these.

Boats usually depart at 9am, however times can change with weather conditions.

We ask that you call our Visitor Officer on 07530 796150 the day before your visit between 12pm and 5pm to confirm that your boat is running and the time of your departure. Please note boats will only run in favourable weather conditions - we have to take the boat crew call on this.

The boat back to the mainland will normally get you back for around 9.30am.

We are committed to making Skomer Island as inclusive as we can. We want as many people as possible to be able to experience the wonders of our wildlife-packed island. Find our full EDI and Accessibility page here:

Accessibility & Inclusivity on Skomer Island

Points for overnight guests:

• Whilst we take every care to make Skomer as physically accessible as possible, the 87 steps upon arrival and thin paths around the island make it impossible for wheelchair users to visit. Lifts are available for hostel guests upon arrival to the island but please do ask in advance.

• All our toilet and bathroom facilities, for both day visitors and overnight guests, are gender-neutral. 

• Our island team are Welsh learners and incorporate Welsh into their welcome talks. Look out for their learner pins when you visit, and please do strike up a conversation with them.

• If you are deaf or hard of hearing, you can now book hostel visits over email rather than the phone. For guests staying in our hostel, we have Deafguards available.

If you or a person in your group require an adjustment to make your time with us more enjoyable, please do contact our Skomer Island Visitor Officer, skomer.vo@welshwildlife.org.

Bags must be under 15kg as we’ve seen a big increase in recent years. If your bag is oversized, it will be left at the bottom for you to unpack to a suitable weight. We are legally bound to protect our staff, volunteers and visitors from injury and oversized bags can cause problems. We always prefer several small bags to one large one!

Please note that where we have too many bags for the dumper, some may need to be carried.

Skomer is of international importance due to its populations of breeding seabirds. The absence of rats, mink, stoats and other ground predators allows ground-nesting birds like Manx Shearwaters and Atlantic Puffins to thrive. If rats were introduced to the island, even accidentally, they would decimate our seabird populations. This has happened on islands around the world.

- All luggage must be closed - unsealed luggage, including open bags and carrier bags will not be permitted to land.

- Pack all luggage yourself in a rodent-free environment and please ensure no rodent has accessed to your luggage before boarding.

- Do not leave your luggage unattended in Martin’s Haven to ensure rodents cannot enter your bags. 

- Do not bring anything that might present a threat onto the island. This includes plants with root balls and compost including potted herbs, seeds etc.

The photo below shows a box correctly taped up, a rucksack zipped up and a plastic crate closed securely.

Every evening the Skomer Team host ‘Bird Log’, where guests have the opportunity to discuss their wildlife sightings, hear from experts and contribute to a dataset dating back to the 1950s.  

Alternatively, if you do not wish to socialise, you will have the whole island to yourself to enjoy a spectacular sunset before thousands of Manx shearwaters fly in and fill the night sky with their calls.

You will be staying in a converted farm building nestled at the very heart of the island. Given our remoteness and off-grid nature, the hostel is fairly basic but has everything you need for the duration of your stay. It sleeps up to 16 guests and there are options to book a bunk or a private room.

Kitchen

The shared kitchen has two gas ovens (complete with nine hobs, two grills, and three main ovens), a large fridge, and two sinks (with drinking water). In various cupboards you'll find all crockery, cutlery, pots and pans. Remember, you will need to bring enough food for the duration of your stay.

Bathrooms

There are two shared bathrooms in the Hostel - complete with shower, sink, and flushing toilet.

Lounge

Our spacious lounge doubles up as a dining room. Here you'll also find a comfortable sofa, and a log burner - perfect to curl up in front of on a chilly evening!

Bedrooms

All beds are single beds (though some are bunk beds) and you will need to remember your bedding. Please note there is no heating on Skomer, so we would recommend bringing a hot water bottle and extra layers in the colder months (blankets are provided).

By Car

Please follow Satnav directions to West Hook Farm or SA62 3BJ From Haverfordwest, follow Dale Road (B4327) for just over 10 miles, before following signs on to Gay Lane in Marloes (20mph). Stay on the main road through the village and continue west for 1.5 miles. Please be aware that this road is windy and uses passing places. West Hook Farm (where we recommend you park - please see page 8) is on the right after 1.5 miles (look for the puffin gate posts). To take your belongings to the jetty, stay on the road (it becomes narrow and steep towards the beach so go as far as you feel comfortable).

By Public Transport

The nearest train stations are Milford Haven and Haverfordwest. Taxi Services are available and will cost approximately £22-£25 from Milford Haven area and £35 from Haverfordwest. The 400 Puffin Shuttle is coastal route that runs between our departure point in Martin’s Haven & St Davids. This route operates daily from 25th May to 29th September 2024. You can find a list of all Pembrokeshire bus routes here.

Fflecsi Pembrokeshire is an on demand bus transport service operating in north west and south west Pembrokeshire.

Fflecsi operates across the peninsula linking the coast with Haverfordwest and Milford Haven. The service is available anytime between 7.30am and 6.30pm (Monday to Saturday). Customers can book by downloading the Fflecsi App from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store. Alternatively you can book by phoning 0300 234 0300 (Monday-Saturday: 7am-7pm and Sunday: 9am-6pm). Visit the Fflecsi website for more information.

We would recommend booking your car into West Hook Farm (01646 636424 | SA62 3BJ).

We advise dropping your bags down at the beach before parking at West Hook - you are welcome to drive as far down the road as you feel comfortable (turning round is a little tight).

Remember, your bags must be attended at all times for biosecurity purposes.

Unfortunately, no dogs are allowed on the island at any time. This also applies to assistance dogs. This is because the island has over 750,000 ground nesting seabirds who would be heavily disturbed by the presence of any dogs. Please see our accessibility page for measures in place for visitors who are blind or partially sighted: https://www.welshwildlife.org/accessibility-inclusivity-skomer-island.

Throughout the season there will be times where the boats to Skomer are cancelled because of adverse weather conditions. For overnight guests this may mean shortening, extending, or cancelling your stay. We would recommend guests allow a couple of days breathing room either side of their trip (i.e. please do not book an international flight or wedding the day after you are due to leave).

We will update you as soon as we have information about bad weather, but in the meantime you can keep up to date with whether day boats are running on the Skomer Boat Twitter Feed. 

Please note that if we cancel your booking due to weather, you will receive a full refund. If we have to cut it short, you will be refunded for each night missed. As per our T&Cs (given to you by the bookings team when you book), a £30/person/night charge is added for every additional night you are stuck on Skomer.

No refund if guest cancels within 14 days.

50% refund if guest cancels within 56-14 days.

100% refund if guest cancelled over 56 days minus £50 booking deposit.

Please contact the bookings team for full details.

Where we cancel bookings because of weather conditions, a full refund will be given.

Please see the below document for useful local contacts.