My DH and I and another couple will be traveling to Ireland between Oct. 3-12. According to the itinerary that we have so far, we would go to Skellig Michael by boat around Oct. 10th. It seems that many operators to the island stop in Sept. I have only been able to get in touch with one company that may go, depending on the weather. Can anyone tell me, based on their experiences or opinions, what the chances are of successfully going in Oct.? Or can anyone recommend a boat company that will be offering service in Oct.? We may want to change our itinerary, since we want to go to Dingle as well as ROK, but don't really have the time to do both well. Thanks for any advice!
Kathi

We went to Skellig Michael in August of 2005, it was absolutely amazing. It really is one of the most extraordinary places on the planet. Don't miss it!!

We went with one of the boats operated by Des Lavelle from Portmagee, but I found a list of boat operators to try:
http://www.skelligexperience.com/skellig-boats.html

I hate to thread jack, but should I be making reservations for Skellig Michael in advance (we'll be there in August) or when I get there? We'll have a week in the area and I know they need a certain kind of weather to go. Also, Susan, when you were there did you see Puffins or was it too late?

We saw the puffins, the island seemed to be covered with them, and they were incredibly cute. Just checked on my dates, it was late July rather than August.

I booked the boat trip via email and then phoned them to confirm the day before (we stayed in Waterville). The weather was beautiful in the morning we went but by afternoon a heavy fog covered the island and the return journey was a bit rougher. My friend was quiet sea sick.

We gave ourselves a 3 day window to do the trip, in case of bad weather, but ended up going the first day and then used the other days to explore different sections of the Ring of Kerry.

Thanks so much for the info. I will do the same then--book the trip via email for the first day we're there and then we have options if the weather is bad. Thread-jack over!

There is absolutely no way to predict the weather in Ireland especially in October. As was pointed out, Skellig Michael is one of the most amazing places you can visit in Ireland but if the seas area little rough, they will be very rough going out to the rock.

If you need to predecide on what you will be doing, Dingle is the better bet as there will be more options if the weather is not very good. If you can play it by ear, Skellig is wonderful.

Bill

Thanks for the help. Looks like the best thing to do is to wait and see. And pray for good weather! Kathi