Yell tide times

Yell is the second-largest island in Shetland and, by one measure, the least celebrated — a rolling moorland interior drained by peat bogs, with a coastline of voes (sheltered fjord-like inlets), beaches, and headlands facing some of the most exposed water in the British Isles. The island is reached by ferry from Toft on the Shetland Mainland — a 20-minute crossing across Yell Sound — and serves as the transit route to Unst, the most northerly inhabited island in the United Kingdom, reached by further ferry from Gutcher on Yell's north coast. The two ferry crossings are themselves part of the experience for anyone heading to Unst: they cross Yell Sound and Bluemull Sound, two of the more energetic tidal passages in Shetland.

Bluemull Sound, between Yell and Unst to the north, runs at 4 to 5 knots at peak spring tides — a consistent tidal race that has drawn the interest of marine renewable energy developers and that requires respect from small craft and kayakers. Yell Sound, between Yell and the Mainland, is broader but also carries a significant tidal stream, particularly through the narrows at the Toft-Ulsta ferry route. The inter-tidal zone of the voes is where Yell's most celebrated wildlife is encountered.

European otters (Lutra lutra) are not rare here — they are common. The Shetland otter population is one of the densest in Europe, and Yell's voes with their rich inter-tidal invertebrate communities — crabs, butterfish, blennies, eels — provide ideal hunting habitat. Otters on Yell can be watched from the roadside at dusk and dawn at several well-known voe locations; they hunt in the rocky inter-tidal zone and haul out on seaweed-covered rocks.

The best viewing is from mid-tide rising to high water, when the otters work the newly submerged rock gardens at the voe edges. Great skuas — bonxies in Shetland dialect — nest on the moorland of Yell and are conspicuous from April through July when they defend their territories aggressively. Walkers crossing the moorland during the nesting season should expect to be dive-bombed; a raised arm or stick deters attack.

Bonxies are the largest of the skua family and are impressive aerial predators — they harry other seabirds in flight to force regurgitation of food, and they have been recorded taking small gannets. The beach at Breckon on the northwest coast of Yell is one of the finest and least-visited beaches in Shetland: a bay of pale sand backed by machair with Atlantic views to the northwest. Conditions here are fully exposed to Atlantic swell from the northwest and are suitable for walking and photography rather than swimming except in the calmest summer weather.

The cliffs at the Herra Peninsula on the west coast drop to deep water and hold small seabird colonies. The Mid Yell voe is the island's main settlement area, with the ferry terminal at Ulsta on the south coast and Gutcher on the north coast. For photographers, Yell offers a combination of otter, bonxie, dramatic coastline, and the quality of northern light at high latitude that is difficult to find elsewhere in Britain.

The island receives little tourist traffic relative to Unst (which draws people to Muckle Flugga lighthouse and the northernmost point), and its quiet character is part of the appeal. Predictions on this page come from Open-Meteo Marine, a gridded global ocean model. 3 metres on height — model-derived, not from a local gauge.

The UK Hydrographic Office Admiralty charts 3292 and 3293 cover Yell Sound and Bluemull Sound respectively.