A coastal walk right around the low lying Heoga Ness, a popular spot for otters, and a visit to Ladies Hole, a dramatic semi-circle of high cliffs home to puffins and numerous other nesting seabirds.
Bog Factor
Easy coastal walking, pathless at times.
Burravoe pier and marina, Yell.
Bus to Burravoe; there is a stop at the school, less than 1km from the start.
HU525796
The walk starts from the pier and marina, signed for pier and campsite from the main settlement of Burravoe. Here there are toilets in a building which uses an old lifeboat from the Canberra as a roof. Start by heading through the gate on the left as you look out onto the marina, there is an information board here.
Follow the path along the edge of the voe and at the far end of the water continue along the shore to your right passing around the back of the remains of a methodist chapel built in 1827. Follow a grassy track along the south side of Burra Voe with a good view across to the castellated Manor House an unusual example of a merchant haa. If you have time before you leave Burra Voe, the old Haa which dates back 1672 and is a much earlier merchant's haa, it's open as a museum and tea room.
Continue following the shoreline as you round the headland of Outer Virdik look out for seals and otters. A pebble bank separates the Loch of Vatswick from the sea - stick to the inland side of the stones and then continue around the coast to the headland of Cumlins.
Another area of pebbly shingle is crossed before you reach Whal Wick, another good place to look for otters. Continue around the small headland and head inland along the south side of a deep inlet, the Geo of Gardins. Go through a gap in the stone wall to reach a gate and after that stay near the coast and head steeply uphill towards the fence.
Here there is an excellent view into Ladies Hole, home to a large collection of nesting seabirds including guilliemots, cormorants, razorbills, kittiwakes and puffins in burrows at the top of the cliffs.
It is possible to extend the walk by continuing uphill and along the coast to the dramatic Stack of the Horse with its natural sea arch and nearby caves, however this shorter route now returns back downhill and aims to the right to pick up the outward path back to the marina at the start.
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