During our trip planning, I saw a picture taken at Skellig Michael (aka Great Skellig) and thought "I want to go there!" This Irish Island provides the backdrop for the last scene of Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
Boat tours from Portmagee need to be booked ahead of time and offer two choices: the tours around the islands run April to October (weather and sea conditions permitting), and the boat landing trips run mid-May to October (weather and sea conditions permitting). As of this post, I've just learned the disappointing news that we will NOT be able to take this tour since we will have left Ireland by the time the first tours of the season begin (May 12, 2017).
Cynthia Cronan Wood, a previous traveler to Ireland, shared the following Skellig Michael experience in a Facebook group:
"My sister's one thing she absolutely wanted to do in Ireland was the [Skellig Michael] landing tour. We neglected to book months in advance. Well, they had no vacancies, so we got on a list for a cancellation, then got the confirmation for that date several weeks out. It was the end of Sept, the last of the year's trips. We had been emailed that we could pay the morning of the trip.
Then it got convoluted.
They emailed us the day before the trip giving us a few hours to confirm. With no Internet until we got to a night's stay with WiFi, there was no way to confirm, nor had I been told it was a requirement.
I then emailed back that we were confirmed and that we WERE going to be on the boat.
We spent the night near Portmagee, arrived early. Every morning the boat makes a run out to check the conditions and determine if they will be making the trip.
There had been a lot of boat cancellations during Sept.because of unfavorable conditions, but our trip was a go.
We had taken Bonine (like Dramamine). The rollers were 10-12 feet. We donned plastic ponchos. The Captain quartered the waves to minimize the action of the swells, but up we went to the top of one swell and down to the bottom of the next, while the world disappeared into a wall of water. Water sprayed us as we bottomed out.
One fellow was ill, my sister had her Irish on, which meant she was green around the gills.The normal 30 minute trip took 1 1/2 hours.
When we clamored on the concrete steps from the rise and fall of the boat, my sis found a solid concrete pad to lie upon in an attempt to quell the motion in her head and stomach.
With prodding, she finally found her feet and we begin the walk and climb.
Our walking sticks (a ski pole each) assisted us.
The climb was not arduous, just a cautious awareness of each step, a special awareness of the edge, a careful courteous step aside for those descending.
We wore lightweight hiking boots,a backpack with our collapsible water bottles, snacks, Kleenex and a plastic bag in case we really, really could not wait. (Delicate subject but nature sometimes calls.) Our jackets, and my jeans, as I had leggings underneath, we shed and left waiting for us along the lower walkway for the day was warm and sunny.
We learned 2 Americans had fallen to their death not too very long ago. While we stopped to take photos on the way up; that news kept our attention on every step on the descent.
The view is magnificent, the top of the world, the craggy peaks, the monk's settlement, the stone beehive huts, the ethereal wonder of it all is an astounding experience.
In a heartbeat would I return! As would my sister if there were but a trip by helicopter to land upon the helipad there. Most likely how my old school chum Luke Skywalker arrived for filming the latest Star Wars.
If you have the opportunity, do not pass it by, for sometimes we have but one chance to be so close to heaven."
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