Skerries

• Shipwrecks. There are three well-known 17th & 18th century wreck sites around Skerries which are popular with divers. (Permission must be sought before diving.)

• Being the first landfall for birds migrating westwards, making it the bird watcher’s place to be in spring and autumn. There is also resident birdlife as well as otters and seals.

• Wild flowers are abundant in the summer months, with sea pinks carpeting the cliff tops and alpine and meadow flowers giving colour to the fields and road verges.

• Ling Beach near the pier on Bruray was artificially constructed for the purpose of drying fish and was a busy place in the heydey of the haaf-fishing era.

• Smuggling was once a useful source of additional income, and the caves and inlets were handy for storing all kinds of contraband. Skerries’ far-flung easterly position made it a handy landing point for smugglers from Scandinavia and the Netherlands.

• Bruray is sheltered from the south by the now uninhabited Isle of Grunay where a Canadian bomber crashed during World War II.

Check out the following accommodation listings to book your stay.

Visit Scotland accommodation

You can find some additional information about Skerries at the links below

Promote Shetland

Heritage Shetland leaflet