Cruising Area

Our base is ideally located near the east entrance side of the Caledonian Canal, just above Muirtown Lock Flight.  We are just 5 minutes from Inverness town centre and 25 minutes from Inverness Airport.  Our boat yard is both the pick up and return point (we are unfortunately not able to offer one way cruises).  The furthest point you can cruise to is Banavie, the turning point is at the top of Neptune's Staircase, just a few miles from the town of Fort William.

The canal system is about 60 miles in length and it takes around 3 days to cruise form one end to the other, it is therefore the ideal place to spend a week cruising. 22 miles of the waterway are man-made. The remaining 38 miles are made up of Loch Lochy, Loch Oich, Loch Ness and Loch Dochfour.

If you intend to cruise the full return trip from Inverness to Banavie and back, you will need a full 7 night cruise to achieve this.

For a 3 night cruise, the normal limit of cruising would be Fort Augustus prior to heading back to Inverness.  In a 4 night cruise you would usually be able to reach Loch Oich.

We are also pleased to offer 10, 11 & 14 night holiday options. Click here to find out more about where you can go and what you can see in a typical cruise.

The Caledonian Canal was engineered by the famous Scotsman, Thomas Telford, and completed in 1822 after 19 years of work. It was built at the time of the 'Highland Clearances' to create employment.
 

To view Caley Cruisers own Navigation Chart which shows all the mooring places for hire crafts and the approximate times it takes to sail between each Loch and section of canal, click on the link below. You can find further details of the attractions and activities, including places to eat, at each of the mooring places in the subcategories of this page (Cruising area).

Have a look at the Navigational chart:

Download the Caley Cruisers Navigational Chart here - 2.5 MB

This is the perfect place for a peaceful holiday, well away from the pressures of modern living. You have a choice of dozens of picturesque spots to moor for the night, to go ashore for a drink and meet with friendly locals or eat aboard to the soothing sounds of lapping water. 

You can see the clip of BBC's Coast programme featuring the Caledonian Canal if you click here and see some of the great things the Great Glen has to offer on this film from Scottish Canals.