Your Visit to Smoo Cave

If it’s your first time visiting Smoo Cave, you’re in for a treat! This page will tell you everything you need to know, including what’s involved in the tour, and how to prepare.

Tour information

What to expect

Here are some maps of the cave’s layout. The tour begins in the main chamber, and from there, we can walk across the wooden walkway through to the lake (or waterfall) chamber, where you need to climb down some ladders to enter a river raft.

From there, I will take you across the waterfall section into the third chamber, where we get out of the boat and walk up a natural stream passage (using stepping stones where required) to reach the inlet sump.

Rather than follow the cave underwater, we then turn around and head back to the main chamber. Throughout the tour, you will learn all about the geological and human history of the cave.

The tour takes approximately 30 minutes.

Tour information

Accessibility

The tour begins in the main chamber and from there we can walk across the wooden walkway through to the Lake (or waterfall) Chamber where you need to climb down some ladders to enter a river raft. From there I take you around / across the lake chamber and into the ‘third section’ where we get out of the boat and walk up a natural stream passage (using stepping stones where required) to reach the inlet sump. Rather than follow the cave underwater, we then turn around and head back to the main chamber. Throughout this you will learn all about the geological and human history of the cave.

The site is owned and maintained by Highland Council who have provided the following public facilities along the cliff top:

How to prepare

To fully participate, suitable footwear for walking over rocky and uneven ground is strongly advised. You will be given protective headgear, which you must wear throughout the tour.

You will need to bring cash, as there is no signal in the cave to take card payments.

Unfortunately, we cannot offer advance bookings, as tours are entirely weather-dependent. Please visit our homepage to check if tours are running on the day of your visit.

Facilities

The site is owned and maintained by Highland Council which have provided the following public facilities along the cliff top:

Public toilets
Interpretation area
Viewing bridge
Car park
Coach park

Directions

The address is Smoo Cave, Durness, Lairg, IV27 4QA. Follow the below directions to make your way to the Cave.

Meet your guide!

Hi, I’m Fraser, and I’ll be guiding you around Smoo Cave. After a few years of travelling around the world, caving and surfing, I originally came to Durness to surf and fell in love with the village.

I soon met local caving legend Colin Coventry and started digging with him, looking for new caves in the area. I’m a member of the Grampian speleology group and a member of the Scottish cave rescue organisation. You can rest assured your safety in the cave is our number one priority, as there is no way I am being rescued by Scottish Cave Rescue as the embarrassment would be the end of me.

Smoo Cave is a beautiful place to visit, and if you’re lucky, you might see the aurora borealis or a deadly Scottish Piranha!