Trip Planner: Europe / UK / Scotland / Scottish Highlands / Caithness and Sutherland / Durness / Smoo Cave

Smoo Cave, Durness

4.5

#1 of 11 in Nature in Caithness and Sutherland

Cave · Nature / Park

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Easily accessible, Smoo Cave has the largest entrance of any sea cave in the British Isles. Its vast interior is floodlit, and you can even explore the innermost depths by boat. Travel to the cave by a steep track down to the inlet where the seawater meets the river. Then, the entrance leads you into a large cavern in the lime stone cliffs. Check with local tour guides about boating and discovering more of the cave’s depths. The word Smoo is a Norse word "Sumvya" meaning creek or cleft. Recent excavations show that the cave was in use 6,000 years ago by the earliest settlers in the north. A visit to Smoo Cave represents just the start of the adventure when you use our Durness trip builder tool to plot your vacation.

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Tours to Smoo Cave

FROM $1,512 BOOK WITH VIATOR 8-Day Orkney, Hebrides and North Coast 500 Tour from Edinburgh 8-Day Orkney, Hebrides and North Coast 500 Tour from Edinburgh

5.0

Duration: 8 days

Tours from $1,512 ›

FROM $531 BOOK WITH VIATOR 3-Day North Coast 500 Small-Group Tour from Inverness 3-Day North Coast 500 Small-Group Tour from Inverness

5.0

Duration: 3 days

Tours from $531 ›

FROM $10,738 BOOK WITH VIATOR The Ultimate Scottish Road Trip The Ultimate Scottish Road Trip

Duration: 8 days

Tours from $10,738 ›

Smoo Cave reviews

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TripAdvisor traveler rating

1,218 reviews

Google

4.6

By John M

A great experience, you can’t book ahead as it’s all weather dependent and on the day we visited there was no tour due to heavy rain but still worth the trip and still lots to see.

A great experience, you can’t book ahead as it’s all weather dependent and on the day we visited there was no tour due to heavy rain but still worth the trip and still lots to see. more »
By TWal1

We enjoyed exploring Smoo Cave and it surrounds. The landscape is stunning. The main public chamber is impressive in size. We didn’t take the tour as they didn’t offer EFTPOS and we didn’t have cash..... more

We enjoyed exploring Smoo Cave and it surrounds. The landscape is stunning. The main public chamber is impressive in size. We didn’t take the tour as they didn’t offer EFTPOS and we didn’t have cash..... more »

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Google

By Madhu Durgadmath

A must visit! It's truly a mesmerizing cave and do not miss the boat ride. They give a tour inside the cave which can be reached only through a boat ride( Cash only). They give you a safety helmet and explain the history of the caves. If you are lucky, you will get to see the waterfall as well ( weather based).

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By Grace

Amazing waterfall with the cove and sea also. Beautiful scenery. Plenty of walking to get down, up and around. If you are wanting to just see the Cave and falls it's just straight down the steps. Dog friendly.

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