19th July 2026
Ahoy from our guides!
This week there’s been a real buzz amongst our crew as one of the Atlantic’s most spectacular predatory fish has once again returned to our Cornish waters. Every summer, for the last five or so years, around the end of July, Atlantic bluefin tuna have arrived off the coast of West Cornwall, and although we’ve come to expect their seasonal return, it’s no less exciting each year. Knowing these incredible fish are once again patrolling our coastline adds an extra layer of anticipation every time we head offshore.
Until relatively recently, sightings of Atlantic bluefin tuna around the UK had become very rare. Decades of overfishing throughout the Atlantic and Mediterranean caused populations to decline dramatically during the late twentieth century. Thanks to tighter international management, improved quotas and conservation measures, numbers have steadily recovered over the last decade, with west Cornwall now becoming one of the UK’s most reliable places to observe their seasonal return.
So why are they here?
Every summer, West Cornwall becomes an important feeding ground for bluefin tuna as large numbers of garfish and other bait fish gather in large shoals in our coastal waters. The garfish are long needle-like fish that form an important part of the tuna’s diet, and the abundance of this prey food makes our coastline an ideal place for these powerful hunters to feed before continuing their remarkable migrations.
Tuna are perfectly adapted for life on the move. Unlike most fish, they are partially warm-blooded, allowing them to keep their muscles warmer than the surrounding water. This gives them incredible speed, endurance and power, enabling them to undertake migrations of thousands of miles between spawning grounds in the Mediterranean and feeding areas throughout the North Atlantic. They can even reach speeds of over 40 miles per hour when pursuing prey!
As one of the largest predatory fish found in UK waters, bluefin tuna play an important role in maintaining healthy marine ecosystems. By feeding on fast-swimming fish such as garfish in huge quantities, they help maintain the balance of marine food webs and are a reminder of just how productive Cornwall’s seas can be.
Lauren, our new guide this year saw the tuna breaching for the first time this week! She said “This week I saw my first Atlantic bluefin tuna hunting at Lands’ End! It was amazing to see them up so close, I had heard how big they get but never expected to experience their sheer power! Just spectacular!”
Captain Jack’s sea state and weather report
What a week of beautiful conditions we’ve had! Although a spell of strong easterly winds meant we had to make a few adjustments to some of our trips, we’ve still been treated to plenty of sunshine and some fantastic days on the water. The good news is there’s more sunshine on the way this week!
Monday is shaping up to be the pick of the week, with glorious conditions before winds gradually build from the north-east. As the week progresses, they’ll back round to the north-west and could become a little fresher by mid-week. It’s still a little early for an exact forecast, but if the north coast becomes too lively, we’ll make the most of the shelter offered by Mount’s Bay. As always, we’ll be keeping a close eye on the conditions and choosing the best coastline for a safe and comfortable trip.
The north-easterly winds are actually good news for our Rounding Cornwall trips from Hayle to Penzance, so we’re hopeful we’ll be able to get those running on Monday and Tuesday before conditions become a little more changeable later in the week.
Looking ahead with Kat
With schools breaking up this week, we’re seeing bookings come in thick and fast — so if you’re planning to join us, please do book ahead as early as you can. There may still be the odd space popping up through the week, but don’t count on it!
It’s a great week on the water with a full mix of trips running — Godrevy, North Coast, Rounding Cornwall, Land’s End, and Mount’s Bay all on the schedule from both Hayle and Penzance.
One thing we’re noticing this week specifically — Hayle departures are going first. If a North Coast or Godrevy trip is on your list, jump on it sooner rather than later.
12th July 2026
Ahoy from our guides!
Wow. The last week has been a special one. With trips running on the north coast and the south coast, this week we have been treated to balmy waters, clear skies and of course lots and lots of spectacular wildlife. We had a few stand out trips this week, the first was a Rounding Cornwall trip headed from Penzance to Hayle and boy was it a goodun! Hundreds of common dolphins cruised alongside our rib (called the Guillemot), our guests were treated to an up close and personal view of these majestic mammals displaying their natural curiosity and playfulness.
It is well known that dolphins will come and cruise alongside marine vessels, but have you ever stopped to think about why they are so interactive? Well, there’s three elements to the answer, number 1) dolphins can save energy by travelling using the bow wave created at the front of a moving vessel, that means that they can expend more energy on other behaviours such as hunting and socialising. Number 2) When boats are stationary, they act as “fish aggregating devices” meaning fish shelter under the boat as a way of hiding from predators, but unfortunately for them, often become a dolphin’s dinner! And number 3) Dolphins have highly sophisticated brains, that means they likely experience playfulness, curiosity and social bonding in a similar way that humans do, so essentially, they are just having lots of fun!
That wasn’t the only special trip we had this week, on our North coast trip from Hayle to St Agnes we spotted our first Minke whale of the season! Minkes are one of our favourite megafaunal species to spot in west Cornwall, partly because they are so impressive and partly because they are much rarer to spot, so we’re lucky when we do! These whales are in the balaenoptera family meaning they have specialised baleen plates on their upper jaw which they use to filter small fish and krill from the water.
This week Zak said “Over the years working as guide for Coast, I have experienced many spectacular wildlife encounters, but there are some that stick with you for a very long time, this was unquestionably one of them. As we slowly and respectfully approached the huge feeding event, we saw up to six different seabird species, were treated to dolphins cooperatively hunting, and then finally a minke whale lunge feeding for its supper!”
Captain Jack’s sea state and weather report
As this high-pressure system tracks further north and a small low-pressure area develops to our south, we’ll get a strengthening easterly airflow pushing down the south coast. By Tuesday evening this should have blown itself out, leaving us with light winds and a settled sea state.
We often find that easterly winds quieten down the feeding of megafauna, but once they pass and winds track in from the west, the bay starts popping with activity. This past week has marked the first proper feeding events of the season — large bait balls, huge numbers of dolphins, porpoise, and minke whales. The season of bait ball feeding has been a little delayed this year, but man, it’s popping off now!
Looking ahead with Kat
This week we move into our spring tides schedule, which means we’ll be running exclusively out of Penzance on our two-hour Land’s End trip. No Hayle departures until Sunday 19th, when we’ll also be back rounding Cornwall again.
If you haven’t done the Land’s End trip before, it’s one of our best sellers for good reason — it covers some of the most dramatic coastline in Cornwall and takes in the waters where we get the majority of our wildlife sightings. A great week to join us.
We also have Golden Hour trips available on Monday, Thursday, and Saturday this week — these are always something a little special, so worth grabbing if you can make one of those dates work.
July 5th 2026
Ahoy from our guides!
If you’ve joined one of our Golden Hour trips, you may have noticed that the bay often seems to become even busier as the evening draws in. While the warm light and calm seas make for spectacular scenery, there’s also a fascinating ecological process taking place beneath the surface.
As daylight begins to fade, billions of tiny marine organisms start a journey known as diel vertical migration. During the day these small animals remain in deeper, darker water where they are less visible to predators. As the sun sets, they migrate upwards towards the surface to feed on microscopic algae under the cover of darkness.
This nightly movement forms the foundation of a feeding chain throughout the bay. Small fish follow zooplankton towards the surface, creating dense shoals that in turn attract larger predators including mackerel, seabirds, seals and, if we’re lucky, dolphins. It means that as the sun begins to set, the surface of the sea can become a hive of activity, with wildlife taking advantage of this temporary abundance of food.
One of the most exciting spectacles to witness is the teamwork between different species during these feeding events. Dolphins may work together to herd shoals of fish into tightly packed bait balls, making them easier to catch, while gannets and shearwaters gather overhead, diving into the same schools from above. These moments offer a wonderful reminder that every species, from microscopic plankton to top predators, plays an important role in maintaining the health of our marine ecosystems.
Our Golden Hour trips provide the perfect opportunity to experience this changing rhythm of the sea. Combined with calmer conditions, beautiful evening light and fewer boats on the water, it’s easy to see why this has become one of our favourite trips of the week.
This week Zak guided one of our Golden hour trip’s, “first golden hour trip of 2026, was certainly golden. We were treated to a beautiful sunset. After searching for a good while, we eventually found dolphins in the inner bay, cruising alongside our boat in the last moments of daylight. Stunning!”
Captain Jack’s weather report for the week ahead:
High pressure just parked right on top of us through the first half of the week. Drifting south west into the Bay of Biscay then back again — keeping the airflow west to north west the whole time.
Sunshine without getting stinking hot, slight breeze, calm seas. Yep. Perfect.
If I was prime minister I’d definitely get the kids out of school for this
Who’s coming out?
Kat’s top tips for the week ahead!
Peak Season is Here , Don’t Wait to Book!
Peak season has well and truly arrived, and we can feel it — trips are filling up fast and the booking flow has shifted up a gear.
With beautiful conditions on the water this week, we’re running our full range including Rounding Cornwall, Godrevy to Hell’s Mouth, North Coast and Land’s End — and seats are going quickly. If you’ve been thinking about it, now is the time to lock in your spot.
The good news? You’ve always got flexibility — if your plans change you can cancel or reschedule up to 48 hours before your trip, so there’s really no reason to wait.
Get in quick while the sun’s out and the seas are kind!
28th June 2026
Ahoy from our guides!
Felt the heat last week? So did we at Coast Boat Trips! Last week the UK saw record breaking temperatures of up to 36 degrees! Lucky for us in Cornwall we were more than 8 degrees cooler than some other areas in the UK! But why..?
The location of our little peninsular is further from mainland Europe than the rest of the UK and we’re surrounded by the ocean, protecting us from the scorching sun! Did you know that the world’s oceans help to regulate air temperatures by absorbing massive amounts of atmospheric heat (up to 90%!) and slowly releases it over time?
While It’s too early to know what the effect of the heatwave will have on our marine life (there’s usually a lag time!), the long daylight hours have now peaked and our Cornish seas are teaming with life. This week saw the comeback of larger pods of common dolphin travelling hundreds of miles each year from the Bay of Biscay and elsewhere in the Atlantic. The dolphins are here to feed on bait fish that form tight shimmering shoals, and this week we have been lucky enough to watch huge pods work together to catch dinner!
We are also excited to be regularly seeing our Risso’s dolphins! One of our guide’s Lauren said “This week was an extra special one for me. After 2 months of working with coast, I finally encountered the infamous Risso’s dolphins that I have been hearing so much about! Slow in their initial approach, one or two revealed themselves at a time and then periodically disappear, but we were patient, trusting in our understanding of their behaviour. Before we knew it, we were surrounded and our patience was rewarded with a splendid display of the 3-metre long Risso’s launching themselves entirely out of the water!”.
Our veteran guide Zak also had a great week, “One of my highlights was looking up at botallack from the water as the foggy Cornish mist rolled amongst the engine houses. It looked very mystical! We also had a surprise viewing of a pair of puffins at cape Cornwall, a bird we usually only see in bad weather, not usually during a heatwave!”
Captain Jack’s weather report for the week ahead:
Looking ahead, the Azores High (a high-pressure system that hovers over the North Atlantc), is pushing north into the Bay of Biscay while a string of small low-pressure systems tracks to our northwest, bringing shifting winds backing from northwest to south and back again as each system passes. The high pressure looks to be keeping the low pressure far enough away for a largely sunny week with just the odd spell of changeable conditions.
This week we will see a consistent low-level groundswell from the West-North-West throughout the week and shifting winds plus large tides towards the end of the week will bring slight conditions. With access to both coastlines, we’re confident the week will shape up to be a comfortable on the water, especially for trips heading out this this weekend!
Keep an eye on your emails if you’re heading out with us! We work tirelessly to put you in the right place for whatever the day’s conditions bring, but all in all, a lovely week ahead!
Kat’s top tips for the week ahead!
It looks to be a good week ahead, here’s what’s running and where spaces are still available.
All week we’ll be running Land’s End trips out of Penzance, and the conditions are still looking great for getting out on the water just a little less sun until the weekend.
We’re running our first Golden Hour trip of the year this Thursday at 7pm, we’re so excited to be out on the water in the late evening again, it’s a brilliant time to see wildlife and the views are incredible!
Saturday we’re back rounding the full Cornish cape with our Rounding Cornwall trip, and the sunshine is returning too! Spaces are already filling up fast, so don’t leave it too late.
