A very small, uninhabitable Scottish island – Rockall will soon be open to tourists. However, tours will only last for about 20 minutes and cost a whopping $2,000! In early May next year, 18 tourists and seven crew members will board a ship and set out to visit Rockall. It is a volcanic remnant 260 miles to the west of Scotland’s Outer Hebrides, reports Daily Mail.
Tour Company Kraken Travel teamed up with Lupine Travel, an organisation that is popular for taking tourists to “hard-to-visit and remote places.” These include North Korea, Chernobyl and Iran.
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Once the itinerary of the new tour to Rockall was announced, the £1,595 trip was completely booked. Tour director James Finnerty said, “We expected it to be popular but not as popular as it has been. This is the first time tourists have publicly been able to book this trip.”
Less than 200 people have visited Rockall
Rockall was previously accessible to visitors only by private boat or helicopter. Less than 200 people have reportedly visited the islet in total. The last visitors were in 2016. Nick Hancock, a Scottish adventurer will be leading the expedition. He broke a record in 2014 after spending 43 days on Rockall.
What can tourists expect from Rockall?
Hancock described the area around Rockall saying, “It is a pretty barren place and you can’t really move around too much.” The main ledge is reportedly only about as large as a single bed. Another flat area on the summit is half that size. Hancock continued, “The main issue is not being able to walk around too much and, if there hasn’t been a storm, there is usually a lot of bird guano, which makes it slippery and very smelly. Then with the sea and winds, it can be a pretty bleak and cold place.”
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Travellers will wear wet-suits, boots and flotation devices before arriving at Rockall. Once they reach the place they will spend between 15-20 minutes there. The tour will depart from Oban on May 2, 2020, with one stop at St. Kilda. For now, the trip is scheduled to take seven days but that could change depending on the weather.
