Most car, freight and passenger traffic to and from Islay goes by ferry using the route from Kennacraig on West Loch Tarbert to Port Ellen or Port Askaig. Kennacraig is located 6 km south of the pretty fishing village of Tarbert on the Kintyre Peninsula. The operator on this route is Caledonian MacBrayne, mostly referred to as Calmac, and is owned by the Scottish Government. - Read more

We sail to twenty-four destinations on Scotland's West Coast. From Arran in the south to Lewis in the north, our network covers some of the most beautiful and dramatic places in Scotland. Get away from it all by ferry with Caledonian MacBrayne and discover a different world. - Read more

For an overview of the current Calmac ferries operating this route, general information and background information on the Islay ferry please visit the Islay ... - Read more

It was in 1974 that CalMac (as it now was known) started to win back Islay traffic when ... It was not until 1993 that Islay's ferry service became a truly ... - Read more

2 Nov 2007 ... A short news snippet from Inverclyde Today learned that Calmac ordered a new ferry for the Kennacraig to Islay route. ... - Read more

In the 19th century, the era of the early steamships started and the first ever seagoing ship in Scotland was Henry Bell's Comet. A wooden ship sailing on the route between Glasgow, Greenock and Helensburgh in 1812 and later from Glasgow to Fort William. - Read more