Cliffs of Moher boat tours sail along the base of the wall from Doolin Pier and show you the one thing the cliff top cannot — the scale of 214 metres of rock from underneath. Nothing lands at the cliffs, so the question worth asking of any boat day is whether it puts you on top of them as well.
The island, a cruise along the base of the cliffs and an hour on top, all in one fare out of Merchants Road at nine. The cruise sails only when the sea allows it, which is written into the fare rather than left to the morning.
From $99 per person
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.
Express ferry to Inis Oírr, a guided cruise under 214 metres of rock and cliff-top admission, all on one fare out of Merchants Road at nine sharp. The one open question is how long you get on the cliff top, which this fare does not state.
From $92 per person
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.
An hour-long cruise below the wall as well as an hour on top, with Atlantic Edge entry in the fare. Ten hours out of Kinlay House.
From $97 per person
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.
Two and a half hours on Inis Oírr and the cliffs from the water. This day does not stop on the cliff top at all.
From $153 per person
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.
Five hours on and around Inis Oírr by ferry and bike, with tea and scones included. The cliffs are a distant view from the crossing.
From $144 per person
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.
An hour under the wall is the best hour on this coast when the sea allows it. Compare the days that add the cliff top to the ones that do not.
Compare every Cliffs of Moher tourA sailing along the base of the wall, out of Doolin Pier six kilometres north of the visitor centre. The boat runs south under the cliffs and turns back; nothing lands at them, because the foot of the wall is boulder and swell and the rock goes straight up out of it.
Every boat day here pairs the cruise or the ferry with something else — the island, the coach from Galway, or both. Standalone sailings are sold at the pier itself by Doolin's own operators, which matters if you are already staying locally.
Standing on top of a 214-metre wall, the one thing you cannot see is the wall. From the deck the boat becomes the scale bar.
From above the shale and sandstone layers are edge-on. From the water they read like courses of brickwork.
Guillemots and razorbills nest on ledges you look down on from the path and level with from the deck.
Which means the cruise is an addition rather than a substitution — on all but one of them.
The honest comparison is not better or worse, it is different, and one of these days does not stop on top at all.
| A boat day | A cliff-top coach day | |
|---|---|---|
| Day length | 5h to 10h 30m | 7h to 13h |
| On the cliff top | 1 hour, or none | 1½ to 2 hours |
| On the water | 25 minutes to an hour under the wall | None |
| On an island | 2 to 2½ hours on Inis Oírr | None |
| What can cancel it | A swell stops the boats outright | Nothing — the road days run in rain |
| Cheapest fare | $92 | $64 |
If the cliffs are the reason you came, take a day that does both. If you want a day out on the water with the cliffs as part of the scenery, the island-only day is honestly sold and well rated.
Fares start at From $92. May to August is when the crossings and cruises are most reliable; the swell that cancels them builds from September. Bring a windproof layer for the deck whatever the month, and something for motion sickness if you are prone to it.
Every boat here sails at the skipper's discretion, and that is written into the fares. The fix is the cancellation window: almost every day trip refunds in full up to twenty-four hours ahead, so a bad forecast the night before is a decision rather than a loss. The weather page sets out what each kind of day is exposed to.
If you are unsure at sea, a Cliffs of Moher tour from Galway that stays on the road costs less and cannot be cancelled by a swell. If the cliff top is the whole point, an hour up there is short and a straight Clare day gives you ninety minutes or two. And if you want to be on the cliffs rather than beneath them, the guided walks are the opposite purchase.
The ferry, the cruise and the cliff-top admission on one fare, with free cancellation up to twenty-four hours ahead.
Check availabilityNext: every fare on Cliffs of Moher Tours, the ticket and access detail on visiting the cliffs, and the month you are coming on the weather page.