Isle of Coll
One CalMac ferry a day from Oban (continuing to Tiree), Hebridean Air flights on Wednesdays and Fridays, no bus or taxi on the island, and single-track roads you cover by your own car, a hired bike or on foot.
- Researched
- 28 September 2026
- Reviewed
- not yet
- Ways of moving
- 7, 16 sources
- Not confirmed
- 11
- Fares seen
- 2026
7 ways of moving, each with its rule
We confirmed six ways of moving to, from or around Isle of Coll: one by water, one by air, one by road, one of another kind, one under your own steam and one hired or on demand, from 16 sources. One entry is not a service at all but a rule that decides whether travel happens: a permit, a closure, a border, a season or an authority's say-so. Two of them run only on demand or when the seats are full, so there is no timetable to show; the rule is written where the timetable would be. Two need a phone call or a message before you turn up.
The fares were seen in 2026; a fare from an older year is a floor, not a price. Five fares carry no year, because they could not be confirmed and the field says so. We rate 4 of the 7 high confidence, our own judgement of the sources. The entry was checked on 28 September 2026, and ends with eleven things we could not confirm.
By water
CalMac Oban – Coll – Tiree
Oban ferry terminal to Arinagour pier, continuing to Tiree (and, on Wednesdays, on to Castlebay on Barra)
Oban ferry terminal is next to Oban railway station; foot passengers and vehicles check in at the terminal building
- When
- One sailing a day. Summer timetable 27 March to 18 October 2026: a Coll call on most days, but the Friday sailing runs Oban direct to Tiree and calls at Coll only on the way back. Winter timetable 19 October 2026 to 25 March 2027: Mon, Tue, Thu, Sat and Sun only
- Takes
- 2h 40m Oban to Coll (07:00 departure, 09:40 arrival on the summer timetable)
- Fare 2026
- CalMac summer 2026 fares, valid from 27 March 2026: adult £11.80 single, £23.60 return; child aged 5–15 £5.90 single, £11.80 return; car £62.75 single, £125.50 return, with the driver charged separately as an adult passenger; pedal cycles free
SeasonRuns year-round on the two timetables above; the open-sea leg past Ardnamurchan is exposed and sailings can be cancelled at short notice. BookingBook ahead, especially for a vehicle; everyone must be available for boarding 45 minutes before departure. Caravans and motorhomes are not permitted to join the unbooked stand-by queue at CalMac ports. Run byCaledonian MacBrayne (CalMac).
By air
Hebridean Air Services Oban – Coll
Oban Airport (North Connel) to Coll airfield, on legs that also call at Tiree
Check in at Oban Airport, North Connel. Coll's airfield is at the west end of the island, about 5 km from Arinagour along B8070, and the passenger terminal is a cabin at the end of a field
- When
- Summer timetable 29 March to 25 October 2026: Oban to Coll on Wednesday morning (08:40, arriving 09:10) and Friday morning, plus a Wednesday afternoon leg via Tiree and term-time scholar flights on Friday and Sunday afternoons. The last published winter timetable ran the Wednesday flight plus scholar flights on Saturday and Sunday
- Takes
- 30 minutes Oban to Coll direct; longer on the legs routed via Tiree
- Fare
- Fare not confirmed from a fetched source; the operator's timetables carry no prices
SeasonYear-round; a subsidised local-authority lifeline service, described on Wikivoyage as an airborne school bus. BookingBook at bookhebridean.co.uk or on 0845 805 7465 (reservations Mon–Fri 08:30–16:30). Term-time scholar flights open for booking from the Wednesday two weeks before departure, not the Wednesday immediately before. Run byHebridean Air Services, flights operated by Directflight Ltd trading as Airtask Group, using BN Islander light aircraft with a 10 kg baggage allowance.
By road
West Coast Motors 005/405 to Oban Airport
Oban town to Dunbeg, Connel bridge, Oban Airport (North Connel), Benderloch and Barcaldine
Board in Oban town centre, where the bus terminus sits by the railway station and ferry terminal; this is the gateway-side connection to the Coll flight, not a service on Coll itself
- When
- Hourly, Monday to Saturday
- Takes
- Under 30 minutes to Oban Airport
- Fare
- Fare not confirmed from a fetched source
SeasonYear-round. BookingNone, pay the driver. Run byWest Coast Motors.
And also
Bring your own car on the ferry
Whole island; Coll has no public transport and no taxi
Book a vehicle space on the CalMac sailing from Oban well ahead of travel
- When
- Every sailing carries vehicles, space permitting
- Takes
- n/a
- Fare 2026
- CalMac vehicle fare only: car £62.75 single, £125.50 return Oban to Coll on the summer 2026 tariff. The driver and any passengers pay the adult passenger fare on top
SeasonYear-round. BookingBook the ferry vehicle space in advance. Run bySelf-drive, carried by CalMac.
On foot, by bike, or otherwise
Coll bike and e-bike hire
Whole island; single-track roads with passing places
Hire from the Post Office, from An Cridhe, the community centre in Arinagour, or from some accommodation providers
- When
- on demand
- Takes
- n/a
- Fare
- Fare not confirmed from a fetched source; An Cridhe publishes no price list
SeasonYear-round, weather and daylight permitting. BookingBook through An Cridhe on 01879 230000 or arrange with your accommodation; e-bikes are collected between 10:00 and 13:00 on the day of hire. Run byAn Cridhe community centre, Coll Post Office and some guesthouses.
Hired, booked and on demand
Accommodation pick-up from pier or airfield
Arinagour ferry jetty or Coll airfield to guesthouses and the Coll Hotel
Arrange with your accommodation before arrival; the Coll Hotel is named as offering this
- When
- on demand, met to ferry and flight arrivals
- Takes
- n/a
- Fare
- Fare not confirmed from a fetched source
SeasonYear-round. BookingArrange directly with the accommodation ahead of arrival. Run byColl Hotel and other guest accommodation.
Rules, permits and closures
Winter timetable and weather dependency
Whole island, chiefly the Oban crossing
Check CalMac's route page and service status page before travelling; the winter sailing pattern drops to five days a week and the open-sea leg past Ardnamurchan is exposed to weather cancellation
- When
- Winter 19 October 2026 to 25 March 2027: Mon, Tue, Thu, Sat and Sun. No sailing on 25 December or 1 January. Day-to-day disruption is decided by CalMac operations on a weather assessment and posted on its service status page
- Takes
- n/a
- Fare
- n/a
SeasonWinter timetable 19 October to 25 March; summer timetable 27 March to 18 October. Run byCaledonian MacBrayne.
What we could not find out
11 things the researcher looked for and did not find, in their own words, with where to ask instead. None of this goes into the planner; it stays here until someone confirms it.
- 01
Correction to the earlier report that CalMac publishes nothing fetchable: the site serves its public pages under an /en-gb/ prefix. calmac.co.uk/routes/oban-coll does 404, but calmac.co.uk/en-gb/route-information/oban-coll-tiree/ returns the full current fare tables and links to the summer and winter timetable PDFs. The fares in this file now come from there rather than from Wikivoyage.
- 02
The fares Wikivoyage quotes for this route (£22.80 adult return, £11.40 child, £121.30 car) lapsed on 26 March 2026 and have been replaced here by CalMac's own summer 2026 tariff. Wikivoyage also reads as though the car fare includes the driver; CalMac states it does not.
- 03
Whether the Road Equivalent Tariff is the formula behind these fares could not be confirmed. CalMac's route page publishes the fares but names no tariff policy, and no RET explainer page was reachable. Ask CalMac customer service.
- 04
Wikivoyage's claim that a multi-island ticket covering Coll and Tiree costs about £3 more than a single return could not be checked against CalMac's current fares, so it is left out of the ferry entry. Ask the Oban port office.
- 05
Hebridean Air fares Oban to Coll could not be confirmed: both timetable PDFs carry times only, and prices appear only inside the booking flow at bookhebridean.co.uk.
- 06
The winter flight timetable linked from hebrideanair.co.uk was still the 25 October 2025 to 28 March 2026 edition when fetched, so the flight days for winter 2026-27 are unconfirmed. Phone reservations on 0845 805 7465.
- 07
West Coast Motors 005/405 fares, and whether it still runs hourly to Oban Airport, could not be confirmed: westcoastmotors.co.uk returned 403 to every fetch over both HTTP/2 and HTTP/1.1, and bustimes.org blocked as well. The frequency here rests on Wikivoyage alone.
- 08
Car hire does exist on Coll and is not written up as an option here: visitcoll.co.uk names TORAZ Vehicle Rentals on a page it dates to 2021, with no prices, no phone number and no operator website. Nobody has confirmed it is still trading; ask at the Post Office or the Coll Hotel.
- 09
Bike and e-bike hire prices on Coll (Post Office, An Cridhe) could not be confirmed from a fetched source; An Cridhe takes enquiries on 01879 230000.
- 10
Whether any informal lift-sharing or hitching custom exists on Coll (plausible on an island with no bus or taxi) could not be confirmed from a fetched source; ask at the Post Office or Coll Hotel on arrival.
- 11
No public CalMac fare or booking API was found (apim.calmac.co.uk 404s, consumer.prod.calmac.co.uk redirects), so live availability could not be checked programmatically. The published fare tables on the route page are the fetchable substitute.
What the planner can route today
The options above live on the place page, not in the departure board: a boat that comes when you phone has no time to show. What the board can do for Isle of Coll is this.
- N
- Scheduled flightsnearest airport GLA is 157 km away
- Y
- Trains and coachesTransitous carries 3 timetable feeds for this country, 2 with real-time
- Y
- Ferriesferry terminal, 18 km; sailings estimated
- Y
- Driving and taxiOpenStreetMap roads; cab fare from the country band
- N
- Bike and scooter shareno share feed known
- N
- Cruisesno open itinerary source anywhere
Y routable now · F found, not yet implemented · N no source known. Nearest place with more: Paisley, 159 km.