ADVENTURES AT SEA
 It is not so long since the Faroes were a place for explorers, difficult to get to and difficult to travel in. Not like a group of islands stretched along a mainland coastline, where you could seek shelter if it got too rough out there, but a mysterious mountainous country, infinitely far away in the wide ocean.
This is not the case any more, thanks to the good connections to other countries and the well-developed infrastructure on the islands. Arriving in comfort by air and travelling all over the islands by the efficient transport system, you have to admit that infinity has been greatly reduced in our day.
But the wide ocean is still there, and it is only when you are out on the sea that you experience the original adventure that drew the explorers to such a distant part of the world. To sail between the islands and along the Faroese coassts is to experience the tremendous feeling of the presence of nature that people did in the past. The islands that from the air look like small islets and skerries, are now seen as a collected mass of cliffs and mountains, two or three main islands with smaller islands beyond. And now when the mountains appear in full force, you appreciate the respect that the land evoked in those who saw it long
ago.
 Nowadays there are many possibilities to enjoy the Faroes from the sea. The restored sailing ship, Norðlýsið, sails round the islands and into the fjords, and in the captain’s experience there are not many summer days when it is not possible to take a trip that will give you a thrill. The local weather around the islands is almost as changeable as the light. If there is fog in the west, there may be sun in the northern islands, and this is just what makes a very special Faroese experience, to sail in changing light, or through fog, and suddenly see everything open up before you as on the first day of creation. When the wind and the tide are favourable the ship may sail into one of the many grottoes, or send its small motor boat in so that the passengers can see these magnificent stone cathedrals.
The sailing trip to the spectacular bird cliffs at Vestmanna has in recent years become a main attraction for every visitor to the Faroes. The people who run the boat service in Vestmanna have generations of experience in sailing into the gorges and grottoes and through the narrow channels between the cliffs, while they tell about the history and nature of the land and particularly about the many sea birds that glide over the boats, or sit on the ledges of the cliffs.
 From Sandoy boat trips are arranged to the impressive west side of Sandoy and to the famous bird cliffs of Skúvoy. On these sheer cliffs birds’ eggs are still gathered and birds are caught in the traditional way, by which men are lowered down in a rope to the ledges. But even if you were lucky enough to be there at the right time, it would not be easy to catch sight of a man hanging in a rope against those colossal cliff walls, and he would easily disappear amongst the thousands of busy guillemots, puffins, razor bills and fulmars.
In Suðuroy you can go on a boat trip, or on a combined boat and fishing trip, to the waters around the mysterious island of Lítla Dímun, and also on Norðoyar there are good possibilities for boat trips, for example to Enniberg, the highest sheer headland in Europe.
But maybe you would like to see what goes on under the surface of the sea. Then ask at the tourist office about an exotic adventure that only few in the world have had the chance to experience.
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Faroe Islands Travel Tips