Island BoatCharters Donaghadee

Island Boat Charters has run wildlife cruises from Donaghadee Harbour since 2015, when skipper Philip McNamara, a lifelong local seafarer, set up the business as the only passenger boat operating from the harbour. Trips aboard the MCA-licensed vessel M/V Island Lady head out to Great Copeland Island to see its resident common and grey seal colony, before continuing to Old Lighthouse Island, known locally as Bird Island, for its seabird population. McNamara skippers the boat himself and runs the operation as a single vessel rather than a fleet. Public sailings run alongside private charters, and the Copeland Islands' history as a smuggling route and bird observatory site gives the commentary its local grounding. It remains Donaghadee's sole harbour-based passenger boat operator.