Gills Bay, four miles west of John o' Groats, is the Caithness end of the shorter of the two car ferries to Orkney. It belongs to neither of the Orkney operators people usually name: the ship, the linkspans and both terminals are Pentland Ferries', a private company based at St Margaret's Hope.
Timetable as published on pentlandferries.co.uk, read on 25 September 2026. The page gives no start or end dates, and its metadata says it was last changed in August 2025. No second official source for these times has been found. Pentland Ferries — Timetable · 2026-09-25
There are two roll-on car ferries from the Caithness coast to Orkney, and they are different services run by different companies. NorthLink Ferries sails from Scrabster, beside Thurso, to Stromness on the west side of Orkney's Mainland, in an hour and a half. Pentland Ferries sails from Gills Bay, near John o' Groats, to St Margaret's Hope on South Ronaldsay, in 1 hour 10 minutes. Neither is Orkney Ferries, the council company that runs the boats between Orkney's own islands.
Which one suits you depends on where you are going. Stromness is the gateway to the west Mainland; St Margaret's Hope puts you on the southern islands, joined to the Mainland by the Churchill Barriers, a twenty-minute drive by Pentland's reckoning. Gills Bay is the further east of the two Caithness ports, so it is the closer one for anyone coming up the A99 from Wick.
Pentland runs three round trips a day, all week, with the first departure from Orkney at 07:45 and the last from Gills Bay at 18:45. Its timetable page has no dates on it and is the only published source for those times, so confirm the sailing when you book.
Two people in a car pay £101 to cross, one way: £55 for the car, which does not include the driver, and £23 each. A return is simply the fares doubled. Only four of these numbers are confirmed twice by Pentland — the £23 adult and £55 car, and the resident £14 and £44, all repeated in its announcement of the April 2026 fares — while the rest appear only on the tariff page.
Pentland contradicts itself on children. The tariff says £11 for ages 5 to 15, but its 'Value Matters' page still advertises a £10 child fare alongside a £20 adult one, figures older than the current fares. The child fare is therefore left out of the table below.
| Adult | £ 23 |
| Child under 5 | Free |
| Dog | Free |
| Bicycle | Free |
| Car | £ 55 |
| Motorcycle | £ 25 |
| Motorhome or caravan up to 5 m | £ 55 |
| Motorhome or caravan 5–6 m | £ 77 |
| Motorhome or caravan 6–8 m | £ 114 |
| Motorhome or caravan over 8 m | £ 150 |
| Bike rack | £ 6 |
| Resident adult | £ 14 |
| Resident car | £ 44 |
Fares from 1 April 2026 (tariff page updated 2 September 2026) Pentland Ferries — Tariff · 2026-09-25
Measured between the terminals, Gills Bay to St Margaret's Hope is 24.4 kilometres, about 13 nautical miles. NorthLink's Scrabster–Stromness line, further west, is 41.8 kilometres, which is most of the difference in time. On the way the ship passes the islands of Stroma and Swona, with the Firth's eddies and currents running round them; Pentland's own route guide points out the Old Man of Hoy to the west, the flare of the Flotta oil terminal and the wartime gun emplacements on Hoxa Head before the turn into St Margaret's Hope.
From Inverness Pentland reckons on about two and a half hours: the A9 north to Latheron, the A99 through Wick towards John o' Groats, then left just past Freswick and on to the A836 before the turn for the terminal. The nearest railway stations are Wick and Thurso, and Stagecoach runs a limited bus service between Inverness and Gills Bay. There is some parking at the terminal, covered by CCTV, at the owner's risk. Pentland staffs a booking office here as well as at St Margaret's Hope.
St Margaret's Hope is the main village of South Ronaldsay and, according to Pentland, the third largest settlement in Orkney; Pentland puts Mainland Orkney twenty minutes away by car across the Churchill Barriers, and Stagecoach's X1 bus runs from the village to Kirkwall. The company has applied to Orkney Islands Council for a three-storey terminal building here, with a waiting room and a covered walkway to the ship, and plans a temporary office on the pier in the meantime.
Every fare is paid by debit or credit card when you book, online or by phone. Arriving without a booking is possible: the shoreside office takes card payment from an hour before the sailing.
Latest check-in is 30 minutes before departure, after which space can be given away. Wheelchair users should tell customer services when booking and check in 45 minutes early so the car can be placed near the lift.
Direct bookings can be amended without a fee, and cancellations made 18 hours before travel are refunded in full. Bookings made through third-party agents follow the agent's rules.
Pentland does not carry anyone under 16 unless accompanied by a parent or guardian.
The contact page says the booking line, 01856 831226, is open daily from 07:00 to 18:30; the tariff page says Monday to Friday, 09:00 to 17:00. Ring in the narrower window to be sure.
A stamped loyalty card gives every tenth single passenger journey free. Adult foot passengers going from St Margaret's Hope to Gills Bay and straight back on the next sailing pay for the outward leg only.
The company exists because one man decided the Pentland Firth needed a shorter crossing. Andrew Banks, a salmon farmer, bought plant at auction in 1998 and with three other men built the breakwater and linkspan at Gills Bay himself; the service opened on 3 May 2001 with the MV Pentalina B, formerly CalMac's Iona, carrying twelve passengers and five cars on the first sailing. Pentland stresses that it had no public subsidy, and that its competitor still does. The catamaran MV Pentalina arrived in 2009, and in May 2026 the company, now run by Helen Inkster, marked 25 years.
Once across, Orkney's inner islands are served by Orkney Ferries from Mainland piers: Houton for Hoy and Flotta, Tingwall for Rousay, Egilsay and Wyre, and Kirkwall for Westray and the north isles.
No. NorthLink sails Scrabster to Stromness with MV Hamnavoe in about an hour and a half. Gills Bay to St Margaret's Hope is Pentland Ferries, a separate private company, with its own fares, terminals and booking system.
18:45 from Gills Bay, every day, according to Pentland's timetable page. The earlier departures are 09:30 and 13:30. Arrival is about 1 hour 10 minutes later, but the page carries no validity dates, so check the time when booking.
£101 one way and £202 return: £55 for the car, with the driver not included in it, and £23 for each adult. Orkney residents pay £44 for the car and £14 each.
MV Pentalina. Pentland's own pages still mention MV Alfred as well, but CalMac lists Alfred as chartered to it and Pentland has said since 2023 that Pentalina runs the Gills Bay service while Alfred works on the west coast.
Yes, dogs travel free. MV Pentalina has an indoor dog-friendly area; you can also sit outside with the dog or leave it in the car on the car deck.
Only from the Orkney end. An adult foot passenger travelling from St Margaret's Hope to Gills Bay and returning on the next sailing pays the outward fare and travels back free. The offer does not apply to trips that start at Gills Bay.
Not for tickets. Since 1 July 2024 Pentland takes card payments only for travel, and not American Express. Cash is still accepted for purchases on board.