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John O Groats Ferry is at the small village
of John O Groats, 122 miles north
of Inverness
This Ferry stopped operating around 2023,
said to be as the owner was retiring. The Ferry
and business were put up for sale, but by 2025
the Ferry was docked at Wick Harbour with no
sign of any company taking over the
operation.
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The image top is of the John O Groats Ferry
in 2018, a passenger only Ferry that would
cross about 9 miles to Burwick on the Isle of
Orkney in about 40 minutes with Tour Buses
waiting to take people round the top
attractions on the Islands in a few hours.
The Fast Rib speed boats
here also used to operate out of John O Groats,
but now seem to be operating out of Wick
Harbour 23 miles south.
Gills Bay is 3
miles west of John O Groats for Car Ferries to
the Orkney Islands taking just over an hour to
cross.
John O Groats Ferry History
1400s - the Dutchman Jan de Groot ran a Sail
Ferry between the Mainland here and the
Orkney Islands.
De Groot had 7 sons, said to have built a
house close to where the John O Groats Hotel is
today with 8 sides so they had a door each as
they were always arguing.
1874 - the Highland Railway reached Thurso
19 miles west.
1887 - the John O Groats Hotel was built, at
a time tourism to the area began to
increase.
If you look at the Tower of the John O
Groats Hotel, it has 7 or 8 sides to it, so the
story may be true if the Hotel was built to
look like de Groot's house.
1924 - Duncansby Head Lighthouse was built
by David A Stevenson, 67 metres above sea
level, 2 miles east of John O Groats.
1971 - the first powered John O Groats
Passenger Ferry began running between John O
Groats and the Orkney Islands. This was when a
local scientist named Ian Thomas purchased a
small speedboat then operated it as the
Pentland Atom.
1986 - the new built Pentland Venture, as
seen top right, started operating as the John O
Groats passenger ferry capable of carrying 250
passengers to Orkney in about 40 minutes, 186
gross tons.
2001 - Pentland
Ferries began running fairly large Car
Ferries from Gills Bay 3 miles west of John O
Groats to Orkney. This was an old Ferry route
back in the early 1900s, the shortest Car Ferry
route taking just over an hour.
2015 - the North Coast 500 driving route was
established, leading to a vast increase in
tourists to the area.
2023 - the John O Groats Ferry stopped
operating after being operated by the same
family for over 50 years, it was still up for
sale in 2025.
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