About

Shetland Nature offers a range of unique wildlife watching holidays, which take eco-tourism in the isles to a new level.

Established in 2006 by native Shetlander Brydon Thomason, Shetland Nature has built a reputation for providing an exceptional visitor experience. Our small team of guides has been carefully selected for their expert knowledge and understanding of Shetland’s natural heritage.  This, combined with our attention to detail, ensures that our wildlife holidays offer quality and value that simply cannot be equalled.

Why Shetland Nature?

Shetland Nature is unique in being the only wildlife holiday provider in the islands to be established and run by a native Shetlander. When establishing the company Brydon fulfilled his ambition to share and communicate his life’s passion for the islands, their cultural heritage and most of all their wildlife. This heady blend of pride and passion is crystallised in the design and concept of our trips and is instilled in all our guides and ensures each trip is created with sensitivity in mind, whilst providing a truly authentic Shetland experience.

To uphold Shetland Nature’s ethos on sensitivity to wildlife, our holidays are designed with small groups in mind. We keep our group sizes to a maximum of six clients to one guide, which is our tried and tested ratio. This ensures we deliver the high standard of visitor experience for which Shetland Nature has become renowned.

With this design in mind, many of our holidays are available for even smaller groups and can be booked on a tailor-made basis, ideal for small groups or families travelling together.

Our policy on group size also enables us to build up a rapport with our clients, so that both guide and visitor can enjoy a balanced social dynamic throughout our holidays. This is much more valuable to us than profit margins, allowing us to proudly share and celebrate our passion for Shetland’s unique natural heritage with you.

Read what past clients have to say about our holidays and tours.

Booking and Travel

Choosing a Shetland Nature trip ensures that your visit to Shetland will be hassle-free. We remove all complications by packaging your holiday through locally based and fully-bonded travel agents John Leask & Son.  John Leask & Son have been trading for over ninety years and are a member of the Association of British Travel agents – your money is fully protected by their guarantee bonding system.

In addition, Leask P R & Leask A J N t/a John Leask & Son is bonded through CAA (Civil Aviation Authority) by means of an ATOL licence (Air Travel Organisers Licensing No.3309) read more at www.leaskstravel.co.uk.

We use a standard £100 per person non-refundable deposit payment, with the balance being due 8 weeks before arrival.

Accommodation

We make sure that our accommodation matches the quality and high standard of our visitor experience, by using the finest available. We believe that creature comforts are as much a part of your experience as our outdoor activities.

All our accommodation providers are awarded with a three star raring from Visit Scotland and are carefully selected for your comfort. Follow the links bellow;

Saxavord Resort on Unst, the most Northerly Island in the UK.

Gord Guest House on Fetlar, the garden of Shetland.

The Orca Country Inn in Sandwick, in Shetland’s South-Mainland.

More about us and our holidays and tours

Shetland Nature is essentially a family-run company (meet Brydon and Family) and we pride ourselves on maintaining this spirit in all aspects of the business. For us, our major motivation is providing our guests with an experience that will linger long in the memory; we want you to leave Shetland in the knowledge that you have been looked-after in true Shetland style, and indeed become part of the lifestyle we are so lucky to enjoy, rather than thinking you have been on just another wildlife package holiday.

Our carefully-selected guides are specialists in many fields, and are keen to bring their own unique personalities to the fore. Not only would we hope to enjoy many fantastic encounters with Shetland’s outstanding wildlife, our guides also endeavour to provide that little bit extra; putting a sighting into context with background information and a look at the bigger picture can be the difference that makes your wildlife encounter truly memorable. Not for us merely a brief look and on to the next site; our style is to ensure quality and education go hand in hand.

Our guides are there to ensure you gain that little bit extra from your visit to Shetland; if you want to spend the evening searching for Otters during the wonderfully long twilight hours, discussing tricky in-depth identifications of rare migrant birds or just relaxing over a drink and having a bit of fun, our personable and highly adaptable guides will be there for you.

Our tours and holidays are designed and led in such a way that they offer something for everyone and are tailored to suit all levels of interest, abilities and requirements.

Holidays

Perhaps you want an exclusive one to one with a renowned Otter expert for dedicated Otter photography; to indulge yourself in an all-inclusive wildlife watching adventure; experience the magic of autumn migration. View our Holidays.

Day trips

We offer a wide range of day tours throughout the year, which are designed for clients planning their own holiday to the isles, but perhaps want to take a day out with experienced local naturalists so as to maximise there time in the field. View our Day Tours.