Kirkwall to Sanday ferry times and today's sailings

Orkney Ferries · 1 h 25 min · 1 sailing today

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Next departure · Tomorrow

07:40

Scheduled

Orkney Ferries

Tomorrow’s sailings

Updated 19:18

Today’s sailings

Updated 19:18

First sailing: 07:40; usual time
Last sailing: 15:20; usual time
Crossing time: 1 h 25 min; 1 h 25 min to 2 h 25 min
Sailings a week: 14

Map

0 ships at sea

Punctuality: 4 sailings measured so far, 50 needed. How we measure

Operators on this route

Operator	Sailings in the next 7 days	Crossing time
Orkney Ferries	14	1 h 25 min – 2 h 25 min

Timetable

Next 7 days · local time in Kirkwall

Sun 25 Oct	16:20
Mon 26 Oct – Tue 27 Oct, Thu 29 Oct – Fri 30 Oct	07:4015:20
Wed 28 Oct	07:4010:5515:20
Sat 31 Oct	07:0015:20

Timetable published from 22 Oct 2026 to 7 Dec 2027.

Weather at sea

Place	TodaySun 25 Oct	TomorrowMon 26 Oct
Kirkwall
Kirkwall	Wind from NW 30–34 knBeaufort 7–8 · galegusts 41 knwaves 1.7–1.9 m9 °Cprecipitation up to 1.2 mm/hvisibility down to 3.2 km	Wind from W 12–30 knBeaufort 4–7 · near galegusts 38 knwaves 0.4–2.0 m9–12 °Cprecipitation up to 3.8 mm/hvisibility down to 1.9 km
Sanday
Sanday	Wind from NW 41–44 knBeaufort 9 · strong galegusts 62 knwaves 4.8–5.0 m10–11 °Cprecipitation up to 0.8 mm/hvisibility down to 4.7 km	Wind from W 18–45 knBeaufort 5–9 · strong galegusts 58 knwaves 1.5–4.7 m10–13 °Cprecipitation up to 2.3 mm/hvisibility down to 1.9 km

Forecast issued 25 Oct, 12:09. It doesn’t tell whether a sailing will run: that is up to the operator.

Data from MET Norway (CC BY 4.0). Licence: creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0. Wind converted from m/s to knots and the Beaufort scale. Waves come from the nearest sea point of MET’s ocean model, which covers north-west Europe only; gusts only where MET forecasts them (the Nordic area).Weather data by Open-Meteo.com. Licence: creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0. Models ECMWF IFS and ECMWF WAM (© ECMWF, CC BY 4.0), 9 km grid: wind in knots converted to the Beaufort scale, temperature at sea level, precipitation (rain, showers and snow) as the hourly total shown for the hour it falls in, waves and mean wave period from the model’s nearest sea point, visibility shown only below 5 km; nearby places in the same grid cell share the same figures.Daily lows and highs, and the hour with the most precipitation, worked out by ferrywhere. Each figure comes from MET Norway where MET forecasts it, otherwise from Open-Meteo.

Questions about this route

How many ferries are there from Kirkwall to Sanday today?

There is 1 sailing today from Kirkwall to Sanday, at 16:20.

How long is the ferry from Kirkwall to Sanday?

The crossing takes 1 h 25 min, between 1 h 25 min and 2 h 25 min depending on the sailing.

Which ferry companies sail from Kirkwall to Sanday?

The route is operated by Orkney Ferries.

What time is the first and last ferry from Kirkwall to Sanday?

The first ferry usually leaves at 07:40 and the last at 15:20, local time in Kirkwall.

How often does the ferry from Kirkwall to Sanday run?

14 sailings are scheduled in the next 7 days.

About this route

Orkney Ferries currently sails from Kirkwall to Sanday every day, 1 to 3 times a day. The first departure is usually at 07:40 and the last at 15:20.

The crossing takes 1 h 25 min; some sailings take up to 2 h 25 min.

Varagen, Earl Sigurd and Earl Thorfinn have sailed this route in the last 30 days. From Kirkwall, ferries also sail to Shapinsay, Rapness, Stronsay and 2 more. Sanday can also be reached by ferry from Eday.

ferrywhere is independent and doesn’t sell tickets.