40 minute crossing from Oban to Craignure operated by Caledonian McBrayne, then a 1 hour 20 minute bus journey from Craignure to Fionnphort operated by Bowmans Tours (service no 496), then 10 minute crossing from Fionnphort to Iona operated by Caledonian MacBrayne. Thereafter, take a privately operated boat tour to Staffa – N.B. Oban is 24 miles north of Ardfern.

Staffa is one of the smallest islands in the Southern Hebrides and is famed for Fingal's Cave. But apart from that, Staffa is a remarkable little island, located south-west off the isle of Ulva and halfway between the Ross of Mull and the Treshnish Isles. The island, small as it is with only 33 hectares, was once inhabited in the 1700s by as much as 16 people but nowadays seabirds and tourists have taken over their place. It was donated to the National Trust of Scotland by Jock Elliott from New York in 1986. Staffa is now a Site of Special Scientific Interest.
Staffa, an entirely volcanic island, is probably best known for its unique geological features such as the many caves and the unique shape of the basalt columns which are also found in the Giant's Causeway and Rathlin island in Northern Ireland and closer by on the island of Ulva. It consists of a basement of tuff, underneath colonnades of a black fine-grained Tertiary basalt, overlying which is a third layer of basaltic lava lacking a crystalline structure. By contrast, slow cooling of the second layer of basalt resulted in an extraordinary pattern of predominantly hexagonal columns which form the faces and walls of the principal caves. The lava contracted towards each of a series of equally spaced centres as it cooled and solidified into prismatic columns. The columns typically have three to eight sides, six being most common.
The island didn't play an important role in history but was nevertheless visited by many famous people such as Felix Mendelssohn, who composed the Hebrides Overture which is also known as, and is inspired by, Fingal's Cave. Other well known people that made the trip to Staffa are Sir Walter Scott, William Wordsworth an English poet, Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, Jules Verne and Dr David Livingstone to name a few.