Isle of Mull oyster farm with cosy two-bed cabin goes up for sale for offers over £250,000

Tobermory Oyster Farm, in a sheltered bay at Port na Coite near Tobermory, is being offered for sale for offers over £250,000. The owners, Graeme and Shauna Munro, inherited the business from Mrs Munro’s father, David Flockhart, who had an interest in researching marine species, particularly scallops.

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The Munros say they have been “incredibly lucky” to run the business but have decided it is time to move on.

“We are also in a ceilidh band, which means we are often overseas performing and we just don’t have time to do both,” Mrs Munro said.

The farm occupies a tranquil bay with 200 metres of foreshore, a freshwater spring and views across the Sound of Mull. It is surrounded by Atlantic oak woodland and is a seven-minute walk from the Mishnish Hotel in Tobermory.

Its oysters have developed a reputation for quality, with Scott Ralston, head chef at the White Horse Oyster and Seafood Bar in Edinburgh describing them as the finest he had worked with in Scotland during his 20-year career.

“The product itself is second to none, but the whole brand, packaging and company ethos is absolutely top notch,” he said.

“Excellent people to work with, incredible knowledge and a real commitment to high quality.”

The farm currently has 60 fully stocked trestles at different stages of development, although its lease from the Crown Estate permits up to 200, giving a new owner the opportunity to expand the business.

The sale includes a two-bedroom cabin with a living room and kitchen, shower room, a workshop and a shellfish purification building. Existing shellfish stocks, including oysters ready for harvesting, and a boat are available separately.

For Mrs Munro, the location is what makes the farm’s oysters distinctive.

“It’s a perfect place to grow oysters,” she said.

“The bay is very sheltered and the water is usually Grade A quality.

“There is a natural spring that runs down into the bay so the oysters have the taste of the sea but also the taste of the freshwater, giving them a unique, balanced flavour.”

The spring was once used by visitors as a bathing pool at the site. There was a diving board and a metal cup hanging from a chain beside the spring because the water was considered pure enough to drink.

“You couldn’t ask for a better location,” Mrs Munro added.

Oyster farming is a form of aquaculture with relatively low environmental impact. Juvenile oysters, known as spat, are placed in mesh bags supported on trestles in the sea, where they filter-feed on nutrients in the surrounding water.

It can take four to five years for the oysters to reach harvestable size. They are then placed in purification tanks, where purified seawater removes any remaining impurities before they are sent to market. Oysters grown in Grade A water can otherwise be sold directly from the sea.

The farm produces Scottish Pacific oysters (Magallana gigas), which can be harvested throughout the year.

Calum Innes, a partner at Galbraith, the property agency handling the sale, said: “This is a rare opportunity to run a sustainable business and enjoy a slower pace of life on one of the most beautiful islands in Scotland.

“The facilities are in place for the purchaser to continue the oyster cultivation and indeed there is also significant potential to develop the business if desired.”