Pentland Firth

The Pentland Firth, which is actually more like a strait than a firth, separates the Orkney Islands from the northern tip of the Scottish Highland region around Caithness[?].

On the southern (Caithness) shore is the town of Thurso[?], the port of Scrabster[?], the famous John o' Groats, Mey (site of the Castle of Mey), along with many smaller villages. The headland[?] of Dunnet Head, which protrudes into the Pentland Firth, is the most northerly point on mainland Scotland.

In the middle of the Pentland Firth are two significant islands, Stroma[?] and Swona[?], with the small Pentland Skerries group in the east. The islands of Hoy and South Ronaldsay[?] border the firth to the north and are part of the Orkney Islands.

One ferry runs from Scrabster in Caithness[?] to Stromness on the Orkney Mainland, running along the western fringes of the Pentland Firth, while another runs from Gills Bay near John o' Groats to South Ronaldsay.