Advice on Ferry Times for DIY Staffa Visit

West Coast Tours use the 0955 ferry, so as long as you can drive as fast as the bus you will make it.
You will be off the ferry and away while those on tour walk down the pier and board the tour bus (it starts at Craignure), thus you should be ahead of the bus.
If the Oban ferry is a little bit late then WCT will also be in touch with Staffa Tours to hold the boat for their guests.
At that time of year there should be no issues with parking at Fionnphort.

So no need to go over earlier, unless it makes you feel more comfortable.

But bear in mind the time of year, weather could force cancellation of either the Oban ferry, or the wee boat to Staffa.

If West Coast Tours cancels the Staffa portion of the tour, it will be due to weather conditions. Therefore your traveling independently may not be of any help if the waters are rough that day.

Hello isn31c, thank you very much for the detailed explanation. It really helps me understand how the timing and flow of the day work. I agree that October weather can be unpredictable, so I have started a list of things to do in Oban in case the Staffa trip does not go ahead. The recent “Oban Free Time” post, which you also contributed to, has been full of wonderful suggestions and has already given me lots of inspiration.

Hello jeanm, thank you for pointing that out. I understand that cancellations are mostly weather related, and reviews online don't always paint the full picture. We are giving up a day on the Isle of Skye to fit in a visit to Staffa, so I would like to make the most of it if one of the sailings is cancelled. Traveling independently may not help with the weather, but it could offer a bit more flexibility, which is why I am considering it. Either way, I will keep a list of activities in Oban as a backup plan. Hopefully the weather will be on our side.

Just to echo other posters, a lot of "recent" reviews may be a reflection of the ferry maintenance issues that have been creating havoc for the route. I'm guessing that Westcoast Tours is absolutely on-top-of rebooking, etc. and since they only need space for walk-on passengers, their luck is probably better than yours with a car.

Frankly, unless you plan to spend more time on Mull (overnights), I wouldn't try to compete with their package. We did the 12 hour Wildlife Tour with them (Staffa, Lunga, and Iona), despite having a car in Oban. We walked over to the ferry from our lodging. We thought the price was fair, and they do take care of everything, except lunch, which we had on Iona. We went in May when the puffins abounded - they'll be long gone whichever way you go. It IS a long day, but it's a lot easier to sit on a bus than drive on the single track road between Craignure and Fionnphort. Also, the bus drivers act like ex-F1 drivers, and they aren't poking along. I remember ours passed a few cars at passing places. And they provided some running commentary to add local color.

Worst come to worse, if you get completely washed out, you can visit Giant's Causeway if you get to Ireland. The two sites are either end of a geologic formation, unless you'd prefer to believe the stories about Finn MacCool and Benandonner.

I was just wondering which ship was on which service, now ferry services are back to normal, and was reminded about the Mull motor rally. It is on 10 to 12 October this year, but people are going over from 8 October and coming back until 14 October.
The rally is a seriously big event.
The effect is that the ferries will be sold out (vehicles and foot pax) but also the whole of Mull will be very busy.
The rally route is changed this year due to the road closure so there is no rally stage anywhere near to your route to Fionnphort- they are concentrating on the north of the Island based on Tobermory.
To answer my own question the 0955 is the big ship The Isle of Mull (so rally aside lots of capacity), the earlier sailing the much smaller (and more weather prone) Loch Frisa.
Then from 18 October (2 days earlier than planned) the Oban ferry goes to single vessel running, just with the Loch Frisa.
So unless it's the first week in October, something else to think about.

I don't think West Coast Tours cancel due to lack of numbers, but due to cancelled sailings on either boat. If you drive yourself over then if the boat to Staffa is cancelled, you have alternatives on Mull (at non rally time). We also don't know whether they get preference on booking the Oban ferry at peak times. I hope not, but suspect otherwise.