Mull > Iona > Staffa Tour from Oban

I took it and thoroughly enjoyed it! We went for the "early bird" version which gets a little earlier start in the day. You start off on a large ferry from Oban to Mull. That ferry is met very efficiently by a tour bus/driver. You drive across the island with commentary along the way and we had a few photo stops.

We then boarded a boat which took us to Staffa (Staffa tours). There is a small landing at Staffa and a choice to either follow a pathway across the rocks toward the cave or steps up to the plateau for further exploration. We were interested in Puffins and went up on the plateau. We walked to the Puffins' nesting areas, sat down, and watched the show begin! We enjoyed this so much we stayed the remainder of the time there. Others in our group also visited the cave. I will say that if you are not able to do stairs, the Staffa part of the tour may not be for you. One dear lady ended up standing near the small platform/landing due to mobility issues for the entire time we were there.

We came back and the boat let us off at Iona. It was lunch time and so enjoyed a meal and a walk around the island. I think we had a few hours there. We took ferry back across the channel to Mull, boarded our bus, and returned to the dock to catch the large ferry back to Oban.

It was a full day, but we were glad we had gone on the earlier tour and were back in Oban at dinner time. I would definitely recommend this tour and would go on it again if I had the chance.

Here is a link to a promotional video for this tour, but it will give you an idea.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tmGJbdoXU_k&t=79s

I took the tour (minus Staffa) in 2019. I wasn't on the first ferry over to Mull. We had commentary on our bus across Mull but no photo stops (I assume due to the timing of the Mull-Iona ferry). You can make this trip yourself (less the bus commentary) for a bit of a savings by buying the individual tickets, but the "tour" (term applies only loosely) doesn't cost that much extra. My research suggested that the WCT package offered somewhat more efficient transportation links. I'm not certain, but I had the impression the regular public buses across Mull might not be as well synchronized with the ferries as the West Coast Tour buses were.

I am very reluctant to pay for tours to places I can reach by public transportation, but I was happy with the WCT "tour" and I do recommend it. Just understand you will be dropped off at a dock on Iona and Staffa and be responsible for your own time there. There's not much doubt about your sightseeing options on Staffa, but do take note of the earlier warning about steps, and know that there's some scrambling over rocks if you want to go to the cave. You should do a bit of research on Iona so you know what you want to do there. There are one or two places to eat, but a restaurant meal would really cut into the time you have for exploration, and I think I saw a sign at one (the only?) place, saying it was full for lunch. So I'd either pack something with me or make a reservation. I would not have taken the time for a sit-down meal on Iona, given the schedule for the departure we chose from Oban.

I didn't take that tour. Instead, I stayed on Mull in Tobermory for a few days. I did have a car. On one of the days I drove all the way down to Fionnphort and I took the "two Island tour". I loved seeing Staffa and spending time on Iona. Doing all three islands in one day seems like a lot to me, but at the same time better than missing them if your time is limited.

PAm

Yes, my tour didn't allow any feet-on-the-ground time on Mull. Taking different ferries between Oban and Mull might have done so. I took a separate day trip to Tobermory another day; it was a chilly, very wet day, so further exploration didn't seem very attractive. I would've stayed in Tobermory, but there were no affordable-to-me hotel rooms, even booking 6 months ahead.

I did enjoy the rides back and forth across Mull.

I loved it!

Agree with the other posters here. We did the three island tour ( with Staffa) and highly recommend. It helped that we had an awesome weather day. Do it!

Love, love, loved that tour which we took back in 2015. Other posters described it very well. We liked it so much that we're going again in May with friends. You'll be very happy you did this.