Beaches all round
It can be hard to leave the magical world of The Island, but when you do want to head out to explore the beaches below, moving from bridge to land to sand takes all of 60 seconds, making The Island perfectly located for coastal exploring.
You will find you become more aware of nature’s rhythms, as in the course of just 12 hours you will find yourselves completely surrounded by sea, then by sand and then sea again. Change is constant, and endlessly fascinating.
Every day you can exercise by a stroll round the Island and later, if the sea is not too rough (or cold!), a swim round the same route. Daily family exercise isn’t usually this much fun!
At high tide, watch the waves breaking round The Island, recombining in complex patterns, and then sometimes crashing dramatically against the sea wall.
At low tide take a walk along four linked beaches, and reward yourselves with a warm drink, sundowner cocktail, casual pizza or delicious sit-down meal at the restaurants and cafes on the beaches. Then either hurry back along the same sandy route to beat the incoming tide, or take your time to finish your drink or meal, and return along the cliff top with magnificent sea views.
At full and new moons, when the tides are most extreme, you can walk at low tide into the nearby harbour, the “New Quay” dating back to 1439. Later the fishing boats will return with their catch and will chug through the same entrance, high above where you were standing hours earlier.
Going in the opposite direction at very low tides you can reach a fifth beach past Lusty Glaze. This is Porth Beach, next to the site of an iron age island fort. This is well worth exploring, normally reached by the cliff walk. It has a dramatically noisy blowhole when the waves are up.
The tide clock in The Island’s living room helps you plan your day in tune with nature. It really does give you a different relationship to eternal natural forces when you decide which route to take to go to the shops by glancing at the tide clock.
'The island was amazing and our kids absolutely loved staying there. Brilliant!'
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'Superb! Will definitely visit again, couldn’t fault it in any way.'
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