As part of our trip to Northumberland, we decided to take a cruise to Inner Farne, one of the Farne Islands off the Northumberland Coast. I would like to absolutely recommend anyone visiting Northumberland take one these cruises. They were a huge highlight of our trip. You’ll need wheels to get there (we were staying on Holy Island, but a local friend drove us).
There are several cruise operators all departing from Seahouses harbour. We chose Serenity II, mainly because their timetable suited us. We met others on the island from other companies, doing much the same cruise.
The tour takes about 3 hours, and at the time we visited there were building works at the harbour, so access to the boat was through steep steps (not sure if that is the case when the builders aren’t in). You have to pay the National Trust a separate fee to ‘land’ on the Island, which is managed by them, but it is all very organised and simple to do.
The cruise began with a visit to the seal colony, which was the first time we’ve come so close to seals. The captain was very knowledgeable about the wildlife and birdlife and narrated the trip on the tannoy.
Arrival on the island jetty required a hop and a skip (with the assistance of the deck-hand) and we had about an hour to walk around the island, visit the small derelict chapel and mostly observe the hundreds of birds that seem completely unafraid of humans and allow you to get close and take photos (I’m not a twitcher, but the Mrs loves birdwatching).
We brought lunch with us and had a nice picnic in the picnic area. The whole trip was relaxing and exhilarating at the same time, and the fresh sea air did us a lot of good. Highly recommended!
