The Isles of Scilly is one of the best places in the UK to kayak. The Eastern Isles, a group of uninhabited islands that lie to the east of St Martin’s, are like emerald jewels in an azure blue sea. They are far enough away to make visiting them an adventure, but not a challenge!
With deserted white sandy beaches, ancient settlements, and the opportunities to encounter seabirds and seals, there’s so much to discover there. In a kayak, you have the freedom to explore these islands at your own pace, immersing yourself in the beauty and tranquillity of nature.
We’ve designed our kayak tour around the Eastern Isles to take three hours, which is plenty of time to explore the islands. You don’t need to be an experienced kayaker to enjoy the tour, new paddlers are welcome! All our hires are unguided, but you will take a copy of the map below with you. This shows the approximate paddling times between the islands.
So, if you don’t have three hours you can tailor your adventure accordingly. The Eastern Isles are protected so follow our advice on where to explore to help to keep them special.
Start your kayak tour heading to Nornour
You collect your kayak from our base at Par Beach, which is opposite Higher Town Quay on St Martin’s. Paddle out through the moorings and head towards the island of Nornour. It’s a gentle 25-minute paddle over crystal-clear water. As you get close to the island, look down into the water to see the beautiful forests of seaweed. Look out for fish, jellyfish and maybe seals.
Land on the island’s sandy beach, above which are the ancient remains of a Romano British settlement. Discovered in 1962, many artefacts from this settlement are in the Museum on St Mary’s.
Take the track above the settlement to make your way to the top of the hill. From here there are fabulous views across to the mainland and of the Scilly archipelago. Allow an hour to paddle to and then explore Nornour.
Great Ganilly, your next stop.
Leaving Nornour, paddle with the islands on your left along the shoreline to your next stop, which is the island of Great Ganilly. You are most likely to see seals on this part of your kayak tour. These are Atlantic grey seals and the colony on Scilly is nationally important.
If you’re fortunate enough to see seals, don’t change your course or paddle towards them. Just keep quietly paddling, they are naturally inquisitive animals and may even follow your kayak.
It takes about 10 minutes to paddle to Great Ganilly. Land on the beach which, on a sunny day with the waves gently lapping on the shore, is an idyllic spot. To protect seals and seabirds, the rest of the island is closed to the public.
Relax on the beach and take in views of Ragged Island and Little Arthur. Aim to leave the beach on Great Ganilly an hour and a half into your kayak tour
Now head to Little Arthur
With Great Ganilly behind you, paddle towards the small island of Little Ganilly. Paddle clockwise around it and you’ll find the stunning beach on Little Arthur coming into view on your left. This is where you land and is our favourite place on Scilly for a picnic.
Little Arthur is actually made up of three islands, Little, Middle and Great Arthur. There are ancient passage graves on the highest part of each island. Middle Arthur has a unique boat shaped passage grave.
There is a rocky causeway joining Middle to Great Arthur. Take care when walking across this, but it’s good for beach combing. The south end of Great Arthur is closed to the public during the bird nesting season. Allow an hour to travel to and explore the Arthurs
Finish your kayak tour with a visit to the Ganilly Sandbar
If your kayak tour takes place around low water, we recommend you stop off on the Ganilly Sandbar as you paddle back to St Martin’s. It’s exposed for only a couple of hours around the low tide.
The sandbar is such a magical place, made even more special by its ephemeral nature. There is nothing here but sand and seabirds, but it’s well worth a visit.
If you’re visiting the sandbar when heading back to St Martin’s, you will want to spend a little less time on Little Arthur. If the sandbar is covered, it will take 25 minutes to paddle directly back to St Martin’s from Little Arthur.
Our Eastern Isles kayak tour will give you the freedom to explore these wonderful islands at your own pace. You’ll discover beautiful scenery, ancient settlements and have some memorable encounters with marine life.
The tour works equally well in reverse. Feel free to adjust the time spent on each island to suit your interests. We’re always happy to give advice about the best time to hire if you want to visit the Ganilly Sandbar.
St Martins Watersports hires kayaks, paddleboards and snorkel sets from Par Beach on St Martin’s. You’ll find more inspiration for kayaking tours in our top five beaches to kayak to or our top four one-hour kayak hire routes.
There's nothing like exploring the Isles of Scilly by kayak. Time on the water is never wasted, the best moments happen at sea!
First of all, we wish you a very happy holiday and a good break.
Secondly I m delighted Dulcie will be with you again next year.
Finally, we’ve done this kayak tour and it was a pure delight. Highly recommend it. May even do it again when we’re out next year.