If you need a Sea Kayaking Guide to Holy Island in Northumberland, here’s a brief description.
We circumnavigated the island on a 4.7 metre tide (North Shields). This allowed us to cross the causeway with ease, and the shallowest water at this critical point was about 20cm deep.
We unloaded at the harbour and parked our cars in the main island carpark. Launching two hours before high water, we paddled east.
This took us past the castle – a spectacular building on a harsh rocky outcrop.
Turning north the tide was running against us, but we made swift progress through the seals until we reached Emmanuel Head with it’s distinctive white cone.
Now starts, I think the most interesting part of the coast line. There are several miles of secluded beaches and rocky reefs, and there is nearly always swell and surf along this section.
Turning west, we paddled along Goswick Sands. The surf in this area is fantastic – clean and breaking nicely. Eventually, we turned south and picked our way through the surf and headed towards the causeway. It’s important to reach the causeway at high water.
The tide runs at a couple of knots here, and there’s a refuge for car drivers or hikers who get caught out!
All that remains now is to paddle back to the harbour and complete the circumnavigation.
