Lundy Island sits 12 miles off the North Devon coast, rising out of the Bristol Channel like a granite ship, and a day trip there is one of the most memorable excursions you can make from Woolacombe. Three miles long by half a mile wide, with a thousand-foot plateau, a 13th-century castle ruin, a pub, a farm, a lighthouse, and some of the most extraordinary wildlife in the British Isles, Lundy rewards every minute of the two-hour ferry crossing.
The island is managed by the Landmark Trust, which maintains 23 holiday properties here and opens the island to day you from April to October via the MS Oldenburg, sailing from Ilfracombe (9 miles from Woolacombe) and from Bideford Quay. The crossing is part of the experience, and the approach to the island with its dramatic west-facing cliffs is genuinely breathtaking.
Wildlife is the main draw for many you. Lundy is a Marine Conservation Zone, and the waters around the island support grey seals, porpoises, basking sharks (in season), and Manx shearwaters. Puffins have been successfully re-established here following a rat eradication programme, and seeing them on the water or returning to the breeding cliffs is genuinely special. Sika deer, Lundy ponies, and Soay sheep roam the island freely.
The island’s only pub, the Marisco Tavern, serves food and drinks and is a warm place to base yourself during your visit. Advanced booking for the ferry is strongly recommended in summer, day trips are very popular and sell out weeks ahead.
The island’s pub, the Marisco Tavern, is the social hub of Lundy life and a warm and convivial place to spend time during your visit. The island also has a small shop stocking Lundy stamps, Lundy issues its own postage stamps, accepted for mail carried by the island’s postal service, along with local produce and gifts. Walking the western cliffs in the late afternoon with the Atlantic light changing across the face of the rock and the seals hauled out below is one of those experiences that is simply impossible to replicate anywhere else in the South West.
