Morston Seal Trip

We’re staying in a house in Blakeney, and at the pretty quayside, there are advertisements for boat trips to see the seals. We phoned the number displayed, and booked a trip. We were then told that we needed to be at Blakeney Quay an hour prior to departure to pay, and then drive to Morston (a couple of miles away) where the boat departs from. I felt the posters in Blakeney were rather misleading, as they imply that the boats leave from Blakeney quay, but they don’t.

We followed the instructions, and arrived at Morston quay in good time (not easy with six people). We then took longer than expected to find our boat, as several different companies depart from Morston. Our boat—Bishops—was a muddy walk away. The boats can only leave on certain tides, so the times change about an hour every day.

We climbed aboard the boat, leaving a trail of muddy footsteps. The skipper was mopping as we walked—which meant that all the seats were wet—but we pretended we didn’t mind having wet bottoms, as this seemed like a fishermen thing to do.

The boat was wet and windy, but it was a lovely sunny day. Unattractive beany hats which had been shoved into pockets were pulled out and jammed onto heads as we drew near to the sea and the breeze became a wind. The estuary was studded with a thousand colourful buoys, and water birds stalked the sand dunes. People were holding onto the sides, and staring across the water, everyone unsure if we would actually see seals.

We rounded Blakeney Point, and there they were, like fat boulders lying in the sunshine. There were grey seals (the most common) and common seals (which are, bizarrely, less common). Every so often a seal would move, humping its body awkwardly to a new position. They were unperturbed by the queue of boats full of tourists snatching photos on their phones—they didn’t even look at us.

The most exciting views (I thought) were the glimpses of seals in the water—the flash of a Labrador-like head, the lazy dive under the waves. There was a long line of tourist boats, and we circled a few times, watching, before going back to the quay.

The trips can be booked in various places (though they all leave from Morston). It cost £13 for adults for a one-hour trip. It was worth it. Wear old clothes.

Hope you have a good day.
Take care,
Love, Anne x

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