Contact / info

About the trip

• We depart in Harwich from the Ferry berth on Half penny pier. For sat nav please use CO12 3HH.
• Please allow 30 minutes for parking and toilet. We depart promptly on the actual departure time. Due to tides we cannot wait for late comers at all.
• An extra layer of clothes is essential all year round.
• We have toilet facilities on our seal watching boat and carry safety equipment.

Weather

You can count on us! If you book with us, you will see seals.
If the weather isn’t perfect we will still depart. Your trip will always take place, rain or sun shine. There is no need to worry that your trip wont happen. Please leave a dry set of clothes in your car and have fun on board. It is highly unlikely that you will stay dry on board our boat! The only instance a trip must be cancelled, is in the unlikely event that the wind goes beyond safe conditions. In this case we will offer you another trip in safe conditions.

Parking

The closest payable car park in Harwich is The Quay TDC Parking CO12 3HH

An alternative car park is Wellington Road Car Park CO12 3DL

Free street parking throughout Harwich is available.

If you are arriving on the Ferry from Shotley or Felixstowe on the Suffolk side, the free car park at Shotley Marina IP9 1QJ is best for you. Park at Shotley Marina and take the Ferry across to Harwich. The same for Felixstowe (Land-guard point), park on a pay and display carpark at IP11 3TW and take the Ferry across.

Ferry tickets are available online on the Ferry service website

ABOUT THE AREA

There are currently over 250 seals in the Walton backwaters, a healthy breeding population which has risen from only 5 in 1986. The colony of both harbour seals (Phoca vitulina) and grey seals (Halichoerus grypus) are an unusual russet colour for much of the year due to the iron oxide-rich mud on to which they haul out. The seals enjoy resting on the mudbanks, and prefer areas where no rivers flow into the sea, like the backwaters, because these waters are permanently ice-free.

Hamford water backwaters, behind the Naze, is a National Nature Reserve and is recognised as being an internationally important wetland for birds (RAMSAR). Hamford Water and the Walton Backwaters is an area of tidal creeks, mudflats, islands, salt marshes and marsh grasslands, viewed best by boat. This area is recognised internationally and is designated National Nature Reserve. It is an internationally important breeding ground for Little Terns and wintering ground for Dark-bellied Brent Geese, Wildfowl and Waders. It also supports communities of coastal plants which are extremely rare in Britain including Hog’s Fennel.

Hamford Water and the Walton Backwaters have RAMSAR classification. This means that it is an internationally important wetland for birds. It is on the migration route for many bird species and provides wintering grounds for Brent Geese, Godwit, Redshank, Shelduck, Teal and Avocet and breeding grounds for Terns. In addition, there are nationally important numbers of Wigeon, Pintail, Ringed Plover, Curlew, and Dunlin. During migration in the autumn and spring, the Naze is a prime birdwatching site. Curlew and Sandpipers are regularly seen along the beach, with Gannets and Arctic Skuas passing offshore.