East coast Northumberland Flood
Seahouses to the Farne Islands: crossing to a seal colony on a two-hour tide gate
Six nautical miles each way, one of the largest grey seal colonies in England, and a tide gate that decides whether the crossing takes forty minutes or two hours. The Farnes are the single most rewarding short crossing on the English east coast, and the one where poor planning punishes you hardest.
- Distance
- 6.2 nm
- Tide window
- 2.8-4.2 m springs, 1.4-2.2 m neaps
- Wind limit
- 10 kt
- Grade
- Intermediate
- Published
- 14 Aug 2026
Reading the Inner Sound
The Farnes sit two to three miles offshore as a scatter of 15 to 28 islands depending on the tide. The main channel between the inner group and the mainland is the Inner Sound, and it floods north and ebbs south with a rate of 1.2 to 1.8 knots on springs at the narrows.
The consequence is simple arithmetic. If you launch at Seahouses and paddle straight out on a flooding stream, you cover the 2.5 nm to the inner islands in about 35 minutes. Paddle the same line on the ebb and you will be fighting it all the way, arriving tired and 40 minutes late.
Which islands you can actually land on
Landing on the Farnes is regulated by the National Trust, and the rules are not negotiable. Inner Farne has a landing stage and a seasonal warden; it is closed during the seal pupping season from late October to mid-December. Staple Island is open in the summer only. The outer group, including Longstone, has no landing allowed at any time outside emergency.
You are not allowed to land on any island with a seal haul-out between the hours the pupping season runs, and you must keep 50 m from any raft of seals on the water. A cow with a pup will abandon it if you push between her and the water; this is the single most common way visiting paddlers do real damage here.
The crossing itself
Leave the harbour on the last hour of the flood and hold a line 20 degrees north of the inner islands. The stream will set you south onto them without any correction. Visibility is usually excellent, but the islands are low and disappear in haze; carry a compass bearing on the Longstone lighthouse, which is 30 m tall and visible from Seahouses on a clear day.
Expect clapotis on the west side of every island in any easterly swell over 0.7 m. The islands block the swell and the reflected energy comes back off the cliff base, producing confused water 100 to 200 m out. It looks alarming from a distance and is manageable once you are in it, but keep the group together and do not stop in the middle of it.
Birds, seals and the rules that keep them there
Between April and late July the cliffs hold around 40,000 breeding pairs of guillemots and razorbills, plus puffins on the inner islands. Arctic terns nest on the ground and will dive at your head if you land near a colony; a hat and sunglasses are not a joke, they are standard kit here in June.
Do not feed anything, do not land on a beach that already has seals on it, and keep your group's noise down below the cliff line. The islands' own guidance is 50 m from birds and 100 m from seal haul-outs. Wardens do enforce it, and the National Trust has withdrawn landing permission from groups that ignore the distances.
Plan table
Before departure
- 01
Check the National Trust landing status before you launch
Inner Farne closes for pupping from late October; Staple Island is summer only.
- 02
Work the tide gate backwards from Seahouses high water
Aim to leave one hour before high water and to be back within three hours of it.
- 03
Carry a compass bearing to Longstone lighthouse
Charted bearing is roughly 055 degrees magnetic from the harbour entrance.
- 04
Brief the group on the 50 m bird and seal rule
Agree it on the beach, not while drifting past a haul-out with 200 seals on it.
En route
- 01
Hold 20 degrees north of the inner islands outbound
The flood stream does the navigation for you if you let it.
- 02
Keep the group within 100 m and stop only in flat water
Clapotis on the west faces is the only place this paddle gets genuinely awkward.
- 03
Keep a listening watch on channel 16
The Seahouses to Farne run is a working boat channel for the dive and tour fleet in summer.
- 04
Turn for home on the first of the ebb, no later
Every 30 minutes of delay past that costs you roughly twice as much paddling on the way back.
Key numbers
- 6.2 nm return from Seahouses harbour, 3 to 5 hours depending on landing time.
- Tide gate: out on the last of the flood, back on the first of the ebb.
- Wind limit 10 kt. Any easterly over 10 kt makes the west faces of the islands unpleasant.
- Landing only at Inner Farne (seasonal) and Staple Island (summer). 50 m from birds, 100 m from haul-outs.
- The crossing is a working boat channel; expect dive boats and tour RIBs in summer.
Bail-outs
- B1 Inner Farne landing stage, seasonal warden, no landing during seal pupping in late October
- B2 Bamburgh beach, 2 nm south of the islands, a straightforward surf landing
Return leg：Return on the first of the ebb, aiming north of the Seahouses breakwater and letting the stream set you onto the harbour entrance rather than fighting it.