Tresco ’26 #2: On Tresco

Read this blog: The one where we party 20 feet under the sea

Tuesday 8th to Saturday 18th September 2026

The journey to Tresco is always part of the adventure: this year the skies were clear and the helicopter left on time.

The views were, as always, impressive and particularly so with the sun reflecting off the sea.

On our visit this year, for the first time ever, we were blessed with three consecutive days of low tides: Friday, Saturday and Sunday were all designated as being “walkable’.

On the first of these we walked across to Bryher with Liz and Martin.

A Low Tide Event was scheduled for the next day. Although some of our visits have coincided with these in the past, they have always previously been cancelled due to bad weather. This year the forecast was good and the sun was shining when we woke. We decided to go to the Abbey Gardens to watch the red squirrels being fed: Robert had spoken to the chief squirrel feeder and confirmed the time in advance.

From here we walked to Flood Hatch to start the walk.

A Low Tide Event is a rare occurrence which lasts for just over an hour and takes place when “the moon and tides align” to reveal the seabed between Tresco and Bryher for an extended period during daylight. Maybe this is something which might really be described as once in a Blue Moon. It is part pop-up festival and part celebration of an incredible natural phenomenon. (Note: In Roman times the Scillies was a single island, it’s only since 400-500AD that they were separated, due to the historic rise in sea levels.)

We were delighted to be able to experience it this year with good friends and finally tick it off our bucket list [see also Selfie of the day].

A tractor tows out a trailer as a stage for live music and some of the local businesses use their small boats to double up as stalls for the event. These are anchored in advance over the sandbar and are then beached as the water recedes.

This allows Bryher’s Island Fish to serve tasty seafood from its boat Emerald Dawn. There was a long queue.

The delicious Veronica Farm Fudge was also available to sample and buy.

When we have previously done the walking tide the “traffic” is predominantly from Tresco to Bryher but for the Low Tide Event, people were flocking from both sides of the channel to meet in the middle, and boat loads arriving from the main island: St Mary’s.

Two years ago we invited Sue and Henry to join us in Tresco. They loved it as much, as we do, and have subsequently booked their own accommodation for the two years since. Fortunately they arrived on Saturday, the day of the Low Tide Event, and were able to join us out on the sandbar.

Pop-up ‘Sand Bars’ on the sandbar served cold drinks including beer and locally distilled island spirits.

We obviously had to indulge with a snifter on the seabed.

We were amused to see that, just like a sell-out stadium concert, there was ‘merch’ available including good quality T-shirts, wrist bands and mugs. Various among us succumbed.

While we were there, Matilda insisted on walking out to the limit of the sandbar so she could track it on Strava. At this point we were paddling to our ankles.

We looked at the landmarks on either shore so we would be able to see how far out we were: next time we got on the Firethorn to another island it was further than we thought.

The Low Tide Event is a mystic hour when Mother Nature conspires to create the perfect conditions for a transitory magical celebration. A klaxon sounds to indicate that its time to return to dry land before the sea reclaims its own.

Thirty years ago, Robert and his brother Ian walked over to Bryher at low tide, and after enjoying too many beers in the Fraggle Rock pub returned back to Tresco waist deep.

As we walked back to Tresco, people from the Isles of Scilly Wildlife Trust had found sea creatures stranded by the tide and were keeping them safe to show people the wealth and diversity of life under the sea.

The Low Tide Event was the epitome of this year’s visit but there were other highlights, including the Ladies Gig Racing . . .

. . . a visit to the Ruin Beach Café which has Robert’s favourite view from a bar [see also Dish of the day] . . .

. . . coffee and cake with a view at Juliet’s Garden . . .

. . . and a rainbow viewed from Firethorn (this is the same channel between Bryher and Tresco that we had walked across earlier in the week.)

We were also privileged to extend our stay at Sue and Henry’s invitation in Starfish.

The dry summer and drought conditions have been particularly hard for the Isles of Scilly where they are dependent on ground water. Visitors were asked to limit their use of water as much as we could. The instructions included only flush the loo if you have to; limit showers to four minutes; when flushing the loo use the short flush. Robert was struggling to know which is the correct knob for the short flush.

The swimming pools had been closed during the summer but had been recently reopened. Sue and Matilda enjoyed having the pool to themselves on several occasions, even though the jacuzzi was empty and unavailable.

When the skies are clear, the colours are gorgeous.

This was definitely a good year.

Selfie of the day:

Dish of the day: