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**Red Funnel offer: 10% off Red Funnel via this exclusive link**  Before we get into the meat of this Solent-sandwich let's make it clear that there isn't currently a simple fixed price discount which every Isle of Wight resident receives on every vehicle crossing on the Isle of Wight ferries. You can’t just turn up at the ferry, shout a secret phrase ("alright nipper!") and help yourself to a £50 return journey without any effort or commitment. However, with a bit of investment, faffing or forward planning then most people can make some good savings on the ferry if they're an Isle of Wight resident. This blog post will focus on car ferry travel but there are deals for Isle of Wight foot passengers such as My Link and the HoverBlue Card. You can find separate guides for Wightlink, Hovertravel and Red Funnel in our ferry section. Anyway, let’s start with Wightlink car ferry travel. Wightlink's Multilink Deal for residentsIf you’re an Isle of Wight resident or a second homeowner then you are entitled to buy a Wightlink Multilink pass. The idea is that you buy a book of ten crossings for a car and passengers. At the time of writing, it costs £400, so a return journey is £80 regardless of when you travel or how many passengers you have. During the peak of summer that will probably save you more than £100 per crossing. In some instances it will save you more than £200. Each ferry crossing has a number of spaces reserved for Multilink passes so you need to book early if you’re planning to use the ferry on a Saturday lunchtime in August. The Wightlink website says it is at least 15% of the available space on a ferry. That is only about 10 cars on the ferries on the Lymington crossing, but is more on the bigger ferries from Portsmouth. There are some key bits of smallprint – some of which make it more appealing and some of which make it less appealing. The main downside is that you need to use the journeys within one year of topping up. You may conclude that since you only manage two or three return journeys with a car each year, that it’s not worth it. But wait, dear reader! There are a couple of bits of juicy smallprint which will make your heart race. Firstly, you can share a Wightlink Multilink pass with two other people who live at the same address and you don’t have to be the driver. They aren’t tied to one vehicle, so a parent could share a pass with a son and daughter who are away at university. Secondly, if you don’t use all your journeys within one year you can carry over spare credit by topping up another five journeys. This works well if you have a year of minimal travelling followed by a year of more regular journeys. Thirdly, if you decide you don’t need your pass anymore and it has credit left, you can apply to get 75% of the cost back. There are some bits of smallprint to abide by but it’s not too complicated and it means that you’ll still get a good price if you only use three or four crossings and then cancel the pass.  Wightlink reserves at least 15% of space for Multilink users - or 27 cars on this ferry Red Funnel's offers for residentsLet’s move on to Red Funnel, which takes a completely different approach. Their travel deals for regular car ferry travellers are available to Islanders and Mainlanders (20% off if you prepay £1000). However, they do send out something called the Red Funnel Big Book of Savings to Isle of Wight residents (71,000 homes apparently). These books are sent out five times a year and offer special deals and discounts for residents. You can use the discount codes a limited number of times (usually three times), which is why we don’t share them on this website. The deals either offer a fixed price or a percentage discount. As you’ll see from this marketing website the deals can be pretty good – during 2025 they offered 25% off vehicle ferry crossings or Red Funnel car ferry day returns for about £50 - £60. Read our full guide to the Big Book of Savings. The upside with these deals is that they will sometimes trump the Wightlink Multilink price and there’s no commitment or upfront payment. The downside is that they are usually designed to steer customers towards lower demand sailings, whereas the Wightlink deal potentially lets you travel any time. You can’t rely on these discounts if you’re planning a trip to the mainland long in advance.  It's not big and it's not a book, but the Big Book of Savings gives good discounts Cheap ferry travel for residents on low incomesBesides those deals from Wightlink and Red Funnel, there are also generous discounts for Isle of Wight residents who have low incomes. To qualify, you need to either be receiving ‘Local Council Tax support’ or housing benefit. The press release announcing the scheme back in 2018 said there are about 14,000 eligible people. Once you’ve applied for the scheme, you can get Red Funnel return car ferry travel for a maximum price of about £60. They call it the Assisted Fares Scheme. Wightlink also offer a discount under the name of the Discounted Fares Scheme, although I couldn’t see prices. There are also foot passenger discounts for people on low incomes from Red Funnel, Wightlink and Hovertravel which is somewhere around half price. Hovertravel call it the IOW Council Affordable Fares Scheme. Discounts for residents travelling to hospitalFinally, it’s worth mentioning that there are schemes in place for Isle of Wight residents who are visiting hospitals on the mainland.
At the time of typing, you get a 50% discount with Wightlink if you're going for an NHS appointment and they also have a maximum fare of £70 in place. Red Funnel do a fixed price hospital trip deal whilst Hovertravel offer discounts to foot passengers under their Hovercare scheme. If anyone knows of other discounts and deals that are exclusively for Isle of Wight residents, please add a comment below. We cover all the deals and offers that we know of in our ferry discounts guide.
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**Away Resorts Discount Code: Save up to 10% via this link with discount code DOGFRIENDLY10 or AWRAF7 + cheap ferry travel** Away Resorts now owns four different holiday parks and lodge resorts with hot tubs on the Isle of Wight. They're a popular choice, partly because they'll get you a hefty discount on the Isle of Wight ferry if you stay with them. Away Resorts has run Whitecliff Bay Holiday Park in the East Wight for donkeys' years, but in 2022 they merged with Aria Resorts and took on three other lodge parks including:
They're all dog friendly and offer hot tubs and a range of different types of accommodation, but which is best? The short answer (for those who don't want to read all my waffle) is that St Helens Coastal Resort gets the best reviews but it's small and simple, whilst Whitecliff Bay Holiday Park is the best for a beach holiday and has the best facilities. The Lakes Rookley is cheapest in our price comparison. Here's our guide to which is best Away Resorts for you, along with a price comparison: Whitecliff Bay Holiday Park - Best Beach Location, Biggest, Best For Busy Families, Some Sea ViewsWhitecliff Bay Holiday Park is a big, busy, family-friendly holiday park on the outskirts of Bembridge in the East Wight. Over the last few years they've spent a lot of money adding flash new accommodation with cool names like TriBeCa and Rockstar. They even featured on a Channel 5 TV programme where Shane Ritchie larked around on the Isle of Wight and said things like "Corrrrrrr, look at that, me old mucker!". If that doesn't convince you, I don't know what will. Whitecliff Bay no longer offers touring, but they do have simple camping pitches during July and August. There's a much bigger choice of accommodation types at Whitecliff Bay Holiday Park than there are at the other Away Resorts on the Isle of Wight. If you want plenty to do onsite then Whitecliff Bay Holiday Park is your best bet out of the four Away Resorts holiday parks on the Isle of Wight. It's got indoor and outdoor swimming pools, as well as minigolf, a playground and an arcade. During term time they have things like Tots Breaks, which are aimed at pre-schoolers, whilst during the summer holidays they put on outdoor cinema where you can sit outside and hope it doesn't rain. In peak season, there are free daily activities for kids such as a toddlers' disco as well as things you pay for, such as arts and crafts, archery, disc golf and baby ballet (more details on the entertainment programme here). There's also evening entertainment for grown ups. The onsite restaurant is a good size and there's also a beach café during peak season. However, the very best thing about Whitecliff Bay Holiday Park is the location. When the sun shines, the beach at Whitecliff Bay is truly gorgeous and even muscles its way into my top 5 Isle of Wight beaches. It's hard to access unless you are staying at an adjacent holiday park, so it doesn't get unpleasantly busy. One downside is that the slope down to it is ferociously steep and has claimed the good-natured attitude of many a beach-goer. My wife's language changed from Stepford-Wives-Esque to Tarantino-Esque in the time it took to get from the bottom of the slope to the top. It's also worth looking at the map to figure out where your accommodation is. The site is split into two with a road going through the middle. That's not a big problem but if you're in the furthest away point then it's getting on for 15 minutes to walk to the beach. Customers give Whitecliff Bay an average review score of 4/5 on TripAdvisor or 4.2/5 on Google Reviews (82% overall). That puts it in the middle compared to the other Away Resorts on the Isle of Wight. Read the blog about our stay at Whitecliff Bay Holiday Park.  Whitecliff Bay is one of my favourite beaches...and it's right next to some of the holiday park accommodation  The more expensive accommodation at Whitecliff Bay is called 'Exclusive' whilst the caravans are cheaper St Helens Coastal Resort - Best Accommodation, Best Reviews, Quietest There's no kids' club at St Helens...so this sort of parental enthusiasm is required  The lodges at St Helens Coastal Resort are modern and more spacious than a caravan St Helens Coastal Resort has changed its name a few times. For a while it was called a 'retreat' but it doesn't have the range of facilities you might expect at a 'retreat'. It's also not as coastal as you might imagine - the beach is about a mile away. However, it's got a lot going for it once you get past the name. For starters, it is the highest rated Away Resorts site on the Isle of Wight, according to customer reviews (4.5/5 on TripAdvisor or 4.5/5 on Google Reviews or 90% overall). A lot of the lodges and caravans have been added in the last few years, so you've got a good chance of a very modern property that isn't looking like it's been lived in by a parade of holidaymakers with hairy dogs. We made use of the outdoor swimming pool, which is small but good fun (and it was heated). There's also a small playground that was completed shortly after we left. The location is at the end of a wiggly road past some houses. It's within a pretty coastal village called St Helens in the East Wight, which has a large village green. Walking down to St Helens beach will take you about 15 minutes. If you're a bit more determined, you can walk to the sandy paradise of Priory Bay. St Helens Coastal Resort is a much smaller resort than nearby Whitecliff Bay Holiday Park, so it's a good choice if you want a quiet base for exploring the Isle of Wight. There isn't a restaurant onsite, but Bembridge has a good choice and there are plenty of other good places to eat depending on whether you prioritise a sea view or occupying the children whilst you enjoy a glass of Merlot. The Lakes Rookley - Best for Island Wide exploring, Cheapest In Our Price Comparison, 76% review score The Lakes Rookley is equipped with indoor and outdoor swimming pools...  ...and the Lakehouses have good views The Lakes Rookley is something of a rarity on the Isle of Wight - a holiday resort that isn't by the beach. There are plus sides to that, assuming that you've bought a car with you. You can explore a lot of the Isle of Wight with a short drive. The seaside resorts of Shanklin, Sandown and Ventnor are all about 15 minutes away in the car, whilst Compton Bay in the West Wight and Cowes in the North Wight are both 20 minutes drive. The absolute longest drive from The Lakes Rookley is the 35 minutes to Alum Bay and The Needles lighthouse. Most Islanders wouldn't drive this far unless it was a very special occasion (e.g. a family wedding or perhaps a funeral of a relative, at a push). If you're a hardened mainlander then you'll be used to drives of more than half an hour so it will be fine. Anyway, back to The Lakes Rookley. In terms of scale, it is bigger than The Bay Colwell and St Helens Coastal Resort but it's smaller than Whitecliff Bay Holiday Park. There are two swimming pools, including one indoors and one outdoors. The Lakes are also used for watersports such as kayaking and paddleboarding. Of course, you could do these on the seafront at Shanklin or St Helens but there's less risk of being dragged out to France from a lake in Rookley. You can eat onsite at The Lakeside Bar and Eatery. Rookley itself doesn't have a huge amount to it (there's a car dealership, but I doubt that would entertain the kids). However, Shanklin, Sandown and Ventnor have lots of places to eat with a sea view. If you are after chain restaurants and fast food then Newport is your best bet (Beefeater, Pizza Hut, McDonalds, KFC, Burger King). The poshest and most expensive accommodation at The Lakes Rookley are the Lakehouses, which have a pleasant view. At the other end of the accommodation range, we found that The Lakes Rookley was the cheapest of all four Away Resorts on the Isle of Wight (see further down for our price comparison). Reviews of The Lakes Rookley are a little bit behind the other three Away Resorts on the Isle of Wight. Customers on TripAdvisor give it 3.5/5. On Google Reviews it scores higher with a score of 4.1/5 (76% overall). A lot of the older reviews will be from several years ago when it was Rookley Country Park. I would read through the more recent reviews for a more accurate summary. The Bay Colwell - More Accessible Beach, Quiet, closest to a ferry port  Finally, The Bay Colwell which is a bit of an all rounder. It is certainly smaller and less well equipped than Whitecliff Bay Holiday Park and The Lakes Rookley. However, it does have an indoor swimming pool (unlike St Helens Coastal Resort, which has an outdoor pool). It's also much close to the beach than The Lakes Rookley and St Helens Coastal Resort. You can get to Colwell Bay in about five minutes on foot. There's bike hire, soft play and a coffee shop onsite. The accommodation is mostly rows of two bedroom chalets which have been much improved in recent years. They're described as 'Cottages' on the website and some of them have hot tubs. The more expensive accommodation are 'Lodges', some of which have an extra bedroom. It's also the only Away Resorts site in the West Wight. Generally speaking, the West Wight is prettier and less developed than the East Wight (complaints from East Wighters to the usual address, please). Colwell itself is developed, but the nearby West Wight coastline which runs from Freshwater Bay to Chale in the South Wight is populated by more cows than people. If you are coming from the Westcountry, then The Bay Colwell is convenient to reach via Wightlink's Yarmouth to Lymington crossing. The ferry takes 40 minutes and then it's a seven minute drive to the resort. The Bay Colwell scores 82% from reviewers, including 4/5 on TripAdvisor and 4.2/5 on Google Reviews. Away Resorts ISle of Wight Price ComparisonWe started by looking for a week for the cheapest accommodation available in August 2026. We searched for a seven night holiday. Prices don't include ferry travel, although you can get it for around half price if you book through Away Resorts. Expect to pay about £70 - £150 for the ferry depending on when you travel and how long you stay. From cheapest to most expensive:
We then looked for the same holiday but a lodge with a hot tub. So, it's a holiday in August 2026 for four people, staying for a week, excluding the ferry:
So, based on our mini price comparison, The Lakes Rookley is the cheapest of the four Away Resorts on the Isle of Wight and The Bay Colwell and Whitecliff Bay tend to be the most expensive. I would caution that prices vary a lot depending on when you visit and what accommodation you choose. Review comparison of Away Resorts ISle of Wight Holiday REsortsAs of December 2025, the review scores for the Away Resorts on the Isle of Wight look like this:
All three of the parks have seen big changes in the last few years, so the older review scores are not particularly relevant. St Helens Coastal Resort, The Lakes Rookley and The Bay Colwell have all changed hands twice in the last few years. They were previously known as St Helens Holiday Park, Rookley Country Park and Colwell Bay Holiday Park until they were bought by Aria Resorts in 2017. Aria Resorts invested a lot of money in the sites and then the company merged with Away Resorts in 2022 (Ed: will there be a test on this at the end?). My advice is to look at some recent reviews, rather than going on the overall score. Distance from the ferry ports You can save money on the ferry if you stay with Away Resorts The Isle of Wight is not vast, so travel times from the ferries are not a major factor if you are bringing a car. However, if it's a weekend visit or if you have children who don't travel well (i.e. all children) then it's something to consider.
Also, make sure that you use the Away Resorts ferry discount. It'll save you as much as 50% compared to going direct. See our full guide to the Isle of Wight ferries for beginners. Related Guides:
 Does the sight one of these make you feel ill? Fear not...help is at hand Here's my guide to some cheap and free places to park on the Isle of Wight including free parking in Ryde, Newport, Sandown, The Needles, Ventnor and Shanklin. It is ideal for anyone - like my mother - who is willing to walk some distance to avoid paying to park. I really don't like paying to park, but I usually cough up now that we have children and 14 bags on every beach outing. It is also worth trying Your Parking Space and Just Park for events such as Cowes Week or for parking near a ferry port. You can rent out someone's driveway for a few hours or days via the website. Quite a lot of Isle of Wight seafront parking is free in the depths of winter but I won't bother listing all of those, as most people visit the Island in spring, summer and autumn. I've focused on the places where you might have a day out. There's also the controversial topic of whether it's acceptable to park in a permit-free residential area as long as you aren't blocking someone's drive. Personally, I have no problem with this (and don't mind people parking near my house) but I do whoosh off pretty quickly when I return to the car in case an angry resident has been waiting for me with a rolling pin... This guide will probably go out of date before I hit publish, so please comment at the bottom if a) somewhere is no longer free or b) you've found somewhere else free or cheap to park on the Isle of Wight. Also, please check signs for yourself when you park somewhere as I may have got things wrong. And for any grandmas reading, the best way to suck an egg is at the pointy end. Free and cheap parking for Alum Bay and The NeedlesLet's start with one of the trickiest places to visit without paying for parking. The road leading to Alum Bay and The Needles has double yellow lines that seem to go on for miles. Last time we visited, the only car park was £6. That's not exorbitant for all day parking but it's a bit pricey if you only stay for 10 minutes before one of the children has a meltdown.
 The footpath mentioned above comes out quite near to this much-photographed spot Free and cheap parking in Bembridge and St Helens
Free parking in Brighstone
Free parking at Colwell Bay
 Look out for this entrepreneur near Colwell Bay (I think it might have gone up to £4 since I took this). Free and cheap parking at Compton Bay
Free parking in Cowes and GurnardCowes gets pretty ruthless when it comes to summertime parking, particularly in Cowes Week.
 Gurnard has some free on-street parking (at the time of typing) Free and cheap parking at Freshwater Bay
Free parking in Godshill
Free and cheap parking in Newport and Carisbrooke (including Isle of Wight Festival parking)There are some residential roads on the edges of the town centre which are free, but a lot are now resident permit areas.
Free Parking in Ryde
Free and cheap parking in Sandown
Free and cheap parking in ShanklinParking on Shanklin Seafront is a competitive and expensive experience. We once stayed in a flat on the seafront which didn't have parking and I spent the whole week moving the car or driving round looking for a space whilst crying (and I spent £50 on parking). Some options:
 Seafront Pay and Display parking spaces in Shanklin are quickly gobbled up during the summer  Big Mead park has a free car park, plus the added bonus of occasional ducklings Free Parking at Totland BayThere are a couple of good options for those who don't want to pay for seafront parking at Totland Bay. Seafront parking was free a few years ago, which makes paying for it all the more painful.
Free parking in Ventnor
Free parking in Yarmouth
Free parking in Yaverland
Free parking near Isle of Wight ferry portsIf you're looking for free or cheap parking in Southampton, Portsmouth, Lymington or Southsea for a trip to the Isle of Wight then that is covered in our ferries guide. (Spoiler alert: there isn't much).
If you're hoping to find somewhere free or cheap to park near to the ferries from Fishbourne, Cowes, East Cowes, Yarmouth or Ryde then you face a bit of a challenge. Some suggestions:
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