Priory Bay is an absolute gem of a beach. I'm convinced that if it was easy to access then it would be heaving on a summer's day. Unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately) you need to faff around a bit to get there. Those who make it to Priory Bay share a steely determination that is usually found in Arctic explorers and astronauts. Your options: 1. Via Seagrove BayOur preferred option is to park on the housing estate around Caws Avenue or Solent View Road. This is very much a residential area but all of the residents have driveways so you aren't pinching their spaces. Needless to say, you can expect an angry note, raised eyebrows or a shaking fist if you don't park courteously. If you're getting a bus, you want the number eight that links Newport and Ryde. This will get you as far as Caws Avenue in Seaview. From here, we walk over a small bridge at the bottom of Solent View Road. Google Maps tells me it is called Seagrove Dell, which is perhaps a rather grandiose name for a short footpath and a couple of trees. This leads to Seagrove Bay, where you turn right at the beach. There's a toilet here, which is the closest public toilet to Priory Bay. If it's low tide then you can walk along the sand and through to Priory Bay round the corner. If it's not low tide then you walk along the seawall until you reach the raised walkway. This leads to a footpath through the woodland. Follow this until you reach the steps down to Priory Bay. The canniest option is to arrive about an hour before low tide, and then leave an hour after low tide. That way, you can probably walk on the beach in both directions. Of course, the height of the tide varies throughout the year so it's a bit of a guessing game. Your total walk is about half a mile, which should take 10 minutes. It took us twice that long last time because I had a beach trolley and 27 bags. 2. Via St Helens BeachAn alternative plan for reaching Priory Bay is to walk from St Helens beach. This is very much dependent on the tides and you face certain death if you don't read the tide times properly. Parking at St Helens is quite easy. There are pay and display spaces on the seafront for those who are willing to part with both an arm and a leg. This car park isn't huge and you might end up doing a 93 point turn to get out. There's also a National Trust car park if you continue past the main entrance to the seafront. It's free for members and was cheaper than the seafront car park last time I checked (see our guide to cheap parking). There's also some on-street free parking on Duver Road, which leads down to the beach at St Helens. Feel free to have an argument with your spouse about how far children should be expected to walk for free parking, and what it was like in your day. Once you get to St Helens Beach, you turn left as you face the sea and walk around the headland. It's a nice walk but can only be done at low tide. The walk is about three quarters of a mile and will take you about 15 minutes. Needless to say, it's easy to get cut off. If this happens, you'll end up walking back to St Helens via Seagrove Bay - which is a big detour. We've also used paddleboards and kayaks to get round from St Helens, which avoids the tidal issue. 3. Via Priory Bay HotelThe third option isn't really an option at all at the moment - and hasn't been for several years. At one stage, there was a rather nice hotel with a path down to the beach. However, the Priory Bay Hotel is currently closed and access isn't allowed. We've written about the closure of the hotel, which is currently looking very sorry for itself. 4. Buy a YachtYour final option is to buy a boat and sail to Priory Bay from the mainland. You can then sit in a boat a couple of hundred metres from the shore and eat crab sandwiches with Geoff and Jean from the tennis club. If you know of a better option for visiting Priory Bay, please leave us a comment. Perhaps there's an underground railway line to the beach that we don't know about?
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Over the last 10 years, discount codes have become a much more essential part of saving money on the Isle of Wight ferry. Back in the day, discount codes with Wightlink and Red Funnel peaked at 10% or perhaps 15% for something really extraordinary. There were other ways to save money, such as flexibility but it wasn't unusual to pay the standard price without a discount. The more modern strategy - particularly from Red Funnel - seems to be to offer discounts throughout the year, ranging from 10% to 50% off. You can usually get 15% to 20% off via one of the discount codes on our guide to discount Isle of Wight ferry travel. The challenge now is to try and predict when the best discount of the year will come along. Black Friday and the 12 Days of ChristmasOver the last couple of years, the best discount of the year had been the Black Friday offer, which was 1/3 off Red Funnel for travel throughout 2025. Wightlink also did a Black Friday offer but it was a bit more restricted and meant you had to travel over the winter or early spring. You can imagine my scepticism then when my Mum told me that she had just been sent a 50% off voucher by Red Funnel as part of their 12 Days of Christmas promotion. I am often wary of the tales that my Mum tells me, as some of the details do sometimes require a little investigation - such as the time she told me that she had seen a dolphin in Cowes when it was actually a seal. Anyway, I digress. It turned out that the 50% off deal was legit and was valid throughout 2025. Apologies to my Mum for doubting her. It was only sent to customers on the Red Funnel mailing list (sign up here) and was a one time code that had to be used by New Year's Eve 2024. I did my best to publicise it, including a New Year's Eve interview on BBC Radio Solent that must have sounded like a desperate man trying to evacuate a building ("You've got to book today! Today!! It's the best deal of the year!!!"). What other offers were in the 12 days promotion?In my relentless attempt to find cheap ferry travel, I thought it would be worth noting down the offers that were available from Red Funnel in the 12 Days of Christmas promotion. This may give us some clues next year when people are asking 'when is the best time to book the Isle of Wight ferry?'. I have previously said Black Friday, but might need to re-think things if they are going to surprise us all with mega-deals via email.
It's worth saying that these offers had very short booking windows and are no longer available. I'm writing them down to help predict what they might do next year. Visit this page if you are looking for a ferry discount for 2025. Here are the (now expired) offers in Red Funnel's 12 Days of Christmas 2024:
So, offers #1, #4, #7 and #12 all gave you money off the ferry whilst the others were competitions or money off stuff you can buy onboard. Offer #12 was the best by far but the day return deal for £45 is very good as well. Red Funnel regularly do a day return for about £50 - £60 via its Big Book of Savings but it never drops as low as £45. Anyway, I shall be intently checking my inbox in December 2025 to see if the 50% offer deal is repeated.
Red Funnel has bumped up our ongoing 10% off deal for the rest of January 2025. You can now get 20% off bygoing via this link or filling in your details into the form below.
You need to book by 31st January 2025 but it's valid for holidays throughout 2025.
It's a good discount, but it's always worth checking if there's a better deal available. Take a look at our discount Isle of Wight ferries guide or the best ferry + accommodation bundles.
For campers and tourers, Red Funnel do a very good pitch + accommodation bundle that will probably beat the 20% off deal. There are also things like the Red Funnel Big Book of Savings, which offer fixed price deals. Missed the deal?
Head over to our main ferry discounts page where you can still take advantage of our ongoing 10% off deal with Red Funnel.
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Isle of Wight Guru's BlogTales of Isle of Wight days out, attractions and ferry discounts from a Wightophile. This site uses cookies - see our privacy policy. Ads & links in bold may give us a small payment from the seller, at no cost to the buyer. However, this never affects our views - if we like it, we recommend it. Archives
February 2025
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