We are constantly jabbering on about the massive discount you can get on the Isle of Wight ferry by booking via a big name accommodation provider such as Parkdean Resorts, Away Resorts or Warner Leisure.

The big names can often save you more than 50% on standard prices but smaller accommodation providers also get a discount (typically 15-25% off).

The exact amount you save with Parkdean Resorts varies and you can see the prices until you book.

However, in our experience it is a discount of about 50-70% off the standard Wightlink fare. You need to be staying at one of their four Isle of Wight holiday parks (see our opinion on which is the best).

Here's how we came up with that 50-70% figure:

• We searched for a week during the school holidays in August 2024 with sailings at lunchtime. The Parkdean discounted price was £140 whilst the standard price was £280. That's a 50% saving, although you probably figured that calculation out for yourself.
• For a week in September, outside of school holidays, the Parkdean ferry price was £58 whilst the standard price was £209. That's a colossal 72% saving. My jaw hit the laptop when I saw that one.
• During the October half term, the Parkdean price was £69, whilst the standard Wightlink price was £192. That's a 64% discount. My jaw had just recovered from the last drop when it saw that discount and dropped again.

The Parkdean Resorts ferry prices I looked at were the same regardless of the time of day you travelled, whilst standard Wightlink fares peak at lunchtime and on Saturdays. The saving is less significant if you don't want to travel at peak times.

After you've booked your holiday, Parkdean Resorts will send you a link to Wightlink's website, which automatically applies the discounted prices. You can choose the crossing you want to book and fill in your details.

There is another car ferry company that you can use the visit the Isle of Wight called Red Funnel, which is based in Southampton. You may want to check their price for comparison. For standard fares, they often beat Wightlink prices once you use a discount code from our ferries discount page. However, once the whopping Parkdean discount is applied, Wightlink will almost certainly be cheaper.

It's certainly one of the best discounts you can get on the Isle of Wight, but it's not always the best.

Away Resorts also has four holiday parks on the Isle of Wight and they offer a similarly generous discount on the ferry. We've done a few comparisons over the years and have often seen discounts of more than 50% with Away Resorts. Unlike Parkdean Resorts, you can get a quote from Away Resorts for the ferry cost before you book the holiday.

You might like to read our comparison of the four Away Resorts, as they are all very different. 

Of course, you might not want to stay in a holiday park.

Adults-only hotel chain Warner Leisure tend to do a fixed price ferry deal which can beat Parkdean Resorts and Away Resorts at peak times. They have two hotels on the Isle of Wight called Bembridge Coast and Norton Grange. At the time of writing, Warner Leisure is offering a 'maximum' fare of £80 including a car and passenger, which is about half of the peak time price with Parkdean Resorts.

There are also other ways to save money on the Isle of Wight ferry, which will occasionally beat the accommodation + ferry bundles - such as using Tesco Clubcard vouchers if you have a heap of them gathering dust. 

If you are travelling as a foot passenger to the Isle of Wight, the advice is completely different. See our guides to saving money as a foot passenger with Wightlink and Red Funnel.

For many years, I dreamt of riding a horse along the beach.

I'm not exactly sure where it came from, as I'm not a particularly horsey person. Some of my relatives are proper horsey sorts, but I have deliberately steered my children away from it. I don't really fancy 30 years of poverty and mucking out.

The thing that appealed to me was the idea of flicking my hair in slow motion whilst my beloved horse canters along Priory Bay as the sun sets. Sunbathers sit up and say "who is that handsome chap riding that almighty stallion?". I leap off the horse, do 100 bare-chested press ups, rescue someone from the sea and then jump back on the horse and ride into the distance.

The dream finally came true, at least in part, during a recent trip to Sally's Riding School.

During the summer, the riding school is based at Parkdean Resorts' Nodes Point Holiday Park. You don't book through the holiday park, but you can contact the riding school direct and book in.

We were sent a form where we had to explain how much horse riding experience we had. My horse riding was limited to a Wii U game where you had to shake the remote to make the horse go faster. The session with Sally's Riding School cost us £45 each for 90 minutes, including an hour's riding.

We were also asked to weigh ourselves before arriving, as the horses couldn't cope with anyone over 13 stone.

The dream looked to be cantering into the distance without me when I discovered I was 13 stone and 1 pound, after a few too many McFlurries.

I hurriedly texted Sally, who said that it would be OK. I promised to have a light breakfast.

On arrival I did notice a sign at the stables saying that the limit is actually 14 stone, which made me feel better. There was also a sign at the stables saying that they might want to weigh me, but thankfully they overlooked this public ordeal ("Excuse me, could you all watch now please so we can weigh Captain Tubby").

There were seven of us in our group including five complete beginners. We were each allocated a horse that could cope with our experience and girth. I was given a large horse called Jess, who I later discovered was 25 years old and probably felt she had drawn the short straw.

​The route that you ride with Sally's Riding School depends on the tides. I have seen them heading through Nodes Point Holiday Park and towards St Helen's Beach but we headed out of the holiday park and down a footpath that led to Seagrove Bay. Ideally, you want to book a ride at low tide but it's a popular activity so you may have to take what's available.

Jess plodded along nicely whilst I tried to figure out how to make her go and stop. The instructors were very helpful and quickly picked up that I was clueless.

After about half an hour we made it to Seagrove Bay. I've never particularly rated Seagrove Bay and was slightly baffled a few years ago when someone told me it was their favourite Isle of Wight beach. There isn't much of a bay at high tide and it has mostly been very small when I've visited.

Luckily, there was plenty of beach and barely any people as it had been raining in the morning. The beach looked gorgeous with long stretches of sand and I suddenly saw the appeal.

The sun wasn't exactly shining, and I don't think I quite looked like a heroic hunk but the moment had arrived.

At this point we attempted a trot, where I was told to stand up and sit down in time with the clippity clopping. Unfortunately, I couldn't quite figure out which clippity clop I should listen to and spent most of the time bouncing up and down like I was on a space hopper. I rather wished I was wearing my padded cycling shorts. I don't wish to become too graphic, but I did feel as though someone was playing a game of squash beneath me.

The tides weren't quite right for Priory Bay, so we returned along footpaths and back to the riding school.

A nice man handed out rosettes to the children, who had all enjoyed it greatly as well.

I stylishly dismounted from my horse and hobbled away.

The dream had been completed, albeit with a few clauses and caveats. Many thanks to everyone who made it possible, particularly Jess.

I nearly fell off chair this morning when I saw that the Warrior Festival is being held at Robin Hill this year. 

Well, that's now quite true. I was actually still in bed, but I was certainly surprised.

We've been waiting months for an announcement about the future of Robin Hill, which went up for sale in late 2023. Since then, we became nostalgic and wrote a long history of Robin Hill. (Warning: our history of Robin Hill is absurdly detailed and long).

Rumours have been circulating for a while about the sale of Robin Hill, but nothing has been officially confirmed. Now, we finally have some details (although not many).

The Warrior Festival has been going for some time, but they have now confirmed that for 2024 they are moving to Robin Hill. The festival is taking place on 21-22 September 2024. The festival itself raises money for charity and features lots of tribute acts as well as some local artists.

The organisers of the festival aren't the new owners of Robin Hill. The name/s of the new owner/s hasn't been officially released, but on Facebook the organisers of the Warrior Festival have said that "exciting times" are coming to Robin Hill and that:

"we have been given permission from the NEW OWNERS to announce !! and this was why we had to wait to get this information out!! There will be official announcement soon!!"

We know that some things have already been removed from Robin Hill. The Colossus theme park ride is now the Jolly Robin at Blackgang Chine whilst The Ripple is now Blackgang Beach. We also think we saw the big shelter in the African Adventure playground turn up at Tapnell Farm Park.

Beyond that, we don't really know what the future holds for the park.

However, it's certainly positive to see it opening up for a public event in just a couple of month's time!